Preview
Maccabi arrived at the Petah Tikva stadium for the MD24 ONE ZERO League encounter with newly promoted side Sektzia Ness Ziona on the back of the dramatic 1-0 victory over Hapoel Be’ersheva last week. Aitor Karnaka’s charges were aiming to string a back-to-back victory for the first time since December 24th, the same date that bottom of the table Ness Ziona who suffered four straight defeats, recorded their last victory.
Karanka made two changes from the side which beat Be’ersheva as Derrick Luckassen, Nir Bitton and Enric Saborit were named as the three central defenders in front of goalkeeper Daniel Peretz. Andre Gerlades who scored his senior debut goal against Be’ersheva, kept his place on the right with Ofir Davidzada named on the opposite left flank of the unchanged defence.
In midfield Karanka made two changes with Dor Peretz and Gabi Kanichowsky stepping-in for Eyal Golasa and Parfait Guiagon to join Dan Glazer. Upfront, Karanka stuck with his striking partnership of Eran Zahavi and Djordje Jovanovic hoping to see the duo add to their tally which so far resulted with 38 goal in all competitions.
With Daniel Tenenbaum still recovering from his back injury, Karnaka named Or Yitzhak on the bench as cover, with Dan Biton, Rares Ilie, Parfait Guiagon, Avi Rikan, Eyal Golasa, Maor Kandil, Shahar Piven, Dor Turgeman and Dor Peretz.
First Half
Backed by more than 10,000 Maccabi fans at the Petah Tikva stadium, Aitor Karanka’s charges came close to draw first blood as early as the 7th minute. Gabi Kanichowsky carved Ness Ziona’s defence open as he sent a through ball towards Eran Zahavi but Yossi Ginzburg charged out of his box to prevent the Maccabi skipper from breaking the deadlock. With Maccabi struggling to break through the hosts’ defence, Nir Bitton attempted a long-range effort in the 19th minute which was blocked by a Ness Ziona defender.
In the 28th minute, a Kanichowsky dangerous cross was cleared at the goalmouth by Ginzburg and Dor Kochav before Djordje Jovanovic could tuck the ball home. A minute later Zahavi miscued his shot from inside the area wide of the target with Jovanovic attempting to reach the ball and direct it towards goal. A minute after the half-hour-mark however, nothing could prevent Jovanovic from scoring as the Serbian forward was released by Dor Peretz and despite Ginzburg’s touch, the ball rolled in at the far post.
Maccabi’s blitz continued in the 40th minute as Jovanovic doubled the lead in spectacular fashion. Enric Saborit curled a pinpoint cross from the left and Jovanovic guided his header past Ginzburg to score his 13th league goal and 20th in all competitions.
Second Half
Despite the two goal lead at halftime, Aitor Karanka made a triple change at the restart as Maor Kandil replaced Andre Geraldes, Eyal Golasa came in for Dan Glazer while Parfait Guiagon replaced Dor Peretz for the restart. Three minutes later Guiagon carried a counter attack from the middle before sliding the ball to Jovanovic whose cut back to Zahavi saw the skipper on the night drag his shot wide.
Jovanovic came close to to score his hatrick on 52 as his diagonal shot from inside the area was equalled by Gonzburg on his goal line. Two minutes later, Guiagon managed to roll the ball past the advancing Gonzburg but the goal was cancelled as the Ivorian was caught offside.
Maccabi continued to push forward as Kanichowsky carved Ness Ziona’s defence open on 61 with a perfect through ball for Zahavi who sent his shot agonisingly wide. Two minutes later the hosts must have thought they managed to cut the deficit as Dor Kochav headed in a deflected shot past Daniel Peretz. But VAR spotted a foul on Kandil in the build up for the goal as the result remained 2-0.
Karanka made his fourth chance as Nir Bitton bowed out almost instantly and was replaced by Avi Rikan. Jovanovic found the back of the net for the third time on the night, but his effort was also scratched off for offside on 67 as he was denied a well-deserved hatrick.
Zahavi, who desperately tried to get his name on the score-sheet, was almost rewarded for his efforts but shot straight at Ginzburg despite Jovanovic being in a better position. Karanka made his final substitution on 88 as Dor Turgeman replaced Jovanovic who received a standing ovation.
