Eran Zahavi scored a goal, added an assist and helped Maccabi to a 2-0 victory over Hapoel Petah Tikva at Bloomfield to remain top of the ONE ZERO League table.
Zahavi, who had two penalties saved by Petah Tikva’s keeper Omer Katz, but was given a chance to redeem himself as he successfully converted the second penalty which was retaken, said after the match: “To be honest, I don’t know if something like that has ever happened to me, but sometimes these things do happen. He (Katz) saved the first penalty and deserves all the credit for it. For the second penalty I decided to shoot to the middle, and he waited for it. I don’t know whether someone had tipped him off, but he still deserves credit for it. To his misfortune though the spot kick was re-taken and I was sharper so the most important thing was that I scored it.
On the team’s over all performance, Zahavi added: “We were not that bad in terms of our form, but it is difficult to play against a side that has 10 field players behind the ball. WE struggled today, our game did not flow but one needs to know how to win matches like that. We will not dance on the pitch in every game and I am saying this so that you shouldn’t expect this every time. It was however very important to show character and desire which is exactly what we did.”
