Preview:
Carrying a 3-0 lead from last week’s first leg in Hungary, Maccabi Tel Aviv arrived at the TSC Arena in Backa Topola for the return leg of the Europa League Playoff.
This was a return to familiar grounds for Coach Zarko Lazetic and his coaching staff who spent the past two seasons at TSC, but also for the Maccabi players as the 4500 capacity stadium hosted their Conference League matches last season.
On his first return to his former hunting ground where he guided TSC last season in the Europa League group stage, Lazetic was aiming to secure Maccabi a place in tomorrow’s Europa League draw in Monaco.
Lazetic, made three changes to his starting line-up as Roy Revivo stepped in for Ofir Davidzada at left back. Other than that Maccabi’s defensive line remained unchanged Tyrese Asante and Raz Shlomo as the two central defenders with Sagiv Jehezkel on the right completing the back-four in front of goalkeeper Roi Mishpati. Joris van Overeem returned to the midfield anchorman role with Gabi Kanichowsy and Dor Peretz completing Maccabi’s midfield trio.
Henry Addo returned to the side on one wing with Osher Davida on the opposite flank supplying the width to Maccabi’s formation. After scoring the opener against the Serbians last week, Dor Turgeman kept his place upfront in a bid to add to the two goals he scored for Maccabi this season.
While new signing Nemanja Stojic joined Maccabi after the deadline for this stage, the Serbian defender was unable to make a return to his former club as well but instead limited to watch both his former and new teammates from the stands.
On the bench Lazetic named amongst the substitutes goalkeeper Osher Melika, Avishay Cohen, Idan Nachmias, Eran Zahavi, Dan Biton, Elad Madmon, Ofir Davidzada, Issouf Sissokho, Matan Baltaxa, Hisham Layous, Ido Shahar and Nir Bitton.
First Half
Maccabi and Lazetic couldn’t have wished for a better start as they took the lead with less than two minutes on the clock and at the end of a spectacular team effort. Tyrese Asante picked Osher Davida with a long diagonal ball before the winger knocked it down for Dor Peretz. Maccabi’s captain on the night flicked the ball to Gabi Kanichowsky who slipped it for Henry Addo. With only the keeper to beat the Ghanian forward kept his calm and found the bottom far corner with a clinical finish.
Three minutes after scoring his debut goal for Maccabi, Addo celebrated a brace with Kanichowsky adding another assist. The diminutive midfielder chipped the ball over the defense before Addo volleyed home his second in style. Maccabi continued to dominate as they were rewarded for their efforts in the 12th minute as Asante scored his debut goal. TSC’s defense failed to clear a corner which fell to Asante at the far post before the Dutch defender swept the ball home from close range to give Maccabi a 3-0 early lead.
In the 17th minute Dor Turgeman came close to join in the celebration as he curled a free kick from 25 meters out which narrowly missed the target. Maccabi took their foot off the pedal a bit allowing TSC to gradually gain possession but Joris van Overeem, Asante and Raz Shlomo thwarted any attempts to reach Roi Mishpati. In the 35th minute Davida tested Veljko Ilic with a powerful drive which the keeper pushed for a corner. Maccabi’s well drilled corner saw the ball reach Roy Revivo who blasted his effort high over the crossbar. Two minutes later at the opposite end Mishpati was drawn into the action but Maccabi’s keeper was well positioned to catch the long range effort which was fired at him.
On the brink of halftime Maccabi charged forward for yet another counter attack but Turgeman who picked the ball on the edge of the area, managed to send his dipping low drive wide of the post.
Second Half
With a 3-0 lead at halftime and 6-0 on aggregate, Lazetic, made two changes at the restart. Idan Nachmias came on for Sagiv Jehezkel at right-back while Hisham Layous came on for Osher Davida on the left wing.
In the 52nd minute TSC came close to cut the deficit as Aleksandar Cirkovic picked Milos Pantovic unmarked at the far post before the forward who had the goal at his mercy headed wide. Maccabi extended their lead to 4-0 on 56 as van Overeem picked the ball in the middle of the park and fed Peretz whose flick released Turgeman through. The 20-year-old striker charged forward and slotted his shot beyond the reach of Ilic to score his third goal of
In the 62nd minute Aleksa Pejic managed to make his way through past Maccabi’s defensive line, but a last gasp tackle from van Overeem prevented the TSC player from having a shot on goal. Lazetic reacted with a triple change as he introduced Nir Bitton for Shlomo at the back, Ido Shahar replaced Peretz in midfield while Elad Madmon came on for Turgeman upfront.the campaign.
A minute later TSC had their best chance as Pejic blasted a shot which beat Mishpati and hit the underside of the crossbar only to land in front of the goal-line before the danger was cleared. With the tie clearly put to bed, Maccabi kept pushing forward trying to increase their lead as Shahar and Layous could have done better on 81 only for the winger to miscue his shot at the keeper. Bitton required medical treatment in the 84th minute for a cut above his eye and returned to the field a couple of minutes later with a blue bandage over his head.
In the 89th minute Maccabi scored the fifth as Roy Revivo broke into the box and fired a left foot shot which was saved by Ilic before Shahar pounced on the lose ball and tapped in the rebound from point blank range.Inside injury time TSC scored a consolation goal as a poor clearance of a corner fell to Prestige Mbounngou whose toe poke went in off the post to set the score on 5-1.
