Yonas Malede would have certainly wished for a better home debut or at least a different outcome as his 88^th minute equalizer against Bnei Sakhnin at Bloomfield was only enough to help Maccabi salvage a draw against Bnei Sakhnin.

The 24-year-old forward who joined Maccabi in the transfer window from Mechelen, said: “Obviously I dreamt of this goal ever since I signed for this club. This draw is a point which feels exactly like a defeat to us for myself, and the entire team” he said. “At Maccabi we always think about winning every match. I wasn’t here before but I know of the recent spell, as I am certain we will be able to overcome and be there all the way to the end.”

On his decision to leave Belgium after three years with Gent and Mechlen to return to Israel and join Maccabi, Malede said: “There were plenty of factors to consider, but when Maccabi is calling, I was first and foremost excited with the interest shown in me as I can achieve many things with Maccabi. This is a giant club with a massive fan base.” The former Maccabi Netanya forward who will face his boyhood club next week, added: ”I always used to come here with came here with Netanya as this was the club I always wanted to play for. This is not just a cliche – to win titles, to play in Europe, this is the club every Israeli player dream to play for.”

On his experience in Belgium, Malede revealed: “Things didn’t work out the way I was hoping they would. I was playing but still had that feeling. When Maccabi called, I really wanted to join and felt that good things can happen here. The atmosphere there, and things off the pitch were quite hard for me, for three years I was pretty much alone and when I saw that things weren’t working so well as I was hoping they would, I just decided I wasn’t going to force it. I really think that Maccabi are not falling short in any way from Gent or Club Brugge. I was there and experienced it and now I am very happy to be here. I am delighted with the journey I made as I think I improved a lot physically, technically, as well as my understanding of the game” he added, “I feel that what I did there, with all the difficulties I experienced are three good years that developed me both as a player and a person.”

Ahead of next Monday’s match away to Netanya which will be a return to his old stomping ground, Malede summed up: “It would be a very emotional for me as this is where I grew up at. It is the club that gave me everything and turned me into who I am today. I am however not focusing on that at all, all In want us is to show up and win the match.”

Preview

Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the ONE ZERO League MD21 early kickoff match against Bnei Sakhnin. After the Home Front Command lifted its’ restrictions, Bloomfield could finally be full to its’ capacity for the first time since October 7^th.

Five days after the 2-0 defeat at Sammy Ofer which saw his side concede their second defeat of the season and lose pole position for the first time this season, Maccabi will be aiming to return to winning ways. Robbie Keane and his charges have 45 points from 20 matches, trailing Haifa in the table on goal difference having scored 40 and conceded 17. Maccabi will be seeking their 15th league win of the season against Bnei Sakhnin that have 24 points and are ranked 7th in the table. Since the 3-2 defeat to Maccabi at Doja on December 12th, Slobodan Drapjic’s side were beaten only twice in the league by Haifa and Hapoel Be’ersheva.

Keane made several changes from Monday’s team as he welcomed back into the side Enric Saborit who partnered Raz Shlomo at the heart of defense. While Shlomo was making his home debut, Ofir Davidzada also stepped back into the left back role. Avishai Cohen completing the four-man defense in front of goalkeeper Roi Mishpati. Joris van Overeem, Gabi Kanichowsky and Dor Peretz all kept their places as Maccabi’s midfield trio. Felicio Milson returned after a month-long absence with his country at the African Cup of Nations. The 24-year-old Angolan winger returned to Maccabi’s left wing, with Dor Turgeman taking up the position on the opposite right flank. Eran Zahavi lead the team out wearing the captain’s armband as the veteran captain wanted to end his five-goal barren run since scoring a brace in the Tel Aviv derby.

On the bench Keane named Daniel Tenenbaum, Roy Revivo, Yonatan Cohen, Yonas Malede, Matan Baltaxa, Ido Shahar, Kiko Bondoso, Eden Kartzev and Osher Davida.

First Half

The 20,822 fans who arrived at Bloomfield stadium for the early kick off match, enjoyed the winter sun which was more of an encouragement for Maccabi to start the match on the front foot.

Felicio Milson on one flank and Dor Turgeman on the opposite wing gave Robbie Keane’s side the width they needed as the Angolan winger tormented Sakhnin’s right side of defense early on. In the sixth minute Avishai Cohen and Turgeman combined well before the youngster cut inside and fired a left foot shot that curled wide of the post. Sakhnin’s captain Hasan Hilu picked an early booking for stopping a Turgeman counter-attack just past the halfway line. In the 16th minute a Milson and Gabi Kanichowsky combination led to the former cut inside but blocked for a corner. Two minutes later Milson was fouled just outside the area and near the touchline but from the visitors’ counter-attack Sakhnin took the lead through Mohamad Shaker.

In the 32nd minute, Dor Peretz picked the ball near the corner of the area and charged forward before being fouled by Constantinos Soteriou who was consequently booked. Eran Zahavi stepped up and blasted the free kick catching goalkeeper Mahamamed Abu Nil stranded on his goal-line but rattled the crossbar. Peretz tried heading the rebound towards the open goal, but the ball rolled out wide for a goal kick. On the stroke of halftime Sakhnin’s coach Slobodan Drapjic was sent off by referee Gal Leibovic for dissent.

Second half

Keane made two changes after the interval as Roy Revivo and Kiko Bondoso replaced Ofir Davidzada and Joris van Overeem at the restart.

In the 48th minute Mishpati needed two attempts to collect a ball which headed back towards him giving Maccabi’s fans at Bloomfield more than a bit of a scare. Three minutes later Sakhnin had the ball in the back of the net for the second time as Dor Hugi blasted in a shot that fell into his path following a Mishpati save. But the goal was disallowed for offside keeping Maccabi’s deficit minimal. Keane reacted as he made two more changes in the 58th minute with Ido Shahar and Osher Davida replacing both Peretz and Turgeman. The impact was almost instant as Maccabi came close to level the score after Davida charged down the left. His cut back picked Bondoso in the center of the area before the Portuguese midfielder’s shot was blocked by Sakhnin defense which also kept out Shahar’s attempt to fire in the rebound. Right on the hour mark Maccabi came close once again and from almost the same position, this time Kanichowsky sending his shot over the crossbar.

In the 73rd minute Milson cut into the box from the left, sent the ball to  Bondoso before Zahavi’s weak shot was collected at ease by Abu Nil. Keane made his fifth and final substitution on 76 as Yonas Malede was handed his home debut replacing Cohen for the closing stages.

A Kanichowsky drive in the 81st minute proved too powerful for Abu Nil to hold onto but none of Maccabi’s players could react and tuck the rebound home. Maccabi continued to dominate and place Sakhnin’s defense under a siege but the visitors continued to hang on as the clock kept on ticking.

In the 88th minute Maccabi were finally rewarded for the efforts as Kanichowsky once again blasted a shot which came off Abu Nil’s chest. Malede pounced on the rebound and slotted home the equalizer to level the score with his debut Maccabi goal. The fourth official indicated seven minutes of added time before Shahar blasted a shot high over the crossbar. The full time whistle however confirmed Maccabi will have to seek the three points elsewhere with their next match away to Maccabi Netanya on February 19^th.

Saturday’s early kickoff match between Maccabi and Bnei Sakhnin will be the 70^th match between the two sides in all competitions. The record currently stands on 44 victories, 16 draws and 9 defeats.

The 5-0 victory in the State Cup round of 16 last season, was Maccabi’s highest victory over Sakhnin.

Over the years, Maccabi, played 51 league matches against Sakhnin and has a 72.5% success rate. This is the highest success rate from encounters against opponents Maccabi played for 40 league matches or more.

Maccabi has a 23-match-long unbeaten home round against Sakhnin – 18 victories and 5 draws. A record against any team in the league.

Forty-seven different Maccabi players scored goals against Sakhnin as Eran Zahavi leads the list with 14 goals. Sakhnin is the opponent Zahavi scored the most league goals against for Maccabi.

Zahavi is the only player who scored a hattrick against Sakhnin on the final matchday (36) of the 2013/14 season.

Sheran Yeini leads Maccabi’s players in appearances against Sakhnin featuring in 27 league matches.

In 51 league matches against maccabi, Sakhnin were shown 11 red cards. Khaled Khaliala was sent off three times, while 8 other players were shown red.

Sakhnin’s Hed Coach, Slobodan Drapjic faced Maccabi 20 times in the league and has a record of: 2 victories, 3 draws and 15 defeats.

 

After suffering their second league defeat of the season, losing 2-0 at Sammy Ofer, Matan Baltaxa, faced the media and said: “We were not surprised by the pressure Maccabi Haifa placed on us. We played with fire in the opening minutes and paid for it. When you can concede an early goal against Maccabi Haifa at Sammy Ofer you pay for it. We are not looking at our opponents but only focus on ourselves and know we must improve and look better.”

The 28-year-old defender who joined Maccabi during the January transfer window, said: “We spoke about this game in advance and know its’ important, but we didn’t have the best of starts to the match and paid the price.” Answering criticism at such an uncoordinated defense, Baltaxa responded: “To have coordination in defense takes time, but these are all excuses, when you walk onto the pitch one has to forget about everything and aim for a victory – but we didn’t succeed. The points we dropped against Maccabi Haifa are important but if we will manage to do our job in the future we will win the title.”