A brace by Nosa Igiebor and a goal by Portuguese striker Orlando Sa was enough to give the Yellow & Blue a 3:0 win in the first leg of the first round of the Europa League qualifying tournament.
New Head Coach Shota Arveladze named his first starting XI in his first official match as the Yellow & Blue boss which included Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic in goal with a defensive quartet of Omri Ben Harush, Carlos Garcia, Eitan Tibi and Dor Peretz playing in front of him. Gal Alberman sported the captain’s armband while Nosa Igiebor and Haris Medunjanin manned the midfield as winger Tal Ben Chaim, Dor Micha and Orlando Sa provided the attack up front.
First Half
After almost an opening quarter hour of tentative play from both sides, Nosa Igiebor broke the ice with a gorgeous 13th minute goal from the top of the box. The Nigerian midfielder came in from the left side and lifted the ball into the top of the goal cleanly beating Gorica keeper Grega Sorcan good for a 1:0 Maccabi lead.
Orlando Sa tried to double the score but his header from a Medunjanin free kick missed the target in the 30th minute. Dor Peretz’s 27 minute effort was blocked by the Gorica defense and was sent out for a corner while Ben Harush’s wild shot went way over the goal in minute 31.
Medunjanin looked to team up with Sa once again in the 34th minute but his fantastic cross was just a little bit too long for the Portuguese striker. Micha tried his luck with a terrific run down the right side of the pitch but his low shot just went wide of the goal 5 minutes later.
Finally the pair of Sa and Medunjanin hit the jackpot as number 70 found the back of the goal giving Maccabi a 2:0 advantage right before the break.
Second Half
Sa had the first chance of the second half as he stole the ball in the 58th minute, but Gorica made sure his effort wouldn’t find the back of the goal while his opportunity 3 minutes later was also stymied by the visitors stingy defense.
However, it was Nosa Igiebor who found the back of the Gorica goal for the second time in the match as the Nigerian picked up a loose ball in the box and slammed it home for a 3:0 lead in the 69th minute.
Coach Arveladze made a number of substitutions as the match continued on as Barak Itzhaki, Eden Ben Basat and Avi Rikan all came in over the course of the last 20 minutes of the contest.
With a 3:0 advantage, Maccabi will look to advance to the second round of the Europa League next week when they visit Gorica in Slovenia on Thursday night for the 2nd leg of the two legged tie.
