Prematch
The Youth Israel Premier League season got underway this Saturday and Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv hosted Beitar Jerusalem on Matchday 1 of the 2017/18 campaign. Head Coach Guy Tzarfati’s Starting XI was a combination of veteran players along with new recruits that included Tomer Altman, Eylon Almog, Prince Thomas along with newcomers keeper Daniel Peretz and Amit Glezer.
First Half
Beitar’s first chance came in the ‘5 when Roie Fadida approached the Maccabi goal alone, but defender Noam Cohen was able to send the ball out for a corner kick. In the ’12 Fadida again threatened the Yellow & Blue once again but the striker’s attempt went out.
However, Beitar took the lead in the ’16 when Fadida took a cross from Uriel Fredo and slotted the ball home from in close for a 1:0 lead. Two minutes later Fadida missed a chance to double his side’s lead while in the ’23 Altman had Maccabi’s first chance of the contest when he received a terrific pass from Thomas but his opportunity was saved by the keeper.
In the ’31, Netanel Peretz took a long range attempt but his shot went out. Four minutes later the hosts almost drew even when Thomas handed the ball off to Eyal Hen, but his fine chance just missed the post by centimeters while Eden Kartsev’s attempt hit the post as the young Yellow & Blue attack began to heat up. In the ’42 Hen’s fine cross found Almog but his header was saved by the Beitar keeper as the visitors took a 1:0 advantage into the break.
Second Half
The second half opened well for Maccabi as Altman’s opportunity just went over the goal but finally in the ’52 the hosts tied up the contest. Altman sent a deep ball to Almog who found the corner of the goal to draw the U19’s even at 1:1.
Kartsev tried his luck from long range in the ’55 but his ball went out, while a corner found Thomas but his header also missed the target. Fadida’s ’61 chance went over the bar for Beitar and two minutes later Maccabi was left with 10-men as Ran Vaturi’s reckless tackle earned him a red card. With the match moving into the midfield Maccabi would have one more solid chance to find the winner via Mufleh Shalata in the ’90 who came on as a substitute but the Jerusalem defense cleared the ball from danger and the match ended in a 1:1 draw.
