Matchday 7 of the Israel Youth Premier League saw Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv take on the Greens of Maccabi Haifa as the Yellow & Blue came into the contest with 3 wins put of their last 4 matches and in 5th place on the table after a Tel Aviv Derby win last week. Haifa came into the match in 12th place with one win out of 6 games.
Head Coach Guy Tzarfati’s Starting XI featured Daniel Peretz, Ran Vaturi, Amit Glezer, Fadi Najar, Tomer Mahlof, Eden Kartsev, Tomer Altman, Prince Thomas, Eylon Almog, Eyal Hen and Adir Hardon.
First Half
Haifa had the first chance of the match off a 3’ Yam Cohen corner kick as he found Hamoudi Kaanan in the box but his header went over the bar and out. Two minutes later Alon Deri tried a long range strike, but Daniel Peretz was in place to parry the ball away for a corner.
The Greens took the lead in the 14’ when Kaanan crossed the ball from the right wing to Cohen who beat Peretz for a 1:0 lead. Maccabi’s opening opportunity came a minute later but Almog’s shot went into the Haifa defenders and out. In the 30’ Timothy Mozi came down the left flank but Najar was able to stop the dangerous situation while a minute later Almog’s attempt from long distance went out. Cohen, the Haifa goal scorer found Ziv Morgan but his 34’ chance went out however, ten minutes later Kaanan put the ball in the far corner to give Haifa a 2:0 advantage going into the break.
Second Half
Prince Thomas began the half with a terrific chance from 30 meters, but the ball went out while a minute later the Greens again put Maccabi under pressure as Muhammad Jabar came down the left side and crossed the ball to Cohen but his chance went out.
In the 53’ striker Gal Katbi took a through ball and had a great chance on Peretz but the Yellow & Blue keeper made the stop. However, four minutes later Katbi’s shot was saved by Peretz but Mozi found rebound and put the ball into the back of the goal for a 3:0 lead. Mufleh Shalata came on as a substitute and left a fine ball for Altman, but his long range attempt was saved by the keeper in the 64’ while ten minutes later Almog’s chance flew over the bar and out. The sides traded chances for the final quarter hour but Maccabi couldn’t pull a goal back as the match ended in a 3:0 defeat to Haifa.
