While Monday’s Match of the Week between Maccabi Haifa and Beitar Jerusalem was postponed due to the security situation in the north of the country, there was plenty of action on the pitches across the Holy Land over the weekend.
Maccabi Tel Aviv sunk Ashdod SC 2-0 as the yellow-and-blue scored a pair of first-half goals to snatch its fourth win in as many games.
Dor Turgeman opened the scoring in the port city as he took advantage of a mistake by the Ashdod defense to give Zarko Lazetic’s squad a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. However, just after the goal, Ido Shachar was substituted out of the game, leaving a big hole in the Maccabi midfield.
Soon thereafter, Nemanja Stojic scored his first goal for Maccabi as he headed one past Ariel Harush for the insurance marker and the win.
Next up for Maccabi is a Europa League clash against Braga in Portugal as it begins its European campaign on Thursday.
“Every game is very important,” Lazetic began. “This is just the beginning of the season, and we will try to win game by game as I see progress every time out. As for our expectations against Braga, they are a good team, and I have experience there from last season, but I think we are better than my previous team, Backa Topola, was against them then. At the end of the day, I always expect to win, no matter if it’s against Real Madrid or Ashdod.”
Security concerns in Israeli football
Turgeman, who scored Maccabi’s first goal, looked back at the win.
“First of all, I want to wish Ido Shachar a complete and speedy recovery. I’m happy that I scored again in a difficult away game and that I was able to help the team. I have an excellent relationship with the coach, and he believes in me. We came into the game prepared as we knew that they play hard, and I’m happy that we have four wins in four games. As for Braga, we are all excited, as everyone dreams of playing at these levels. We will come in and look them straight in the eyes, and we will do our job.”
Down south, Hapoel Beersheba got by Hapoel Hadera 2-1 as the Southern Reds mounted a second-half comeback to take the three points.
Just as the match was headed into the break goalless, Godsway Donio took advantage of a Guy Mizrachi miscue to send the visitors on a counter that Duvan Jean Marc Diby polished off to give Hadera a shock 1-0 lead at halftime. However, Eliel Peretz nodded home the equalizer in the 51st minute, while Paul Garita scored from close range 20 minutes later to send the Beersheba faithful into ecstasy as their squad wrapped up the victory.
“We knew before the game that Hadera has one weapon that they do extremely well, which is their counterattacks in transition,” Beersheba head coach Ron Kozuk said. “We spoke a lot about how we would stop them from scoring this exact way, and after we lost the ball on their first attack, we conceded a goal that put us in a difficult situation. But being able to come back makes me very proud of the players, and the way we reacted at halftime, I had no doubt that we would win this game.”
Meanwhile, Maccabi Netanya blanked Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2-0 to pick up its first win and points of the season.
Karam Jaber fed Bar Cohen in the box, as the midfielder scored on his second chance for a 1-0 lead, while Itamar Shviro scored into the far corner in the 64th minute to double the advantage and take the win.
“These are three very important points,” Netanya coach Marko Babul began. “We scored beautiful goals, we got into quality situations, and we changed our momentum after the first few games, as we will have to create continuity and come into the next game with the same approach.
Elsewhere, Ironi Tiberias stunned Bnei Sakhnin 1-0 as a Fares Abu Akel second-half strike gave the newly promoted side the three points and the win. However, the most stirring moment came when the Home Front Command ordered the fans to leave near the end of the match as the clock approached 90 minutes due to threats from Hezbollah.
Tiberias coach Eliran Hodeda spoke about the security situation.
“Before talking about the match itself, I first want to send my well wishes of peace and security to all of our soldiers and citizens. We didn’t understand what was going on in the final minutes with the crowd leaving, but this is our reality in the State of Israel. This was a big win for a club like Tiberias, and what was important was the change in attitude from last week, as my players came into this game with a completely different mindset and played with a lot of character.“
“This is our reality in Israel. Let’s hope it will be quiet,” Sakhnin bench boss Slobodan Drapic began. “There was no real gameplay at all, and it was one of the weakest games we’ve had… We are waiting to bring in another player who is supposed to come, but if there is no peace here and there is war, then no one will come.”
At Teddy Stadium, Maccabi Bnei Reineh slipped by Hapoel Jerusalem 1-0 as Muhamed Shaker scored the lone goal of the match when he put home a Kayes Ganem steal to take the points.
“We aren’t looking at the table, and we are just accumulating points as we enjoy the situation we are in,” Bnei Reineh head coach Sharon Mimer said.
Finally, Maccabi Petah Tikva and Hapoel Haifa played to a goalless draw as the two sides split the points at the Moshava Stadium.
“Each match is different,” Haifa bench boss Roni Levy began. “We knew we were coming into the contest against an opponent who is coming in with good momentum at its home stadium, with one of the best midfields in the country, very high quality. We were not in the game offensively, but defensively, yes, as we fought and showed character, which is not always fun when there are no goals, but at least we battled.”
“We stepped up today; we managed to get to the final third of the pitch better than in our other games, but we are still lacking in finishing. However, we will improve that aspect and look ahead to our next match,” Petah Tikva coach Dan Roman said.