Preview
A week after the 1-1 draw against Pafos in Limassol, Maccabi arrived at the TSC Arena in Backa Topola ahead of their Champions League 2nd qualifying round return leg. Zarko Lazetic and his coaching staff returned to the stadium where he coached local side TSC Backa Topola for a couple of seasons before joining Maccabi last summer. Maccabi returned to the stadium they hosted their Conference League campaign in the 2023/24 campaign.
Lazetic, kept the same side that started the match in Limassol as Nemanja Stojic who also played for TSC under the Serbian coach, partnered Mohamed Ali Camara at the heart of defense infront of goalkeeper Yoav Gerafi. Tyrese Asante on the right and Roy Revivo whose injury time assist to Elad Madmon in Cyprus led to Maccabi’s equalizer completed the defensive line. Issouf Sissokho and Ben Lederman kept their place in the engine room while Dor Peretz led the team out with the captain’s armband at the top of the midfield trio. Weslley Patati who had his family in the stands for the second match in succession, started on one flank with Osher Davida on the other. Dor Turgeman continued to lead Maccabi’s attack seeking to score his first goal of the campaign. On the bench alongside goalkeepers Ofek Melika and Roi Mishpati, Lazetic named Heitor, Sagiv Jehezkel, Raz Shlomo, Denny Gropper, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harush, Itamar Noy, Ido Shahar, Itay Ben Hemo and Ion Nicolaescu all waiting for their chance to make an impact.
First Half
The vistors dominated the opening stages while Maccabi struggled to get into the game and conceded a couple of early corners which goalkeeper Yoav Gerafi managed to punch away. In the 10th minute however Gerafi went down inside his box clutching his hamstring after a clearance as Maccabi’s medical treatment rushed to treat him. Gerafi limped off and was replaced by young Ofek Melika who couldn’t have asked for a bigger night to make his European debut. Seven minutes later Maccabi had the ball in the back of the net as Ben Lederman slipped the ball to Weslley Patati whose square ball was swept in from close range by Dor Peretz. Maccabi’s celebrations were muted by the referee assistant who raised his flag for offside as even after a lengthy check by VAR the initial decision wasn’t changed.
In the 24th minute Osher Davida who tormented his full back down the right flank, cut inside and had his shot by goalkeeper Neofytos Michael before Issouf Sissokho pounced on the rebound yet had his effort blocked by the Pafos defense. Five minutes later Melika caught an Ivan Sunjic header following a cross by Mislav Orsic. A minute later however, the young keeper charged out of his box to try and block Anderson who raced to a through ball. The keeper slid in and brought the Pafos forward down while Romanian referee didn’t hesitate as he showed him the red card.
The freak chain of events forced Zarko Lazetic to introduce a 3rd keeper in the space of 30 minutes as Roi Mishpati came on with Dor Turgeman coming off to make way for the veteran custodian. In the 39th minute Pafos exploited their numerical advantage as Jaja received the ball from Bruno, cut onto his left and curled a shot into the top corner giving Mishpati no chance. On the stroke of halftime a last gasp Sissokho tackle rescued Maccabi from conceding a second as the Mali midfielder managed to block Orsic who chested the ball down before blasting a shot which was making its way in.
Second Half
With no changes to either side at the interval, the second half began just like the previous one with Pafos enjoying most of the possession. A Nemanja Stojic goalmouth clearance saw the Serbian defender head the ball off his line when Mishpati was beaten. Ali Camara was booked on 56 for a mistimed tackle on a Pafos player. A minute before the hour mark Roy Revivo found Weslley Patati who shrugged off Bruno but his shot didn’t trouble Michael who collected his effort with ease.
Lazetic made three changes in the 74th minute as Raz Shlomo, Sagiv Jehezkel and Elad Madmon replaced Camara, Ben Lederman and Davida. Maccabi came inches away from scoring an equalizer on 79 as Revivo’s pinpoint cross found Jehezkel ummarked at the far post. Jehezkel headed the ball across the face of the goal into the path of Peretz but the Maccabi captain couldn’t make contact and edge the ball in.
Jehezkel was given the time and space to float in a cross on 87 which was met by a Peretz header that crept agonisingly wide of the post. The full time whistle confirmed Pafos advance through while Maccabi will continue in the Europa League as they face Hamrun Spartans of Malta.