Preview:

Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the MD10 WINNER League match against Beitar Jerusalem aiming to record their eight league win of the campaign. Three days after the EUROPA League 2-0 defeat away to Aston Villa, Zarko Lazetic’s side know that a victory against fourth place Beitar will see them climb to the of the table just before the international break. But the Toto Cup winners are not expected to be easy pushovers as the side coached by Barak Itzhaki are experiencing a good season winning five of the nine league matches they played so far.

The rib injury Ali Camara suffered at Villa Park forced Lazetic to make a single change at the heart of defense with Heitor Dos Santos stepping in to replace the Guinean as Raz Shlomo’s partner. Tyrese Asante and Roy Revivo comleted Maccabi’s defensive line on the right and left respectively aiming to keep Beitar’s forwards at bay. Maccabi’s midfield remained unchanged with Issouf Sissokho and Itamar Noy occupying the engine room while Dor Peretz captained the side as the attacking midfielder amongst the trio. Peretz who leads the goalscoring charts with six in the league and eight in all competitions, led the team out with the captain’s armband. Helio Varela who impressed against Premier League defenders, kept his place in the starting line up on one wing with Osher Davida on the opposite flank. Elad Madmon led the line aiming to add to his tally of two league goals in his last two matches.
On the bench Lazetic named goalkeeper Yoav Gerafi, Kervin Andrade, Sagiv Jehezkel, Denny Gropper, Noam Ben Harosh, Ben Lederman, Saied Abu Farchi, Ido Shahar and
Ion Nicolaescu.

Prior to kickoff an emotional ceremony was held on the pitch for the return to Bloomfield of Gali and Zivi Berman who were released last month after 738 days in captivity in Gaza. The Berman twins who received last week the two shirts which were waiting for them for more than 2 years beside the technical area, received two framed shirts signed by the entire squad.

First Half:

Maccabi began the match on the front foot with Helio Varela and Osher Davida tormenting Beitar’s defense down the flanks. In the 5th minute Varela skipped past a Beitar as he charged down the left but his cross was cleared. Elad Madmon fired a shot which left Miguel Silva rooted to the goalline but effort crept wide of the post.

In the 19th minute Roi Mishpati was drawn into the action as Maccabi’s keeper reacted well to Yarden Shuah’s left foot drive.

Three minutes later Davida cut inside and tried curling a left foot shot which was easily caught by Silva.

Roy Revivo and Varela combined well on 23 to tear Beitar’s defense apart before squaring for Dor Peretz who couldn’t keep his shot down. Two minutes later
Madmom forced Silva to full stretch as his powerful pile driver was pushed away by the Beitar keeper.

Varela’s pace allowed the Cape Verde winger steal the ball off a Beitar defender near the center circle right on the half hour mark before charging forward and firing a shot which hit the side netting.

Grigoriy Morozov was booked by refree Sapir Berman for a tackle on Varela in the 35th minute.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 42nd minute from the unlikely source of Heitor Dos Santos. The tall Brazilian defender rose above Beitar’s defense to flick Revivo’s throw in and send the ball to bottom far corner for his debut Maccabi goal.

Second Half

Three minutes after the restart Beitar were on level terms as Shuah exploited a misunderstanding between Mishpati and Raz Shlomo to score an equalizer. Two minutes later Adi Yona picked the ball inside Maccabi’s box skipped past a defender and blasted into the net to complete a two goal comeback on 51.

Maccabi’s tripled in the 58th minute as Mishpati beat Shuah to a cross and released the ball but after the ball was released was judged to have headbutted the Beitar captain. Berman showed Mishpati the red card and awarded a penalty for Beitar as Lazetic replaced Madmon with Yoav Gerafi. Omer Atzili stepped up and blasted his spot kick past Gerafi to give Beitar a 3-1 lead on 63. A minute later the visitors tore Maccabi’s defense apart as Yona scored the fourth and his second on the night beating Gerafi with an accurate right foot shot. Lazetic made two more changes as Ido Shahar and Sagiv Jehezkel came on for Itamar Noy and Varela. In the 70th minute Gerafi pulled a stunning save to deny Shuah from scoring a fifth. Davida charged into the box on 73 but sent his shot sailed high and wide.

In the 77th minute Gerafi couldn’t prevent Shuah from scoring Beitar’s fifth as a long ball out of defense reached Beitar’s captain who lifted the ball over the advancing Gerafi before floating it into the open goal.

Maccabi cut the deficit in the 86th minute as Kervin Andrade’s pressure on Silva forced the Beitar keeper to a mistake while the diminutive Venezuelan winger was gifted his debut Maccabi goal to make it 5-2.

Inside injury time a Beitar counter attack resulted with Ziv Ben Shimol scoring the sixth to round off a miserable night.