There are days when you need a little luck, and that’s what happened last night (Tuesday, 8/30/2022) to Maccabi Haifa. The champion won 0:1 over Bnei Sakhnin in the second round of the first round of the Premier League. 4,000 spectators at the Doha Stadium in Sakhnin saw Barak Becher’s team struggling against the tough team from the Galilee, but one goal by Sean Goldberg (the first of his career), courtesy of the home goalkeeper Gad Amos, determined that the three points would travel with the Greens to Haifa.
At the end of the two rounds the greens stand on a perfect balance of 6 points out of 6 possible. Despite this, their ability is far from perfect and it is clear that over time they will lose points if no significant improvement occurs.
The secondary lineup is struggling against Sakhnin
The lineup that Barak Becher put together was not the strongest possible. Omar Atzili, Franzi Pierro, Charon Sherry and Dolev Haziza again started on the bench, as against Maccabi Netanya. Dean Dodd, Nikita Rukavica, Mohamed Abu Fani and Mavis Chibuta received the keys in their place. Also, Maor Levy filled in the place of Netta Lavi, who was not in the squad due to the birth of his eldest son. The defense also saw two changes, with the defenders Daniel Sondgren and Pierre Cornot seeing San Menachem on the left and Vinon Eliyahu on the right (debut in the green uniform) take their place.
Abu Fani kicked the crossbar of Gad Amos in the 4th minute, the guests’ first threat. 3 minutes later Oveida Darvish found the free Guy Melamed who hit the hands of Josh Cohen. David’s arcing shot in the 34th minute almost surprised Amos who barely headed into the corner. Apart from these attempts, both teams did not significantly threaten the goals. 0:0 at halftime.
The heavy guns are sent into battle
In the absence of goals, Becher made three substitutions in the half and sent the most dangerous players to the grass. Atzili, Sherry and Piero went on the field instead of Rukavitsa, David and Levi. Cheri found Piero free in the box in the 48th minute, but Amos stopped the Haiti striker’s kick. In the 63rd minute, he also stopped Abu Fani who kicked from outside the box.
In the end Amos made a serious mistake and gave Haifa the advantage. In the 67th minute, he dropped a free ball from Atzili to the feet of Ofri Arad. The stopper handed it to Goldberg who scored his first career goal (which started 8 years ago) from close range. Amos’s bad mistake, the green brakes score a goal, 0:1 to Maccabi Haifa.
Sakhnin looked for the equalizer, but Cohen had no difficulty in the face of threats from Melamed and Nicolao Cardoso. On the other hand, Amos Hafs is loaded with a surprising kick from Atzili in extra time, but it does not make up for his serious mistake in the goal he conceded. 0:1 to Maccabi Haifa at the end, which wins even on its not particularly great day.
A busy schedule
The Greens have a particularly difficult schedule waiting for them in the near future. On Saturday (3/9/2022) they will be hosted by Hapoel Beer Sheva as part of the 3rd round of the Premier League. Three days later (Tuesday, 6/9/2022) they will be hosted in Lisbon by Benfica in the first round of the Champions League. A difficult period is expected for them, in which they will have to juggle between the icing on the cake in the form of the Champions League and the bread and butter in the form of the Premier League.
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