Eran Zahavi, grade: 7
I don’t really need to add. The biggest winner of Israeli football
Fabiano Leisman, score: 4
Lost my gold completely at the gate
When everything goes the other way, when the task is getting harder, with ten players and when the loss already seems imminent, with Eran Zahavi at your disposal, you can be calm. This is exactly what happened tonight (Thursday) to Maccabi Tel Aviv, who reached the rematch against Aris at the volcano in Thessaloniki and once again, got their hero, who with a second goal in a row and one that came at exactly the right moment, put them in the playoff stage of the Conference League qualifiers with a 2:1 loss But with 2:3 in the summary.
This is the most clichéd script that could have been written. Zahavi returns, scores in his first game in Bloomfield, scores in the second leg in Greece and raises Maccabi Tel Aviv to a European stage, just as if we were in Basel in 2015. But what to do in the case of the great actors of this generation, he himself writes the script. And if we put aside the superlatives that are running out for a moment, we can say that Vladan Ivić’s team, despite the loss, rightfully advances to the next level in light of the two games, when this time they suffered from a terrible display of judgment by referee John Beaton who sent off Dan Glazer with an illusory red card. Maccabi showed an uncompromising fighting spirit, was organized and orderly in most stages of the game and, as mentioned, advanced to the playoff stage, where a much more difficult obstacle awaits them in the form of the French Nice. Again, with Zahavi, everything seems possible.
The trend was clear from the first moment – Aris initiates and dominates, while Maccabi Tel shuts down and serves to sting with bursting attacks. In the first half, the yellows hardly held the ball and allowed the Greeks complete control, but the glittering names in the host’s squad apparently do not really reflect her ability, when she often seemed to lack punch and the ability to seriously threaten Daniel Peretz’s goal except for one free kick that went to the crossbar.
In the second half, John Beaton’s performance began. Throughout all stages of the game, perhaps out of fear of the home crowd who definitely put on a show, it was impossible to miss the crazy yellows and crazy whistles of the Scottish referee against the Maccabi players. In the 60th minute, the real mess started, then, the referee issued a whistle for a penalty and issued an illusory red to Dan Glazer, after at first he was confused and pulled it in front of Nir Biton’s. Andre Gray scored and pressured Ivic’s team.
But apparently you can’t really stress that the gold is at your disposal. The striker, who has not yet fully completed his return to fitness, came off the bench in the 66th minute, and nine minutes later was already doing what he knows how to do better than anyone in our football. In one of his first touches, Zahavi caught the Aris defense off guard, received a huge ball from Gabi Kanikovski (second assist in the pair of games), and with such an easy and cool finish, put Maccabi in the next stage. Aris still managed to go 1:2 from the legs of Cheik Dokura, but it was too little too late for her. Maccabi, Zahavi, now try to imagine what will happen when he is eligible.
second half
’90+7
- Bitton just finished!! Maccabi Tel Aviv in the playoffs
’90
- Dan Beaton instead of Gabi Kanikowski
’90
- Avi Ricken instead of Van Overeem
’83
- Yellow light candle
’83
- Yellow for Marvin Piersman
’80
- Gate! Aris went up to 1:2: nothing is over yet. Andre Gray dropped his heel into the box for Cheik Dokura who scored from close range and once again put the yellows under pressure
’75
- Gate!!! Maccabi Tel Aviv equalized 1:1: I have already run out of words to describe this man. Again Eran Zahavi, again in one of the first touches on the field, brought Maccabi Tel Aviv closer to the next stage. This time, the striker caught the Aris defense off guard, received a great deep pass from Gaby Kanikowski and with typical composure, rolled the ball into the net one on one against Julian Cuesta
’73
- Yellow for a moose
’68
- Baris also substituted: Manu Garcia in place of Brian Dabo
’66
- Kvas gave way to Eyal Gulsa
’66
- Double substitution at Maccabi Tel Aviv: Eran Zahavi replaces George Jovanovich
’60
- Gate! Aris Thessaloniki took the lead 0:1: Andre Gray scored from the penalty spot
’60
- John Beaton completely lost the game. The Scottish referee issued a false red to Dan Glazer and whistled for a penalty in favor of Aris Saloniki
’53
- Yellow for giving a hozuz
’50
- Yellow card for George Jubanovich, the referee is very happy with the Maccabi players
first half
’30
- Yellow for Fabiano Leisman
’25
- Congratulations to Maccabi Tel Aviv, Luis Palma asks for the free ball
’24
- Yellow for Joris van Overeem after a foul on the edge of the box
’23
- Daniel Mancini got into an excellent position in the box but kicked outside the frame of Peretz
’16
- Enrique Saborit became the first yellow card of the match
’13
- Brendley Kvas was responsible for Maccabi Tel’s first threat with a diagonal kick that went outside the frame
‘8
- Aris tried to dictate the pace from the opening and was the first to threaten, a flat kick by Cheik Docura outside the box was stopped by Daniel Peretz
‘1
- The referee of the game, John Beaton, got the game underway
