Yellow-and-blue top Maccabi Haifa to maintain title hopes
MACCABI TEL AVIV players celebrate their 3-1 win over Maccabi Haifa after a commanding performance in the Israeli Classico kept their Premier League championship hopes alive. (photo credit: MACCABI TEL AVIV/COURTESY) Guy Melamed pulled a marker back to halve the lead, but Ido Shachar scored from the penalty spot after there was a handball in the box to close out the victory. Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Maccabi Haifa 3-1 as the yellow-and-blue dominated the Israeli Classico to take the three points and keep its slim title chances alive, dropping the gap to first-place Hapoel Beersheba to eight points.
Varela opened the scoring off a Haifa turnover to give Maccabi an early lead in the 15th minute, while Sayed Abu Farkhi doubled the advantage in first-half injury time to head into the break holding a 2-0 lead. Trivante Stewart was then issued a straight red card for his reckless foul on Itamar Noy to lose a player for the final half hour of play. Guy Melamed pulled a marker back to halve the lead, but Ido Shachar scored from the penalty spot after there was a handball in the box to close out the victory.
Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Ronny Deila reflected on the match. ”In the first half, especially the first 25 minutes, we played very well. They scored two goals that were disallowed, and we responded with a goal before halftime; it was an important goal.
After that, in the second half, they didn’t create much, but we didn’t play particularly well either. We could have moved the ball better and created more chances. Our intensity dropped, and that’s something you can’t allow, no matter where we’re playing.
It’s a good win that puts us in a strong position. We need to keep going, and we’re already looking ahead to Tuesday. ” MACCABI TEL AVIV players celebrate their 3-2 victory over Maccabi Haifa in the State Cup semifinal at Teddy Stadium.
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