Maccabi Haifa against Maccabi Tel Aviv, the first match of the season in the championship group, it's a moment that both teams have been waiting for.
Maccabi Tel Aviv has recently climbed to first place. They are undefeated for 29 consecutive league matches. Since Patrick van Leeuwen was appointed, their run is even more impressive, with 14 wins in 16 league matches.
For Maccabi Haifa, that suddenly started to chase and not to lead, playing against Maccabi Tel Aviv is not an easy task. The last time that Maccabi Haifa defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv in a league match was in 2016. It's their only win in the last 30 games between the two sides. Moreover, Maccabi Haifa didn't defeat Maccabi Tel Aviv at home since 2012.
All of these, including the fans in the Sammi Ofer Stadium in Haifa, was the best stage.
First Half
Maccabi Haifa knew that it's a do-or-die match for them, so they began the match with pressure and a continuous search for the first goal. In the 17th minute, Omer Atzili crossed a free kick into the box, and Bogdan Planić scored with an accurate header.
This goal changed the match, as Maccabi Tel Aviv took more chances to score. Maccabi Haifa took back the dominance in the late minute, but both teams failed to score.
At half time, Maccabi Haifa was in a 1-0 lead, and they could feel that this match could be different from the previous meetings.
— Maccabi Haifa FC (@mhfootballclub) April 6, 2021
Second Half
Maccabi Tel Aviv didn't want to give up on this match. In the 48th minute, they had a great chance to equalize when Sheran Yeini shot from a long-range. Maccabi Haifa's goalkeeper stopped to kick but dropped the ball. Avi Rikan was in the right place to take a second shot, but this time Ofri Arad stood on the goal line and cleared it away.
Two minutes later, Maccabi Haifa made another mistake. Dor Peretz made a coast-to-coast run, assisted to Eduardo Guerrero, and the Panamanian scored the equalizer. During the goal celebrations, Maccabi Haifa's fans started to throw items to the field, and a popsicle hit Tal Ben Haim. The fans had another clash with Nick Blackman, with some of them chanting racist songs against him.
In the 59th minute, Maccabi Haifa was close to retaking the lead. Nikita Rukavytsya shot Daniel Tenenbaum saved it, but Sun Menachem scored from the second chance. The party didn't last long, as the assistant referee disallowed the goal and the VAR confirmed that Menachem was in an offside position.
Nick Blackman was the hero of Maccabi Tel Aviv's last match, but this time he made an awful mistake in the 75th minute. He stepped on Ofri Arad, the referee booked him for the second time in the match, and the Barbadian international player was sent off. In the last minutes, Maccabi Haifa tried to find the second, but two narrow misses of Godsway Donyoh and Mohammed Awad kept the score tied.
In the end, Maccabi Tel Aviv is still in the lead with a 1-point advantage over Maccabi Haifa. With eight matches left until the end of the season and another game between the teams in Bloomfield, the story isn't over yet.
The Race to Europe
Not only the match of the season was played, but also two more matched in the championship group.
FC Ashdod is getting closer to a Europa Conference League berth after a 2-0 away win against Hapoel Be'er Sheva. Maccabi Petah Tikva defeated Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2-0. In the current situation, FC Ashdod is in third place with a 6-point lead from fourth place.
The bottom three teams in the group will play in a run-off for the fourth place, knowing that only if Maccabi Haifa, Maccabi Tel Aviv, or FC Ashdod will win the cup will also get a ticket to continental competition.
Photo via Maccabi Tel Aviv official Twitter account.
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