24th round of the 2019/20 “TA Stock Exchange” League: Maccabi Haifa hosted Hapoel Hadera. Marco Balbul’s team arrived at the match after a 2:0 loss against Beitar Jerusalem on the last league fixture. Prior to the match Maccabi was located on the second place of the league with 49 points. On the other hand, the guests were located on the 5th place prior to the match with 34 points and after a 2:0 victory against Hapoel Kfar Saba last week.
Maccabi’s line-up: Cohen, Mabouka, Sainsbury, Arad, Menachem, Lavi (c), Ashkenazi, Haziza, Chery, Wildschut, Rukavytsya.
The defender Lillo Castellano was supposed to start in the opening eleven but he was injured during the warm up. Sun Menachem replaced him.
Kick off
7 Wildschut gets the ball on the left flank and he crosses the ball into the box, but Ejide collects it.
14’ Chery delivers a long ball to Mabouka on the right wing, the Cameroonian crosses it into the box, the ball is cleared by the defense straight to Sainsbury who shoots from the air, but the ball goes wide.
24’ Sun Menachem receives the ball on the left side of the pitch, advances and shoots from the edge of the box, but Ejide deflects it for a corner kick.
27’ Hapoel Hadera’s Diaa Lababidi is sent off after receiving a second yellow card.
32’ Wildschut starts a counter attack from the left flank, he passes the ball to Haziza in the middle and he finds Ashkenazi who was blocked by the keeper.
33’ Maccabi’s pressure continues when Menachem crosses a sharp ball from the left side, but Ejide beats Arad to the ball and sends the ball behind the line for a corner kick.
34’ Maccabi uses a short corner to find Chery who shoots powerfully with his left foot, but Ejide blocks the ball with his leg.
35’ Haziza gets the ball on the right flank, storms to the middle and leaves a great ball to Chery who shoots from the edge of the box, but the goalkeeper stops the attempt.
37’ Chery passes the ball to Haziza on the right flank, the latter brakes through and runs towards the goal. He passes by his defender and shoots, but the ball goes just above the crossbar.
40’ Chery finds Rukavytsya in the center, who passes the ball to Mabouka in a single touch and the latter crosses a great ball, but the keeper collects it.
41’ Ashkenazi gets the ball at the edge of the box, shoots strongly, but the ball goes straight to the keeper’s hands.
45’+2’ End of the first half. It’s 0:0 between Maccabi and Kfar Saba.
Second half
49’ Arad gets the ball from Lavi, advances and shoots from 25 meters, Ejide collects it.
55’ Substitution for Maccabi: Yarden Shua in, Yuval Ashkenazi out.
57’ Chery’s corner kick is cleared by Hadera’s defense straight to Lavi who shoots from the air, but the ball goes wide.
64’ Maccabi starts another counter attack when Chery provides a long pass to Rukavytsya who runs all the way into the box, but he is blocked in the last moment.
65’ Arad receives the ball on the right flank and crosses a sharp ball towards Rukavytsya but Ejide clears it.
66’ Wildschut breaks through the right flank, leaves the ball to Lavi who passes it to Chery who shoots from the edge of the box, but the ball is cleared for a corner.
66’ A short corner ends with a cross by Mabouka who finds Arad, but his header misses the frame by inches.
68’ Haziza cuts from the left flank to the middle and passes the ball to Wildschut who shoots from 22 meters, but he misses the target.
70’ Substitution for Maccabi: Muhammad Awad in, Yanic Wildschut out.
71’ Mabouka storms down the right wing and passes the ball to Chery who crosses it sharply into the box, but Haziza misses the ball.
72’ Shua gets the ball at the edge of the box, delivers an incisive pass towards Rukavytsya who shoots a flat ball to the bottom corner and scores! 1:0 for Maccabi.
77’ Substitution for Maccabi: Maxim Plakuschenko in, Nikita Rukavytsya out.
78’ Menachem receives the ball at the left edge of the box, delivers a sharp cross, Shua lets the ball run between his legs, but Plakuschenko arrives late to it.
84’ Lavi passes the ball left for Haziza who finds Chery in the middle. The dutch shoots strongly with his left foot from 25 meters, but the ball goes flying above the crossbar.
86’ Haziza starts another attack from the left flank. He passes it to Shua who leaves the ball to Awad. The striker shoots with his left foot straight to the keeper’s hands.
90’ Another counter attack ends with another shot by Awad who once again is blocked by Ejide.
90’+2’ Haziza gets the ball on the left side of the box and shoots with his right foot to the far corner, but the ball goes next to the post and out of play.
90’+3’ A lovely double pass between Plakuschenko and Shua turns into a shot on goal by the striker, the ball is deflected for a corner kick.
90’+4’ Another counter attack by Maccabi, this time Menachem shoots the ball, Ejide denies it.
90’+5’ Final whistle. Maccabi beats Hapoel Hadera 1:0!
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