It went hard again, it was exhausting again but Maccabi Haifa achieved an important victory tonight (Saturday) 2:3 over Kiryat Shmona away.
Itamar Shabiru scored a double in favor of the host, but Franzadi Piero, Charon Sherry and Dylan Batinsica secured three important points for the champion.
Three days before the match against PSG in the City of Lights as part of the 5th round of the Champions League, the Greens did the job and managed to climb to first place in the table, at least until Maccabi Tel Aviv's match on Monday against Maccabi Netanya.
"We made this game difficult, because we started well and got into a lot of situations in the first half," concluded Haifa coach Barak Becher after the game, "We could have increased the score by 0:1, but every time we felt comfortable - we conceded. Precisely at 2:2 They were closer to the third, these are pitches that you need to know how to win on, and we did it. It's not an easy period, we marked V in an exhausting game. We were exposed and could have absorbed the third, you have to congratulate Kiryat Shmona who tried to press and sent many players forward, and almost embarrassed us. I felt that we improved defensively in the last two games, today we were exposed, but it's more pleasant to correct when we win. Obviously, it can't go like this."
On the jump between the league and the games in the Champions League, Becher added: "I don't want to look as if the Premier League is a burden. We came today with a good attitude and had a good first half, we don't just want to mark V and continue. We want to come to the games with fun. We did it better in the half The first, we have an interesting game on Tuesday and after that we'll be back for another three, four games in the league. We want to reach the World Cup break in first place."
Right back Daniel Sondgren hurt his knee during the second half.
The medical team estimates that it is not a tear in the cruciate ligament, but it is still a rotation of the knee and tomorrow he will undergo an MRI examination, which will reveal if there is a tear in the lateral ligament.
In any case, the champion will fly to Paris tomorrow morning and the Swede will be absent from the upcoming games, when it is a significant professional loss for the Greens.
On Sondgren's condition, Bacher said: "Obviously, a player coming off the field on a stretcher is not a minor injury. But we will wait and see what the diagnosis is, it is known that he is an important player."
Sondgren.
Haifa is worried, photo: Danny Maron
Netta Lavi added about his coach: "The spectators had a good football game, they saw that we suffered, but as a team we need to put a lot of emphasis on this game and pass it. The road is very important at this stage of the season, we hope to improve and play even better. There were absolutely situations to finish the The game, it's not pleasant for the strikers who missed, they were very nervous and took responsibility for it. When you miss, you lose - that's football. Let's hope we don't miss in the future. Kiryat Shmona's game plan was to leave two on two, we had to leave another player there to Not to be at a numerical disadvantage. Paris Saint-Germain? We are already used to this schedule, we will come with all our strength to the game, which is very difficult."
Itamar Shabiru, who scored a brace for the hosts, analyzed the game from the side of the loser: "Very disappointing, I think we showed our best performance of the season, precisely against the best team in the league. We got into a lot of situations and it was a little bit unlucky to get us the points, but we will take a lot of things from it good. We need to improve our 'evil' a little more. This game was important to me on a personal level, the person closest to me is going through a difficult time on a personal level. He is not out of my mind and I believe in him to get through it. I look sharp too In training, in the last period we got into situations less and it hurt me a bit. I'm happy for the team as much as I can, I believe we will look better in the future. Today we did an amazing preparation in the professional section, we lack luck and I'm sure we'll bring a lot of points."
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