Ticked: Sports Day Events Summary Clip, 8.5 (Sports1)
Maccabi Haifa took another big step towards a third consecutive championship, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-3 at home. The gap at the top remains at four points, with six remaining. Gabi Kanikowski scored first (14), Hapoel Be'er Sheva led in the parallel game, but the Greens did not panic, equalizing from the feet of Dolev Haziza (38) and providing their seventh turnaround of the season thanks to Dia Seba (50), who scored with the help of Andre Geraldas (62).
Flares were lit in the stands at the opening, including the northern stand, where only women and children were allowed to enter. During the second half, Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans tried to throw flares and fireworks at each other, with the buffering nets installed in Sammy Ofer preventing this. Dolev Haziza suffered a strong blow to the head, remained on the pitch with a bandage, but was later hit again and replaced.
Guest of Honor Bogdan Planić also joined in the dancing. Maccabi Haifa players celebrate (Photo: Maor Elkeslassy)
Barak Bachar concluded: "There are always heart palpitations, but from the first second we played great. It's the car we're exposed to, we took that into account, but we're winning with it. We knew how to come back, turn and win rightly. Well done to the players. I don't know if it's pressure, but factually we don't take advantage of the situations we end up in. It was a good game, with pace, good atmosphere. It adds a little more respect to football after last week. We are very happy with the victory, but we still can't celebrate. We have a tough game in Netanya, we will enjoy 24 hours and we will continue. We love to gamble, every time it happens we succeed. Sure there were criticisms of the offensive lineup, but we won. We took into account that we would concede a goal, but this is a team worth two or three goals every game."
On his team's first goal, Behar said: "We deserved Haziza's goal so much. We started so well, got into situations, and then with one attack they made it 0-1. We kept going, we missed, but it was a goal of determination, a goal of a player who gives 100 percent even after he gets hit in the head. All the players gave 200 percent today. It's not easy, it may seem easy, but to play against a team like this, under such pressure, in such a position, it's not easy."
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"Sometimes when it's harder, it's sweeter." Barak Bachar (Photo: Maor Elkeslassy)
On his team's seventh turnaround of the season, the coach said: "We would love to prevent these heart attacks. This group is mentally strong, has character, is not intimidated by falling behind. There remains one last effort. It is not easy to lead all year by a promising margin, there is always a decline. But every time we had our backs against the wall, we were able to produce the result we needed. We knew Be'er Sheva was leading today, so that was important."
Behar was asked if the talk of a future move to the Red Star bothers me and replied: "It doesn't affect me, I work harder so they don't say it does. You want to finish the task as early as possible, sometimes when it's harder it's sweeter. It's energy-draining, it's tiring, we're in a long season with a lot of highs. You have to know how to enjoy the road and this season. There's a lot of pressure, because everyone expects us to take it. When there's pressure, the players know how to function – that's what's beautiful about this club. There's always concern, and that's why you have to come and do the work. We have to come to Netanya, against a team that may be in the best shape in the country, at home, it's time to celebrate, we deserve it. We very much hope that this will end already."
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Daniel Sundgren (Photo: Maor Elkeslassy)
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Dia Seba, the hero of the game, concluded: "We have taken a significant step towards the championship. It's not over yet, but we've done the job right. There's another drop, we'll try to do that in the next game. I'm very happy with how we played and won, facing Netanya. I'm very excited, I came for these games and these moments, I missed those moments abroad. I came back to Israel to take a degree. Last week we conceded a goal in the last minute, but we knew it was still up to us and we had to get out of those situations as soon as possible. That's the beauty of football, you have the week to fix. We've done the job, and we're looking forward. This needs to be completed next week."
What's left for them
Maccabi Haifa: Maccabi Netanya (away, 15 May), Hapoel Jerusalem (home, 20 May), Hapoel Be'er Sheva: Maccabi Tel Aviv (away, 15 May),
Maccabi Netanya (home, 20 May)
- sport
- Israeli football
- League
Tags
- Maccabi Haifa
- Barak Bachar
- Dia Seba
