Summary: Maccabi Haifa - Maccabi Tel Aviv 0:2/Sport1
A month and three days.
That's all it took for Maccabi Haifa to turn what already looked like a lost season into a championship fight with a distinct psychological advantage.
On January 3, Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated MS 1:4.
Ashdod at the 11A Stadium, achieved a tenth league victory in a row and opened up a 10-point lead over Maccabi Haifa. Since then, as we know, everything has changed. In the next seven games, the Yellows achieved only two victories, lost twice and ended in a draw three times. In these seven games, they also recorded A negative goals ratio, of 10:9.
Maccabi Haifa? The complete opposite, of course. Six wins, a single loss, fourths, fifths, plays and dances. Her goal ratio in these seven games? 3:18 (!).
The turnaround was completed yesterday (Monday) With a 0:2 victory in the second game of the season and thanks to the ruling of the association's court today, after which Maccabi Haifa rose to the top for the first time this season.
But the turnaround can also be explained through only two photos from last night's game: the first in the third minute, in which Lorenzo Shimich is seen celebrating the winning goal of Maccabi Haifa, which was also his debut goal in the team's uniform; the second towards the 90th minute, when the camera was pointed at Robbie Keane and from behind Kiko Bondoso was seen sitting on the sidelines and not even warming up for the entrance.
One reinvented himself/Maor Alxalsi
The second is sinking/Dani Maron
Last month Shimich and Bondoso were identified as key players.
Everyone in his group and in his position, was designed to step into big shoes against the background of the opening of the African Championship.
Abdulai Sak, the anchor of Maccabi Haifa at the back, left a huge void in the defense;
Milson, the engine of Maccabi Tel Aviv in the front part, also took off and left a hole in the wing;
Shimich and Bundoso, two strangers who were still a mystery at this point in time, were preparing to be thrown into the deep water.
But only one succeeded.
Bondoso still showed sparks when he started in the lineup and completed 90 minutes in the match against MS Ashdod, but since then - through his fault or not - Robbie Keane does not trust him and rarely uses him.
He played 12 minutes in the first game of the season against Maccabi Haifa, went up for only a minute in the derby, and last night did not participate at all.
In total, Bondoso received 203 minutes during Milson's absence and did not provide a single goal or assist during that time.
In contrast, Shimich underwent a rapid transformation.
Seven games in a row in the lineup, in all seven 90 quality minutes.
Of the stopper who was announced as a flop after the night of nightmares against Maccabi Petah Tikva, no trace remains.
Yesterday, Shimich's transformation was complete.
It's not only the goal he scored, but also the fact that he started alongside Abdulai Sek, who in the meantime managed to return, and found that he has a not bad replacement at all.
During the weeks that Sec was absent, Shimich accepted Eran Zahavi as a project and finished it with honors.
One found a replacement, the other did not.
Dego and Cain/Bernie Ardov
And maybe that's all the difference on one leg.
One team finds replacements on the fly, with a coach who manages to restore confidence to a player who was already at a very low point.
A second team does not find a way to turn a promising foreigner into a contributing player and does not even dare to include him in a critical game.
More on the same topic:
Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Tel Aviv in football