Summary: Maccabi Haifa - Hapoel Haifa 1:1/Sport1
1. Big disappointment in Maccabi Haifa after the 1:1 draw in the derby last night (Sunday).
The Greens expected to reach the return match against Ghent on Wednesday after a victory, but were unable to overcome the city rival and will be able to be tied again tonight with Maccabi Tel Aviv at the top, if they beat Maccabi Netanya (8:00 p.m., Sport1).
The team was very disappointed that they did not "finish" the game already in the first half hour.
Maccabi Haifa felt that they demonstrated absolute superiority in the first half hour, during which they could have scored several goals and closed the story at an early stage.
However, in Haifa they encouraged Lior Rafalov who missed a penalty in the 11th minute and complimented the midfielder who quickly recovered from the miss and showed good ability.
"We should have decided the game at the beginning," stated a player in the team, "We got into the game well, we completely dominated and we got situations. Even after their tie we had situations to win, so it's very disappointing from our point of view."
Despite the feeling of missing out, in Haifa they admitted that in the second half the team did not show its usual level and that the draw reflected that.
"We didn't deserve to win," said another member of the team, "Hapoel Haifa got into too many situations. We need to look ahead and take the point from the derby that will advance us in the championship fight."
The greens face Gent after the disappointment in the derby/Maor Alxalsi
2. Maccabi Haifa does not have too much time to dwell on the disappointing draw, because already on Wednesday they will be hosted by Gent for the return match for the right to qualify for the round of 16 of the Conference League, six days after winning 0:1 in the home match in Hungary.
In Maccabi Haifa, they attach great importance to the game and have set qualifying for the eighth as an important goal.
"In the eighth, you can get big teams from the Premier League, from France or Italy and we all want to play in these classes against top teams," said a player in the team.
Maccabi Haifa hopes to welcome back on Wednesday Pierre Cornot, who was planned to be included in the squad for the derby, but in the end it was decided that he is not yet ready.
Maccabi Haifa will not be in a hurry to bring him back if he doesn't feel 100 percent fit, but the chance that he will return to the squad this week is high - in any case, there is no intention to bring him back to the team already in Belgium.
Dego is expected to make several changes to the 11, but there will be no more revolution against Gent.
"We took into account that these are two critical games in four days, so in the first game against Ghent we made a lot of changes. We arrive very determined to complete the task," the club said.
Daniel Sondgren, who received a yellow card last night for catching Yosef's shirt in the second half, will be absent against MS.
Ashdod in the next cycle due to accumulating five yellow cards.
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Dego: "We were impatient, Halaili needs to be a little more mature"
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"You have to remember that he is young."
Halaili/Maor Alxalsi
3. In recent times, the name of Anan Halaili has become a common name on the lips of every Israeli soccer fan.
The young player has a huge offer from the Belgian Union Saint Gillois and it is estimated that the chances of him moving there at the end of the season are high, even if the deal has not yet been closed.
Last night after the derby, Dego criticized Halaili when he said: "I told him he needs to be a little more mature."
Maccabi Haifa explained that Dago referred to situations where the player looked for the goal instead of arranging easy situations for his teammates, especially when he could have left Franzi Piero in a certain occupation situation and did not do so.
Despite the criticism, in Haifa they mentioned Halaili favorably and complimented him for cooking for Gedi Kinda and also for preventing a certain goal.
"He saved a goal yesterday, even if there were some bad decisions. He doesn't stop working and he does a difficult job in a way we never dreamed of," said a club official, "He is always humble and works hard, you have to remember that he is very young and there are decisions that come with experience" , added one of his friends.
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Maccabi Haifa
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