In the absence of the suspended Milson, Cain switched to a formation of three brakes and surprised by placing Dan Beaton in attack next to Zahavi. Maccabi Haifa got back Anan Halaili and also the experienced Lior Rafalov and Daniel Sondgren back to 11, but the greens did not take advantage of the enthusiasm of the opening minutes and then paid dearly for the first mistake. Abdulai Sek made it, with a misreading of the move and stepping on Zahavi, who was accurate from the penalty spot in the 27th minute and celebrated his 17th of the season in the league, in front of his two competitors for the title of top scorer. And when Zahabi scores or cooks, Maccabi Tel Aviv does not lose to Maccabi Haifa. This figure was also maintained tonight.
On the other hand, Lior Rafalov’s statistics were broken. The green captain missed some good chances from which he is usually accurate, and for the first time in his career he lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv in a game in which he started. The absorption greatly impaired the game of the greens, who tried too many elevations and suffered from a weak day from Halaili. Dean David did score a virtuoso goal with his heel, but it was from a different position at the start of the second half and for the rest of the time he and Franzi Pierro had a lot of difficulty once morest the yellows’ thick defense.
Neither Dago’s substitutions were helpful nor the hope given by Sharif Kif, who stopped Zahavi’s second penalty in the 54th minute. The closest to equalizing was Gadi Kinda who hit the crossbar in the 90th minute, and the green crowd that came hoping to see the gap reduced to only two points, saw Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Maccabi Haifa for the first time following five league meetings and then celebrated on the grass with dancing and songs joined by owner Goldhar. Everything is ready for the yellow championship party.
