Amit Karko
Maccabi Petah Tikva players after Abdah’s goal disqualified (Nissan Aish)
A big disappointment for Maccabi Petah Tikva following last night’s (Wednesday) 2: 1 loss to Kiryat Shmona as part of the rematch of the 19th round. Guy Luzon’s team wanted to secure their place in the top playoffs officially but came back empty handed after already managing to get back into the game with a great shrinking goal from Liel Abda’s feet, and then another goal was disqualified due to VAR referees’ intervention claiming to be different. The team did not accept the decision mainly after seeing the video of the game after the whistle and claiming that there was a legal goal. “It seems that people in the league have already gotten used to these VAR mistakes,” they said in Petah Tikva. “It’s sad, but what can be done? No one will give us back the goal or this point.”
The pressure and frustration was felt on the pitch as time went on and was also expressed when cells in Ribo and Armando Cooper were seen exchanging things between them due to an attack that did not go ahead as planned, the two cleared things up immediately afterwards. Baribo is expected to fly to Germany to undergo surgery on his lower abdomen. The striker, who has been suffering from a Mauser period that has been bothering him during an activity, will undergo a procedure similar to the one Dolev Haziza did a year ago, with Dr. Ulrika Moshvik, who is considered an expert in her field. According to the team members, this is not a long procedure with relatively short rehabilitation for surgery and the chances that he will be able to play a few more games again this season are quite high.
After the final whistle, in the team’s locker room and also in the Malabuses’ bus on the way back, there was silence as those present testified that it was hard to miss the hard feelings of the players who felt a big miss from this game. “It’s perhaps our most painful loss this season,” said one of the team players, “we deserved more, we really wanted that win and showed it on the pitch but it’s hard when not everyone is going. We’ll come to fix it on Sunday.
“The disappointment is enormous,” the captain concluded Guy Hadida Who felt pain in his back muscle and was replaced in the 41st minute, ‘We did not expect to come and lose. We fought, gave everything and we will move on to secure the top playoff elsewhere. ‘ The coach also used the same word to sum up the match when he said: ‘A big disappointment. I think we were sluggish for the first 15 minutes and KS took advantage of that, then there was only one team on the field. We did everything to equalize and equalize at a legal goal, but we will have to raise our heads to continue to the next game. “
In terms of the picture of the fight for the top playoff, Luzon’s players are still in a good position among the teams battling for the coveted ticket. Petah Tikva is in fourth place with 36 points, while there are the last six points in the regular league box office and two meetings are planned for it, one against Hapoel Beer Sheva (home) on Sunday and the other against Bnei Sakhnin (away) in the final round before the playoffs open.
The next game against BS at the Colony Stadium will be the first to take place with an audience in terms of the Malabes and the club expects fans to come and support the players for the first time in almost two years in the Premier League. As you may recall, the team was promoted to the Premier League during the Corona period and since then its fans, like other football fans, have not been able to reach the pitches. Also, ahead of the same game against the team from the Negev capital, Arad Bar will return to full training while recovering from a hamstring injury and is expected to return to the squad. Also a sharpening that as mentioned injured in the back thigh muscle will be examined.
