Raz Amir 27/01/2021 22:52
Patrick Van Leven (Radad Jabara)
Maccabi Tel Aviv fully opened the championship fight tonight (Wednesday) when they defeated Maccabi Haifa 1: 2 at the end of a huge drama in the game of the season and narrowed the gap at the top of the table to only 5 points, after 90 rhythmic, emotional and eventful minutes. At the end, the Yellows released a lot of pressure when one of them shouted at the Maccabi Haifa players as they got off the grass: “You will not beat us! We are Maccabi!”.
Patrick Van Leven, Who probably earned a syllable of credit points following the 3 precious points, said at the end: “We had a hard time in the first half but we recovered in the second half when we tried to play football and then I started to believe that opportunities would come to score. There is still a long way to go, we have taken a good step forward and we will continue on this path. “
Why Matan Hozaz has not received the credit until now: “If he did not get more minutes then there was probably a reason for it. He showed progress and invested in training, got the chance today and also justified it on the grass. “
Is he happy with how the team looked? Again, we had a hard time in the first half but even then I saw good football at times. We need to show character and we as a team need to make sure we win even when the team does not show up with great football. I am happy with the victory. “
On the less encouraging side for the champion’s Dutch coach – after the game it became clear that Yonatan Cohen, who was injured against Maccabi Netanya and did not take part in tonight’s game, suffers a small rupture in four heads defined as a very strong stretch, and will be absent for at least two more weeks.
