Maccabi defeats Kiryat Shmona with goals from Haziza (36’), a brace for Sabia (38’ and 41’), and Refaelov (85’).
Israeli Premier League - 18th fixture | Maccabi Haifa vs Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Sammy Ofer Stadium
Maccabi’s line-up: Shareef Keouf, Ilay Feingold, Abdoulaye Seck, Oleksandr Syrota, Kenny Saief, Liam Hermesh, Ethan Azoulay, Gadi Kinda, Dolev Haziza (C), Xander Severina, Dia’a Sabia.
Kick Off
7’ Saief crosses a corner kick into the box, Sabia shoots a volley, but the ball hits one of the visitors' defenders and is deflected to another corner.
8’ Severina receives the ball inside the box and crosses it towards Haziza who heads it, but the ball goes just inches over the crossbar.
12’ Feingold passes his defenders with a nice dribble and enters the penalty area of Kiryat Shmona. From there, he crosses the ball to Sabia, who leaves it for Azoulay, who shoots it powerfully, but Tzur, Kiryat Shmona’s goalkeeper, was there to save it.
14’ Yellow Card: Bilal Shaheen (Kiryat Shmona)
17’ Yellow Card: Ayid Habshi (Kiryat Shmona)
18’ A penalty kick is awarded to Maccabi. Sabia takes the shot, but he misses the target.
27’ Yellow Card: Abdoulaye Seck (Maccabi)
28’ Haziza leaves behind his defender and storms into the box, he shakes off a couple of more defenders and shoots a curved ball that goes whistling next to the post.
31’ Yellow Card: Ilay Feingold (Maccabi)
36’ GOAL! another penalty kick is awarded to Maccabi, this time Haziza takes the shot and converts it successfully. 1:0 for Maccabi
38’ GOAL! Sabia steals the ball from the visitors’ defense and scores Maccabi’s second goal within two minutes. 2:0 for Maccabi
41’ GOAL! Haziza steals the ball about 30 meters from the goal and sprints forward into the box, where he passes it to Sabia, who scores his second goal into an empty net. 3:0 for Maccabi
41’ Assist: Dolev Haziza
Second Half
46’ Double substitution for Kiryat Shmona: Lidor Cohen and Denis Kulikov in, Christian Bella and Ayid Habshi out.
56’ Substitution for Kiryat Shmona: Hamza Shibli in, Roei Zikri out.
57’ Azoulay tries his luck with a shot from 20 meters, but the goalkeeper collects it
58’ Double substitution for Maccabi: Iyad Khalaili and Lior Refaelov in, Gadi Kinda and Dolev Haziza out.
64’ GOAL! Yair crosses the ball into the box and Sá da Silva shoots with a single touch to narrow the score. 3:1 for Maccabi
65’ Substitution for Kiryat Shmona: Nadav Niddam in, Esmiraldo Sá da Silva out.
68’ Double substitution for Maccabi: Omer Dahan and Mahmoud Jaber in, Xander Severina and Liam Hermesh out.
77’ Refaelov crosses a great ball towards Dahan who heads it, but the ball goes slightly over the crossbar.
79’ Sabia takes a free kick and crosses a sharp ball into the box, Seck heads it, but the goalkeeper denies the attempt.
82’ Substitution for Maccabi: Sean Goldberg in, Kenny Saief out.
85’ GOAL! Khalaili breaks down the wing and crosses the ball to Sabia, who touches it to Refaelov. The latter shakes off his defenders and rolls the ball into the net. 4:1 for Maccabi
85’ Assist: Dia’a Sabia
87’ Substitution for Kiryat Shmona: Ofir Benbenishti in, Cristian Martínez out.
90’+3’ Refaelov delivers a sharp corner kick to Seck, who heads it brilliantly, but the goalkeeper manages to tip the ball away.
90’+4’ Final whistle. Maccabi defeats Kiryat Shmona 4:1 at Sammy Ofer
