maccabi 3 - 2 shlomis (381039480)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 20000 to avi nimni Arena. Sven Maclure was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Michael Matsson and Roger Ulfbratt. maccabi started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. The following players took the field: Hogan - Rei, Pinto, Stern, Soler - Srour, Avivi, Ovadia, Sofer, Oprea - Čech.

shlomis tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Collard - D'Aquino, Aspero, Irarraín - Scarzanella, Tichon, Katz, Smadja, Stevens - Alonso, Lagomarsini.

The maccabi free kick 11 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of E. Sofer, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 1 - 0! 13 minutes into the game, maccabi's S. Srour fired home from an incredible distance! We'll be seeing that on Xmas goal compilation DVDs for years to come! 2 - 0. With 16 minutes played, maccabi put themselves up 3 - 0 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to S. Soler, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. Halftime score was 3 - 0. Possession in this half belonged to maccabi, who controlled the ball 66 percent of the time.

D. Rei almost put maccabi ahead another goal when he curled a free kick over the defensive wall and almost into the net, but the visitors' keeper got there just in time to knock it wide. J. Stevens's early cross saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert R. Alonso was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to score for shlomis. 3 - 1. maccabi's D. Oprea was shown a yellow card after 65 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the shlomis manager used a brief break in play after 75 minutes to give the players new directives. maccabi's E. Sofer was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 75 minutes. With 79 minutes played, L. Irarraín of shlomis fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. 81 minutes into the match, D. Rei could have extended the lead, but his powerful free kick went just over the bar. The home team's fans were upset when, after 82 minutes, the visiting N. Tichon broke through the central defence and kicked the ball past the keeper. 3 - 2 was the score. After 85 minutes, shlomis used a short break in the game to take new instructions from their coach. maccabi had most of the ball, with 66 percent of possession.

maccabi's best player was E. Sofer. However, D. Hogan made a disastrous appearance. P. Aspero performed admirably for shlomis. Y. D'Aquino on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 2.