Maccabi 3 - 5 Saints (393137303)

Dark skies made the crowd of 3390 at Kiryat Eliezer a little nervous, but the rain held off. Rui Miguel Sá was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Gerhart Frühwirth and Paul Otto Haussmann. Maccabi decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. The following players had been chosen: Milana - Helman, Gabrielli - Marin, Wechslberger, Leclercq, Reznik, van der Bent - Gołębiewski, Várhidi, Toplisek.

A 4-3-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Saints. Starters: Rutkai - Reidel, Melgarejo, Pettersson, Tettamanzi - Eweg, Rodiño, Peres - Valderas, Valastro, Assairo.

Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 17 minutes into the match, and S. Eweg wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. A. Valderas received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 18 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 0 - 2. The Saints fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave B. Assairo from Saints a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 29 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Maccabi's fans were urging them forward as they tried to get back into the game, and their vocal support was rewarded 30 minutes into the match as S. Leclercq ran onto a beautiful ball played through the visitors' defence and slotted it past the keeper to reduce the deficit. 1 - 2. Some fine movement on the left led to a Saints goal after 32 minutes, making it 1 - 3. P. Rodiño was noted down as the scorer. 1 - 3 was the halftime score. Maccabi enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 58 percent of possession.

Maccabi needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 46 minutes B. Marin made way for T. Even. Maccabi supporters cheered as good work down the right got the ball to A. Wechslberger who reduced the visitors' lead after 49 minutes to 2 - 3. After 65 minutes of play, A. Wechslberger equalised for Maccabi after an elegant attack from the right. Maccabi created a good opportunity to score 71 minutes into the match when A. Wechslberger's hooked ball from the left created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors' defenders had a hard time clearing the ball. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 72 minutes allowed B. Assairo to score for Saints. The scoreboard now read 3 - 4. Maccabi tried to even things up by sending a long ball towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitors' defence got the best of this rather direct style of play. 80 minutes in, Maccabi's N. Reznik received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Saints increased their lead after 81 minutes when P. Valastro broke through on the right, upping the score to 3 - 5, much to the home crowd's dismay. P. Rodiño received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly 82 minutes into the match, probably out of lack of experience, and almost let an opponent score. N. Helman charged down the left and looked sure to score for Maccabi 86 minutes into the game, but his shot went just wide. B. Blouin was called on to replace Saints's A. Valderas after 88 minutes following a nasty collision. Maccabi had most of the ball, with 56 percent of possession.

The most dominating Maccabi player was without a doubt F. Toplisek. N. Helman was a disappointment, however. B. Blouin performed admirably for Saints. Á. Melgarejo turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 3 - 5.