There was terrific action in UEFA Conference League play over the weekend as Hapoel Tel Aviv stunned Italy’s Atalanta in a match that ended nil-nil, keeping its continental hopes alive, while Maccabi Tel Aviv fell 2-1 in Lugano and may be ousted from contention next week.
Hapoel Tel Aviv and Atalanta played to a goalless draw in the first leg of UEFA Conference League Playoff Round action.
Chances were difficult to come by from both sides, but when called upon, the keepers made the timely saves. The second leg will be played in Miskolc, Hungary, next Thursday, with the winner claiming one of the Conference League League stage places.
With 1,500 supporters accompanying Hapoel Tel Aviv, the Reds pressed high early on as they tried to create a turnover and then capitalize on the situation. Roie Alkukin sent a cross into the Atalanta box, but missed its intended target, while Omri Altman’s corner kick was headed out. Both squads kept seeing how they could break down the other, but chances were at a premium as they went into halftime goalless.
Both sides continued to play cautiously as neither wanted to make a mistake. The Reds made a double substitution in order to try and open the match up a bit with Xander Silva and Mor Buskila coming on. Tentative play again littered the pitch, but Atalanta had a pair of brilliant chances in second-half injury time when Ederson’s back-to-back shots were saved by Assaf Tzur as the time ran out to send the tie to the decisive second leg at Hapoel’s home-away-from-home in Miskolc.
Hapoel coach pleased with team’s performance against Atalanta
Following the game, Hapoel coach Elyaniv Barda spoke about the match.
“We can congratulate the guys on a very good performance. We stuck to our principles and played our football against a great team, so the players deserve congratulations. Having said that, it ended 0–0, and we have a second leg in which we’ll want to reproduce this performance. In the end, we stood firm and insisted on doing what we had worked on. There is still room for improvement, but the better chances were ours.”
Maurizio Sarri, the Italian team’s coach, also spoke about the matchup.
“I expected a difficult game. They were superior to us physically. We lack fluency in our play; every time we receive the ball, we think, and that slows us down. Nevertheless, there are also positive aspects: in our last three games, we haven’t conceded a goal.”
Meanwhile, Maccabi Tel Aviv fell at Lugano 2-1 as the Swiss side was just that much better, with goals by Kevin Behrens and Anto Grgic, while Ido Shahar scored for the yellow-and-blue. The second game will be played in Batumi, Georgia, which is Maccabi’s home-away-from-home until the games are returned to the Holy Land.
Lugano came away with a goal in the first half when a poor clearance by ’keeper Ofek Meilika resulted in the hosts going on the attack as Behrens nodded the ball into the back of the net to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute. However, just minutes into the second half, Roy Revivo sent Shahar a magnificent cross as he slotted the ball home to draw even at 1-1 in the 47th minute.
Asante’s foul leads to Lugano taking a 2-1 lead
The equalizer didn’t hold up for long as Tyrese Asante committed a foul on Yanis Cimignani, resulting in a penalty that Grgic easily converted for a 2-1 advantage.
Shahar, Dor Peretz and Revivo all had opportunities to draw Kenny Miller’s team even but came up short as Lugano holds a one-goal advantage ahead of the second legs of the two-legged tie.
Following the match in Lugano, Maccabi’s Miller spoke about his side’s performance.
“It was a good game. I’m coming away with very positive feelings about our performance in the second half. I have no doubt that we can get the win next week. The Lugano players were very aggressive in the first half. They pressed us and made it difficult for us to settle and find our rhythm. The second half was completely different. We created several promising attacks, found a much better rhythm and had a lot of possession.”
Tel Aviv goal scorer Shahar, who celebrated his 25th birthday, also spoke about the result. “Honestly, I would have been much happier if we had won and received the perfect birthday present. I’m happy about the goal, but unfortunately we lost in the end. Nevertheless, we fully believe that with the support of the fans next week in Batumi, we will get the job done.”
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