Maccabi Tel Aviv hosted Qarabağ Not every day two teams which geographically situated in Asia, play each other in a European competition.
The Europa League group stage first matchday included two games that took place in Asia. Hapoel Be’er Sheva listed a terrific victory against Slavia Praha, and Maccabi had a much more difficult task when they took upon the Azeri champions Qarabağ.
The timing of the match was rather interesting. The current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, the area which the Azerbaijan and Armenia are fighting each other for at the moment, gave the match a heavy political atmosphere. The fact that Israel is reportedly involved in the conflict in support of Azerbaijan, and the presence of the Azeri community in Israel, encouraged, Qarabağ, the club, to publish a series of gestures in respect to the host country. Moreover, Qarabağ has reportedly asked UEFA to host their next match against Villareal in Israel.
First Half
Despite a hesitated start, it took Maccabi exactly ten minutes to go on the scoreboard. A classic counter attack that went through the middle of the field, and Dor Peretz, Israel national team defensive midfielder, found Yonatan Cohen, who broke forward fast, went pass the goalkeeper easily and scored to the empty goal. 1-0 Maccabi, who cruised in style throughout the field.
Maccabi continued with the good attacking play and earned more chances, but couldn’t finish. Qarabağ’s defending started to be more aggressive, as Filip Ozobić and Wilde-Donald Guerrier gained yellow cards. This woken their attack as well and the gained a few chances before halftime but weren’t accurate enough in the last pass.
Second Half
The second half wasn’t impressive by neither of teams. Maccabi did two changes that made them lose control in the middle, and made their attack less organized and accurate. On the other hand, the Azeris felt more comfortable and dangerous but still couldn’t find the net.
The match then dwelled and became a series of mistakes taking place on the ground and in the air, by both sides. Qarabağ did not take advantage of the situation and it was three points to the locals.
