In this week 24 match, on Saturday Feb 26th, Hapoel Hadera hosts Maccabi Petah Tikva at Winner Stadium in a meeting of these two Ligat ha’Al teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 14 degrees, a perfect day for football. Hapoel Hadera is fresh off their 1-0 shutout win against Beitar Jerusalem. Maxim Plakushchenko struck first for Hapoel Hadera in the 34th minute on a penalty, and that single goal was all that was necessary as neither team could manage any more scoring In the end, Beitar Jerusalem couldn’t muster any offence and Hapoel Hadera ran away with the shutout win. With 18 points in their last 10 matches Hapoel Hadera should be reasonably happy with their performance, while maccabi Petah Tikva is fresh off their 1-1 draw against Maccabi Netanya. Aviv Avraham struck first for Maccabi Netanya in the 84th minute, then Doumbia tied it up for Maccabi Petah Tikva in the 88th minute earning Maccabi Petah Tikva at least a draw. They’re hoping to improve on their recent performance, having earned only 5 points in their last 10 matches.
In their last match on the 30th of November, Maccabi Petah Tikva and Hapoel Hadera battled to a 1-1 draw. Ethane Azoulay struck first for Maccabi Petah Tikva in the 15th minute, but Omer Fadida got the equalizer for Hapoel Hadera in the 25th minute earning them at least the one point.
Maccabi Petah Tikva’s most prolific scorer has been Ion Nicolaescu. The midfielder has netted two goals over the last five matches. For Hapoel Hadera, their top scorers are Gustavo Marmentini and Maxim Plakushchenko, each having 2 goals in their last five matches.