Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Beer Sheva 1-0 in front of 24,069 fans at Bloomfield Stadium on Monday night.

What promised to be an exciting game between the top-of-the-table visitors and the hosts in third place on the table did not disappoint, with a fast-paced and aggressive game in which each side earned three yellow cards each. However, neither team was able to make the most of their opportunities in what looked like it was going to end in a stalemate.

That was until deep into injury time when Beer Sheva keeper Niv Eliasi blocked a shot from inside the box by Helio Valera, only for Maccabi captain Dor Peretz – who was otherwise quiet on the night – to tap in the deflected ball for the Yellow and Blue to take the three points and keep their season alive.

“This is why we love football,” Maccabi coach Ronny Deila said after the game. “I’m very proud of the players. We held on and showed courage. There is constant progress all the time. We wanted to win and they wanted to come away with a draw. Everything is possible now with our history and our supporters, and we’ll need to take it day by day. We’ll need to fight, and that way it will be hard to beat us.”

“It wasn’t pleasant, but it is what it is,” summed up Ran Kouzuk, Beer Sheva’s coach, in the press conference. “I think we need to understand that in certain moments, playing good football is essential, but you also need to show a lot of character, especially in moments like these, when you realize you’re playing a good game but not managing to score. Then, in the final ten seconds, you need to know how to defend your goal better.”

Beer Sheva now sit in second place in the table with 63 points, after Beitar overtook them and sit on 64 points after defeating Hapoel Petah Tikvah 3-1 in Monday’s other fixture. Maccabi remains in third spot in the table with 58 points, nipping at the heels of the leaders in what looks to be one of the most exciting finishes to a season that we have had in Israel for many years.