Goals change games.

Kenny Miller used that phrase after his Maccabi Tel Aviv side played out an entertaining 0-0 draw with Beitar Jerusalem in the “Match of the Week” at Teddy Stadium. Both Miller and Beitar coach Almog Cohen would have loved to see the ball hit the back of the net, but despite an end-to-end contest filled with chances, neither team could find a breakthrough.

The match marked Beitar’s return to Teddy Stadium for the first time since the installation of a new hybrid pitch and the occasion deserved a goal or two, perhaps even three. Instead, the two sides combined to miss a series of golden opportunities in a game that somehow remained scoreless.

Just ask Dor Peretz, who will likely be replaying one particular moment in his mind for days. The Maccabi midfielder found himself in front of an almost empty net, with only Beitar defender Brayan Carabali standing between him and a certain goal. Miguel Silva had rushed off his line to cut down the angle and managed to get a touch on the ball as he recovered, giving Carabali the chance to clear it off the line.

Peretz could hardly believe what had happened. Had he taken the shot a split second earlier, Miller and Maccabi might have been celebrating a last-gasp winner, three points and a return to the top of the table, leapfrogging Maccabi Haifa, who had moved into first place with a victory over Maccabi Petah Tikva. Instead the yellow-and-blue sit one point behind the greens.

“Dor doesn’t need to apologize for missing a chance,” Miller said. “He’ll know that he should have scored, but there’s no need for him to apologize. What he’s done over the course of even this season already is incredible, the numbers he puts up. It’s one of many chances that we had tonight that we should have scored.”

Peretz wasn’t alone. Neither Maccabi nor Beitar could find a way to finish and the host’s were fortunate to escape with a point thanks to Carabali’s remarkable intervention. On a night when the ball simply refused to cross the line, perhaps neither side was destined to claim all three points.

Maccabi’s approach was clear from the opening whistle; strike early and put Beitar on the back foot. Helio Varela tore down the left flank while Sagiv Yehezkel attacked from the right, but neither could consistently find the target or deliver the decisive ball to an unmarked teammate.

“Helio still had a lot of the ball and tried to come inside a couple of times,” Miller explained. “He kind of lost the ball a few times. You’ve also got an opposition here trying to stop you from doing the same things. It might not have been Helio giving us a threat, but I’ve said many times that we have multiple threats. When you’ve seen Sagiv on the other side of the pitch, he’s the one who creates Helio’s chances.”

Miller knows how costly those missed opportunities can be, “They’re always going to have their moments, but it’s really, really important and I’ll keep saying it every single week, when you get big moments like that, you have to kill teams off because it changes the whole mood of the game. In this stadium in particular, it would have changed the whole atmosphere inside the stadium.”

For the opening 10 to 15 minutes, Beitar had to withstand wave after wave of Maccabi attacks. Nana Antwi and Carabali were particularly effective in helping weather the storm and protect Miguel Silva’s goal.

Once Beitar settled into the contest, they began creating opportunities of their own. Yarden Shua, Omer Atzily and Johnbosco Kalu all threatened Maccabi goalkeeper Ofek Melika, but they too came up empty as both teams searched in vain for the opening goal.

It was the kind of match that could have gone on until midnight without either side scoring. Think of the Kobayashi Maru in Star Trek: a no-win scenario in which neither team could prevail without changing the rules.

But goals change games, as Miller knows better than most. The former striker enjoyed a prolific playing career and understands just how much a single finish can alter a contest.

For Maccabi, the draw marked a second consecutive goalless result after last week’s stalemate against Bnei Sakhnin. That match was a very different affair, with Sakhnin sitting deep and offering little going forward. Against Beitar, the chances were plentiful, but the inability to convert them raised a more pressing question: does Maccabi have enough firepower to decide games?

The performance also put the spotlight on striker Ester Sokler and the team’s other attacking options, particularly those who remained on the bench despite Maccabi’s need for a goal.

When asked whether he trusted and believed in the players available to him, Miller was careful not to turn the discussion into a referendum on his squad.

“That’s a dangerous kind of road to be going down with that question, about believing in people, when you look at the guys on our bench who have played a lot of football for this club,” he said. “It is absolutely not the case that we don’t trust the squad. By January, will we strengthen? Absolutely, we will. But it’s nothing to do with belief or trust in the squad.”

Across the touchline, Cohen faced a difficult selection decision of his own before kickoff whether to start Eugene Ansah or Kalu.

Kalu’s tireless work rate and ability to create opportunities make him a valuable presence, even if his finishing can let him down. Ansah, meanwhile, possesses a natural goal scoring touch, but offers a different profile in terms of work rate. With Beitar expecting a physical battle, Cohen ultimately opted for Kalu.

“I can tell you that this was the hardest decision I’ve had to deal with since I’ve come to Beitar Jerusalem,” Cohen said. “I didn’t let the staff or the players know who would play until the very last second. At the end of the day, I went with Kalu because I knew his game on the wing and his strengths. Every time we got a bit tangled up, we played the ball to Kalu, who held it up and was able to get our attacks underway.

“Ansah had an excellent period, but this is a decision we made as a club. We have seven foreigners, so it’s not a simple decision. In the end, I’m happy that this is the situation.”

While Beitar will be pleased to have escaped with a point, Carabali’s last-gasp clearance was a reminder of how close the hosts came to losing. His intervention may even strengthen his case for a new contract, but Cohen was quick to point out that the team should never have allowed the opportunity to develop in the first place.

“When a chance like that arrives, you say, ‘Listen, you can’t stop this,’” Cohen explained. “But I would immediately say this is a situation that shouldn’t have happened. We need to know how to defend against a ball like this better, and we will put an emphasis on that.”

Still, Carabali was there when Beitar needed him most, “I’m very happy because I saved my team,” the defender said. “This is my position, this is my job. All game I was very focused. When I saw Dor Peretz coming at me, I imagined maybe I should move to one side, but I moved to the other. Then I thanked God and Migi [Miguel Silva].

“It’s a very important point against Maccabi Tel Aviv, who are a tough team. I want us to continue working hard because I want to win the championship.”

Cohen was equally pleased with the defender’s progress, “Brayan works very hard in training, which for me is the main thing. I think he is progressing, and what I love about him is his hunger. He wants more, wants to advance and wants to improve. From my point of view, that’s the most important thing.”

Ultimately, this was a game that deserved at least one goal and quite possibly several more. The chances were there, the tempo was high and both teams had opportunities to claim victory. But neither could deliver the decisive finish, leaving players and coaches alike to dwell on what might have been.

The two sides will have little time to stew over their missed opportunities as Maccabi will host Hapoel Haifa, while Beitar heads on the road to face Hapoel Petah Tikva this coming weekend.

Miller made no secret of his disappointment at leaving points on the table, “Really frustrated that we’ve not scored at least two or three goals today,” he said.

Cohen had similar feelings particularly given Beitar’s ambitions, “I want to win every game, against every opponent, on every pitch. That is a symbol of Beitar Jerusalem. We can’t be happy with a draw. From my point of view, it feels like a loss. But we need to continue to advance, continue to improve, and I’m sure the future for the club is very bright.”

Goals change games. On this night at Teddy Stadium, the one thing missing was the one thing that mattered most.