Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Panevezys 2-1 in the first leg of the third round in Europa League qualifying. The yellow-and-blue scored a pair of quick goals over the course of the opening ten minutes of action as they nursed the opening leg to the end in order to head into the second match in the drivers seat.

Dor Peretz found the back of the goal just 3 minutes into the game thanks to a pass from newcomer Sagiv Yehezkel while Peretz then played facilitator soon thereafter for Dor Turgeman to snatch a 2-0 lead by the 9th minute. Sivert Russia’s pulled a goal back in the 70th minute but that was as close as the hosts would get as next week’s second leg will take place at Haladás Stadium in Szombathely, Hungary due to the security situation in Israel.

“It’s the first half of the match and it’s always difficult in European settings,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Zarko Lazetic sad following the game. “It was a difficult game, we didn’t expect any less. I’m satisfied with the victory, certainly when you start the game as we did with a 2-0 lead after just ten minutes and we moved the ball well. We began the second half well but conceded a goal after a mistake. Credit to Panevezys especially for their play over the last twenty minutes but I’m satisfied with how we responded. It’s a step forward after the loss in the last game and I’m satisfied. it’s only the first game but I hope that we can repeat the good things that we did in the first half.”

Lazetic also spoke about having to play the game on a synthetic pitch, “Yes, it’s different, we thought it would take us more time to adapt, but in the first minutes we scored twice after quality play. It was difficult, in the warm-up and especially in situations when we had to move faster, it’s not what we’re used to but this is not the first time nor the last time. Now we will have a few days of rest and we will continue to work on a regular surface.”

“I expect my team to show quality,” Lazetic continued. “We have experience in such games. We have 9 days to prepare for the second leg and that is very good for us, especially now that seven new players have joined the squad who have not trained much with us. We will have time to prepare, work on being calm with the ball, and on our movements without the ball. This team is dangerous in transition and counter attacks and they showed it in several situations. We will have to prepare well for the rematch.”

Dor Turgeman who returned to Maccabi after spending the summer with the Under-23 Israel National Team at the Olympic Games, scored in his first match back, “I am delighted we started well and scored two early goals. We then dropped back in the middle of the game, which is natural, but I am glad we ultimately won the match. I missed everyone here a lot – the team, the guys and getting to meet the new coaching staff. I can’t even find the words to explain how much I missed it all. I am excited to have scored on my first game this season but we now need to move on to next week and complete our job.”