A very significant victory for the Macedonian national team against Israel on the hot field in Haifa. Our players dominated, created more chances and in the end, with the goal of Gora Pandev, they celebrated with 1:0. With the three points won, Macedonia is looking forward to the duel with Albania on Tuesday in Strumica with greater optimism.
Great first half despite no goals in Haifa. Macedonia proved to be a much better opponent than the hosts Israel, pThe first excitement in the 21st minute when Alioski crossed from a free kick from the right, and Ristevski scored what seemed to be a regular goal, but referee Eskov, after a little hesitation, showed offside due to Nestorovski's incorrect position. The home team threatened in the 27th minute when Ben Haim took advantage of a mistake by our defenders, but his shot was saved by Dimitrievski. In the 33rd minute, the home team almost scored an own goal. Another free kick by Alioski, this time from the left, a beautifully crossed ball, and Tsedek headed it past his goalkeeper Glazer, and the ball ended up on the post and bounced into the box. Five minutes later, Bardi and Alioski combine excellently on the left, and the crossed ball in an ideal position was poorly handled by Velkovski.
The second half started with another great chance from the break. Bardi crossed perfectly from a corner kick, but Pandev was not in the best position to receive the ball properly and only managed to shoot wide of the goal.
In the 60th minute, the home team had their best chance, when Hemed shot very dangerously, and Dimitrievski made a miraculous save. Zahavi ran into the rebound, but Ristovski kicked it out for a corner at the last moment. In the 66th minute, Zahavi had another chance when he shot from the right, and Dimitrievski was a little unsure, but still kicked it out for a corner.
In the 74th minute, 1:0 for Macedonia. Newcomer Elif Elmas received a ball about thirty meters from the goal and ideally found Pandev, our captain routinely outsmarted the home goalkeeper to the great joy of our players.
A very significant victory for Macedonia in the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Stadium: "Sami Ofer" in Haifa. Spectators: 11,000 Chief referee: Alexey Eskov from Russia. Shooters: Pandev (M) 74 m.
Yellow card: Bardi, Elmas (M)
Israel: Glaser, Beaton (Keltins 71), Ben Haim, Mellickson, Zahavi, Cohen, Ben Haim II (Aibinder 54), Ohana (Hemed 45), Tzedek, Dawizada, Kaba.
Macedonia: Dimitrievski, Ristevski, Musliu, Alioski, Pandev, Bardi (Zajkov 89), Ristovski, Velkovski, Nikolov (Elmas 63), Spirovski, Nestorovski (Radeski 86).
