Maccabi Petah Tikva Secures Crucial Win Amidst Player Controversy

Maccabi Petah Tikva ended a five-game losing streak in the Israeli Premier League on Saturday, defeating Hapoel Ramat Gan 2-1 in a bottom-of-the-table clash. The victory may offer some relief to the team and its coach, Ziv Arieh.

Arieh acknowledged the team's struggles, stating, "We're taking every win we can get. We started well and the first half was very comfortable. We were very unsettled with the ball because we wanted to win so badly. We didn't play as we wanted in the second half, but after five losses, some of them bizarre, we'll take the win and won't complain." He also addressed defensive issues, noting, "There are goals we concede due to individual errors and set pieces. It's a problem, but we need to work on it."

Regarding the goalkeeping situation, Arieh defended his decision to give Dor Hebron his debut, saying, "They told me I was crazy when I brought him in because he hadn't played in the Premier League. To tell you the truth? There aren't many Israeli goalkeepers, but Maccabi Petah Tikva has two good goalkeepers. Dor has a great karma. I wanted to give him a chance earlier, but the staff didn't agree with me. I'm happy for him and I'm sure both Maor Erlich and Dor Hebron will grow to be great goalkeepers in our football."

Player Guy Hadida, making his debut for Petah Tikva, expressed his joy at returning to the field after a difficult period. "It's the most fun there is to play. I really missed it. I came only to help Maccabi Petah Tikva. I went through a period that's hard to explain. I learned a lot about myself during this time and it's behind me, and I'm happy. There's a talented team here, a lot of quality. This is the place that wanted me the most. I hope to lead the team forward." Hadida also spoke about a past suspension, stating, "I learned that in the end, it's just football and family stays with you. I've been on the fields since I was 10 and suddenly they took me away from there. I didn't understand why. Only as time passed did they explain to us in depth what happened. They did an injustice to our players, that's clear. During the incident, we didn't think we did anything wrong. I won't receive an infusion anymore."

Hapoel Ramat Gan coach Massai Dego lamented his team's first-half performance, "In the end, we can't look like we did in the first half. In the second half, we responded well, we shouldn't have fallen apart. We regained some of our pride and could have even equalized, but it's a tough loss." He also mentioned that two key players, David Asenka and Jota, felt muscle pain during warm-ups, causing chaos in the locker room, though he stated it didn't justify their performance.

Player Amit Reif added, "We didn't show up in the first half. We need to learn and understand why. In the second half, after Dego lifted us, we managed to improve our performance. It wasn't enough. I hope next time it won't look like this."