Maccabi Haifa Suffers Another Key Loss, Defense Under Scrutiny

Maccabi Haifa's struggles against top teams continued with a 2-1 loss to Hapoel Tel Aviv on Monday, leaving them with zero points from nine possible in such matches and having conceded ten goals. Despite dominating possession with 65% of the ball, the team's defense was identified as a major weakness. Players like Yella Batei, who was substituted at halftime for Kenny Saif, and Wanderson Tsunami, who played as a defender, scored an own goal and has faced criticism since his arrival, were highlighted. Coach Barak Bakhar benched captain Kangi Hura, who later missed a significant scoring opportunity after coming on as a substitute. Eitan Azulai, involved in Hapoel Tel Aviv's first goal, had a statistically modest performance, as did Iyad Halaili, who was also substituted at halftime. "Hapoel Tel Aviv stung us," admitted team sources, noting that their opponents scored twice from only one and a half shots on target. "We shouldn't have lost this game. This is a team that was almost rebuilt this summer, and wins against the big teams will come. We conceded very easy goals from two bad mistakes." Despite the loss, there was some encouragement, with sources stating, "We were significantly better than the best team in the country, especially in the second half, which is encouraging." However, concerns were raised about how teams that effectively shut down Bruninho and Pedro Brazão pose a significant challenge to Maccabi Haifa's offense, as "everything comes from them." The team's next match is against Maccabi Netanya.