Mac TA aims to cure road woes at Ashdod
01/18/2013 06:52
The yellow-and-blue has won just one of its past five road games, picking up only 14 of a possible 27 points on its travels this season.
Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Oscar Garcia Photo: Adi Avishai
Maccabi Tel Aviv climbed back atop the Premier League standings with another
dominant performance at Bloomfield Stadium earlier this week, but nevertheless
its form away from home has been a cause for concern so far this
season.
The yellow-and-blue thrashed Hapoel Beersheba 5-0 at Bloomfield
on Monday, winning for the eighth time in nine home encounters, including its
past four by a combined goal difference of 17-3.
However, it has won just
one of its past five road games, picking up only 14 of a possible 27 points on
its travels this season.
Tel Aviv will aim to improve on that record on
Saturday when it visits the floundering Ashdod SC.
After a promising
start to the season, Ashdod has lost six of its last eight matches and is not
looking forward to Saturday’s showdown against rampant Maccabi.
The
yellow-and-blue will be hoping to mount pressure on its title rivals, with
second- placed Hapoel Tel Aviv not hosting Betar Jerusalem until Monday night,
while third-placed Maccabi Haifa visits Hapoel Ramat Gan on Sunday.
“The
last game was a good result for us but it was finished when the referee whistled
to the end and the next day we had to think about the match against Ashdod,”
said Maccabi coach Oscar Garcia, who claimed he was unaware of the speculation
he might be hired as an assistant to former Barcelona teammate Pep Guardiola at
Bayern Munich next season.
Also Saturday, rock-bottom Hapoel Haifa hosts
Hapoel Ramat Hasharon, Maccabi Netanya visits Hapoel Acre, Bnei Yehuda welcomes
Bnei Sakhnin and Hapoel Beersheba plays Ironi Kiryat Shmona.