Maccabi Tel Aviv captured the 2024/25 Israel Premier League championship on the final matchday of the season, thanks to a 5-0 hammering of Beitar Jerusalem to the delight of the home fans at Bloomfield Stadium.
Eran Zahavi scored a brace in what was his last game for the club as the crowd celebrated the superstar striker all night long.
Dor Peretz headed home a Gaby Kanichowsky cross to give Maccabi Tel Aviv a quick lead while Zahavi took a Roy Revivo ball to head into halftime with a 2-0 advantage and send the fans into pandemonium.
Jean Marcelin booted the ball into his own goal off an Osher Davida cross, Zahavi added his second goal of the game to end his Maccabi chapter on a high note, and Dor Turgeman scored from close to put the finishing touches on the championship.
League chairman Erez Halfon expressed his congratulations to Maccabi.
“Congratulations to Maccabi Tel Aviv on winning the national championship for the second year in a row. Congratulations to owner Mitchell Goldhar, coach Zarko Lazetic and his team, players, and fans on an exciting and intriguing end to such a long season. You have gone through another complex season with many games outside of Israel in which you represented the country with honor, and despite the heavy workload, you continued to give everything in the local league as well. Your dedication and adherence to the goal have proven themselves with a championship that you so deserve. You can feel pride and satisfaction in achieving such an important goal.”
An enthusiastic Maccabi Coach Lazteic was relieved following the game
“I’m finally smiling. The feelings are amazing. First of all, I want to give all my respect to Hapoel Beersheba for pushing us to have such a season. I know these are not easy moments for them. All my respect to our players for their behavior and attitude throughout the season. Thanks also to our fans and especially to all the people around the club.
“Over the course of the last 10 games, we started to focus on each game individually. There was a lot of traveling, but at the end of the day, we got to where we wanted to be. I was worried all season because Beersheba showed quality, but we always live between doubts and faith and I transmitted faith to the players and everyone.”
An emotional Zahavi spoke about his final game with the yellow-and-blue.
“First of all, this was my last game on the pitch here, I think I cried more than I smiled. What an emotional person I am. This crowd has given me so much love over the years. We won so many titles, they gave me all the love in the world. I’m happy that I really ended the most challenging season in my career like this. I’ll remember it forever.”
“I want to congratulate Maccabi Tel Aviv on the championship,” Beitar Jerusalem coach Barak Itzhaki said. “But now I have to concern myself with my team as we have to fix some things up as we get ready for the State Cup final later in the week. I have to take my hat off to Eran Zahavi, who is the biggest winner in Israel and found a way to help his team take the championship.”
Hapoel Beersheba pounded Hapoel Haifa 5-0. However, it was not enough to take the league title, as Maccabi Tel Aviv finished the season two points ahead of the second-place Southern Reds.
Alon Turgeman gave Beersheba the lead thanks to a Dan Bitton ball in the 30th minute, while Iuri Medeiros doubled the advantage in first-half stoppage time for a 2-0 lead at the break. Kings Kangwa scored just as the second half began, while Bitton and Eliel Peretz scored late in the game to polish off the win.
“I congratulate Maccabi Tel Aviv on the championship,” Beersheba bench boss Ron Kozuk said. “It’s a painful ending, no doubt, it’s disappointing, but I’m very proud. I think what we saw today is what represents us all year…If I didn’t think we could get to this point, that we were close to a championship, I wouldn’t have come to Hapoel Beersheba. Congratulations to Maccabi Tel Aviv, we’ll make sure to win it next year.”
Hapoel Haifa coach Rony Levy, who was in charge of his last match for the club, was somber in defeat.
“It’s not good to end my tenure at Hapoel Haifa like this, I had three great years here. The players, the team, the staff, I’m proud of everyone, proud of this team, we achieved very nice achievements. We played positive and attacking football the whole time, I want to thank the crowd that supported us and I think they enjoyed it most of the time.”
Maccabi Haifa got by Maccabi Netanya 3-2 as the Greens mounted a second half comeback to take the win.
Xander Severina scored from 17 meters out in the opening minute to give Maccabi Haifa a quick 1-0 lead but Freddy Vargas knotted the game up five minutes later for Maccabi Netanya. The hosts grabbed the lead via Amit Cohen in the 25th minute, but second-half goals from Elad Amir and Guy Melamed off a rebound gave the greens the victory to end their topsy-turvy season on a high note.
“We couldn’t talk or think about football all week due to the passing of Gadi Kinda,” Haifa’s interim coach Itay Mordechai said. “It was a difficult and challenging week, it wasn’t easy to come and play tonight. After the emotional ceremony, I looked at the bench and everyone had tears in their eyes, including the players. The referee blew the whistle and the game had to start. Congratulations to the players who knew how to find a way to win this game.”