ROBBIE KEANE’S FIRST European tie in charge of Maccabi Tel Aviv ended in victory, beating Petrocub Hincesti from Moldova 3-0 in the second qualifying round of the Uefa Conference League.
Keane’s first competitive game in charge of the Israeli giant came last week, ending in a resounding 6-1 win over Hapoel Be’er Sheva in Israel’s equivalent of the League Cup.
Tonight marked Keane’s first home game in charge, and it was a comfortable night thanks to goals from Dan Biton (13′), Eran Zahavi (62) and Dor Peretz (90+2′).
“The first-half I wasn’t happy, I thought the intensity wasn’t there, after getting the early goal we should have capitalised on it”, said Keane after the game. “I had a few words at half-time, that I wasn’t happy, and I had a reaction for 20 minutes. The last 20 then it looked like we got into comfort zone a little bit, and they looked happy to catch us on the counter attack. But all in all, if you said 3-0 before the game, we would have been happy with that.
“All in all I am happy enough, but there is definitely a lot more to come.”
Maccabi Tel Aviv will travel to Moldova for the second leg next week, looking to seal a spot in the next round against either AEK Larnaca of Cyprus or Torpedo Zhodino of Belarus. The Cypriot side lead 3-2 after that first leg.
Elsewhere in the Conference League tonight, Hibernians of the Scottish Premiership were shocked 2-1 by Inter d’Escaldes of Andorra. Joe Newell’s stoppage-time free-kick gave Hibs a lifeline after they conceded in each half. Manager Lee Johnson called for fans to maintain belief ahead of their second leg, as he claimed it was too strong to describe their 2-1 defeat in Andorra an embarrassment. Johnson asked for negativity over their defeat to be kept under control ahead of next Thursday’s return leg.
“I’m super disappointed,” he said. “The word ’embarrassing’ feels strong considering the tie is not over.”
Crusaders drew 2-2 at home to Rosenborg but it was a more difficult night for Linfield, who were beaten 5-2 at home to Pogon Szczecin of Poland.
