European Standoff: Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Dinamo Zagreb Share Points
Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Dinamo Zagreb played out a goalless draw in their Europa League opener at the Rapid-Julești Stadium on Tuesday evening. The hosts dominated possession but found no answer to a resilient visitors' defence, leaving both sides with a point from the opening matchday.
The match saw a flurry of changes as both managers reshuffled their ranks. L. Kacavenda came on for the visitors in the twenty-fourth minute, while A. Hoxha and M. Orsic followed shortly after. Hapoel brought on Y. Malede and A. Forson in the closing stages, with J. East, M. Lisica, L. Stojkovic, P. Amador and M. Baltaxa completing the substitutions.
By then the statistics told their own story. Hapoel held sixty-six percent of the ball and launched 151 attacks compared to the visitors' 66, yet their expected goals of 0.82 yielded nothing. The hosts registered five shots on target but only managed one big chance, while Dinamo Zagreb kept their goalkeeper busy with just two saves.
The away side's defensive organisation was the key factor. They made 27 clearances against the hosts' 17, intercepted nine balls and won ten tackles. Their possession was limited to thirty-four percent but they rarely looked troubled, even when Hapoel pushed forward late on.
Both sides now sit on one point from one game, with Hapoel in eighth place and Dinamo Zagreb ninth. The hosts had beaten Hapoel Petah-Tikva 2:0 on their previous outing before facing the Croatian side, while the visitors lost 2:4 to Osijek in their opening fixture.
It was a tactical battle rather than an end-to-end spectacle. The hosts will rue their inability to convert dominance into goals, while the visitors will take satisfaction from holding firm away from home.