Jokanovic rues set-piece mistakes

Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Slavisa Jokanovic admitted his side failed to show their quality in the Champions League after they were eliminated with just one point from six games.

In their final group game on Wednesday, Maccabi forward Tal Ben Haim almost turned a free-kick into his own net before Dynamo Kiev’s Denys Garmash took advantage of the mistake to score the only goal of a tightly fought contest.

Jokanovic praised his side for keeping the game within reach, but he was left to rue the defensive error that led to the goal.

“I was happy that the team followed the plan that we had set out prior to the match and our defence was able to stop Kiev’s offensive players,” he said.

“But we didn’t control the ball very well and we didn’t have many chances. We showed organisation on the pitch but we didn’t show quality in this tournament.”

Maccabi are top of the Israeli Premier League, and Jokanovic is the subject of speculation linking him with a move to English football following his side’s exit from European competition.

He added: “Football is a game played around balance and with many things put together.

“We made a mistake and we paid a very heavy price on the goal that cost us the match.

“We made a mistakes on free kicks and corner kicks and this complicates things. When we didn’t put ourselves in the right places on the pitch, the other teams punished us for that.”