Maccabi Tel Aviv fell 1-0 to Pafos FC (2-1 on aggregate) in the second round, second leg of Champions League qualifying, as the yellow-and-blue will now move to Europa League third round qualifying.
Head coach Zarko Lazetic’s team experienced a first half like no other, as it first lost starting goalkeeper Yoav Gerafi to injury, which was followed by its second ’keeper being shown a red card for a reckless tackle outside of the area.
With 10 men and third-string netminder Roie Mishpati in goal, Jaja scored the lone marker of the match to send the Cypriot squad to the next round of qualifying, while Maccabi dropped down to Europa League third round qualifying, where it will face Hamrun Spartans from Malta.
Maccabi looked to be on its heels early on and lost Gerafi to a leg injury in the 10th minute, as he had to be helped off the pitch and was replaced by youngster Ofek Meilka.
However, the 20-year-old wasn’t in the game for more than 20 minutes before he was issued a straight red card for tripping up Anderson outside the box, which left the yellow-and-blue with 10 men.
An extremely upset Dor Turgeman was substituted off to make way for Roie Mishpati, who will attempt to reclaim his spot as the club’s number one ’keeper. But Pafos took advantage of having an extra man, as Jaja scored a beauty of a goal in the 40th minute to give the Cypriot squad a 1-0 lead heading into the halftime break.
Maccabi started to look for the equalizer and came close on a number of occasions, despite being a man short for the entire second half. Weslley Patati had plenty of opportunities to level the score, while Dor Peretz’s chance missed the mark, as the yellow-and-blue ran out of time and dropped to the third round of Europa League qualifying.
“If you look at the score, we don’t deserve to be in the Champions League, but we were not alone on the pitch in this game,” Lazetic said, alluding to the referees.
“Everything worked for us, but they scored an executional goal. Everything in these two matches went against us – between the goals and red cards. We created a lot of chances, but losing here is huge for us. If I had wanted to lose, this was the way I wanted to. We have to prepare for a tough match in Europa League qualifying, and making that would be huge.”
Peretz, the team captain, expressed his thoughts after being ousted from the Champions League.
“It’s very disappointing, as we won the league title last season for the opportunity to play in this competition. It’s very painful. Even with 10 men, we had opportunities, but it wasn’t enough. We will have to see what we did well and what we need to improve on and implement that in the next game.”
Over in Toto Cup play, Hapoel Tel Aviv blanked Hapoel Jerusalem 3-0, as Stav Turiel scored a brace while youngster Daniel Dappa scored his second goal in as many games.
The Reds continue to show promise heading into the new season after being promoted from the second division.
Turiel scored his first of two in the 10th minute from inside the box and completed his brace from the penalty spot after a foul in the area just seven minutes later to give the hosts a 2-0 lead. After a short break due to a Houthi missile launch from Yemen, Dappa pounded home a rebound in the 36th minute to go up 3-0 and salt away the game before halftime, as Hapoel moved to 2-0 in group stage play.
“We didn’t start the game well in the first few minutes,” Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Elyaniv Barda began. “We were still trying to find our footing, and then we scored a goal, and that helped us take control. We could have scored more, but we played a bit too far back in the second half. Since it’s the Toto Cup, we are trying out and testing a lot of things. I always want to win every game, especially the first game at home with such a big crowd, and it’s important to make them happy.”
“I don’t want to comment on the penalty,” Hapoel Jerusalem bench boss Ziv Arie said. “We came back from the missile break very well, and then we made a mistake that forced us to concede a goal, which is something that should not happen in the Premier League. The Toto Cup is excellent for preparation. We have some players who are missing, and we have a good team, but we have to know how to play mature football and not give out gifts.”
Man-of-the-Match Turiel spoke about the victory
“When you score, there are amazing feelings, and it was a lot of fun. I’m happy that I’m playing well, and it doesn’t matter which league I am playing in. I feel ready to contribute, and I’m pushing myself to the highest level.”
Maccabi Netanya mounted a late-game comeback to clip Hapoel Petah Tikva 3-2, as Heriberto Tavares scored in second-half injury time to secure the late winner in Toto Cup action.
Shavit Mazal opened the scoring off a nice passing play to give Petah Tikva a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute. However, Oz Bilu headed home Maor Levy’s corner kick right after the halftime break to knot the score at 1-1.
Jocelin Tabi slotted home a penalty after Denis Kolikov was tripped up in the box to give Petah Tikva the lead once again, but Yuval Sadeh scored the equalizer in the 85th minute to tie the game at 2-2. As the clock headed into injury time, a quick give-and-go between Wilson Harris and Tavares saw the latter find the back of the net with the winner for the Diamond City squad.
“This is the second game in a row that we have come back in the last few minutes,” Netanya bench boss Yossi Abukasis said. “We kind of messed up near the end of the game, but we made a nice turnaround. We are rotating the lineup to give players time off and to avoid injuries, so I am glad we got through this game without any issues. We are missing a number of players in the lineup, which also includes those who are injured, but whoever played did a pretty good job overall.”
“We fell asleep on a lot of little things,” Petah Tikva coach Omer Peretz said. “We conceded goals from two set-pieces, and I expected that we would be more alert. The squad is not yet complete – we wil bring in another defender. We are coming into the top division from a lower league, where we had more chances to err, but there are a lot of good things that we are doing so far. We are creating chances, which is good to see.”
In other action, Hapoel Haifa downed Bnei Sakhnin 1-0 on a goal by Roie Zikri, while Maccabi Bnei Reineh slipped by Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2-1, as Asil Kanani scored a brace in the win.