The Israel State Cup always brings plenty of drama and surprises, and that was the case once again as fans across the country were treated to thrills and chills that included one of the great derbies, along with a number of stunning results as the teams looked to punch their ticket to the quarterfinal round.
Maccabi Tel Aviv got by Hapoel Tel Aviv 1-1 (5-4 on penalties) as Itay Ben Hamo scored the decisive spot kick to win the State Cup derby and send the 10-man yellow-and-blue into the quarterfinals.
After a goalless first half, Helio Varela scored in the box to give Maccabi a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute, but three minutes later, Stav Turiel found the equalizer to draw Hapoel even.
Zarko Lazetic’s squad was reduced to 10 men when Roy Revivo was issued a second yellow card for a reckless tackle, but the Reds were unable to take advantage of the extra man as the match headed to overtime.
With both teams having few chances in the extra session, it was off to penalties, where Itay Ben Hamo scored the winning spot kick after both Liran Rotman and Roie Alkukin missed their chances from 11 meters with Maccabi ’keeper Ofek Melika coming up big to send the yellow-and-blue into the next round.
Lazetic commented on the win.
“Congratulations to the players, we played our match the entire game and we deserved the win. We did our job and now we have to move onto the next challenge. I told the guys before the penalties that it’s the small details that will decide the game. We lost a player and we had a lot of practice playing with 10 men so that helped us. I’m very proud that I was able to experience this derby.”
Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Elyaniv Barda reflected on the defeat
“Football is cruel. I’m very proud of the team and the players, sometimes the ball doesn’t go in on penalties and I missed my share as well. The guys are very disappointed as we wanted to advance as far as we could in the cup.”
Melika also spoke about the victory.
“I think we didn’t stop believing even after the red card and we were able to win this game, we are all winners. It’s quite pressure packed, but I always want to give my heart and my soul and I was able to make the key saves. But most importantly we all did this together.
Ben Hamo also shared his thoughts after he scored the winning penalty.
“I think coming into a game like this, especially with the red card, we just didn’t stop believing and that is what sent us to the overtime and then to the penalties. I had a lot of confidence but it’s amazing that we are standing right here now celebrating this win.”
Meanwhile, Beitar Jerusalem defeated Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2-0 as goals by Yarin Levy and Timoti Muzie saw the yellow-and-black through to the last-eight at the Netanya Stadium.
With close to 10,000 traveling Beitar fans, Barak Itzhaki’s team found the back of the goal in the 39th minute as Muzie fed Ziv Ben Shimol, who sent a perfect pass to Levy that the midfielder slotted home for a 1-0 lead as they headed into the break with the advantage.
Muzie, who had been involved in the attack all match long, doubled the lead late in the second half as Shua assisted on his goal to close out the win.
Itzhaki spoke about the win.
“I don’t think the performance was particularly impressive, but we created enough chances, especially in the second half, and at the end of the day we won. The crowd enjoyed it and we’re looking ahead to the next stage. As for our winning streak, the results speak for themselves, but it’s not something that we should be blinded by, now we’re focusing on Hapoel Petah Tikva.”
Elsewhere, Hapoel Beersheba slipped by Hapoel Jerusalem 2-1 as Muhammed Knaan scored the late winning goal with a brilliant 87th-minute shot into the heart of the net to move Beersheba into the next round.
Amir Ganah scored in the 23rd minute, but Andrew Idoko drew the capital city Reds even. However, just as the match looked to be headed towards overtime, Knaan stepped up his play and scored late to hand the win over to Haifa.
Beersheba coach Ran Kozuch spoke about the win.
“I didn’t like the part where we stopped playing. At some point in the second half we stopped playing, we didn’t move and didn’t create chances and we let Hapoel Jerusalem get back into the game. In their first situation of the match, they equalized. I’m happy that in the end we managed to win the game.”
Jerusalem bench boss Ziv Arie shared his thoughts.
“This is the story of our season. We had a great chance to make it 2-1 and instead we conceded a goal at the other end. We don’t have a strong lineup; there was a thought process about who the best lineup to play here should be.”
Maccabi Jaffa stunned Maccabi Netanya 2-0 as the Leumit League outfit took the surprising State Cup win over the first-division side and advanced to the quarterfinals.
Netanya came into the do-or-die contest with Benny Lam on the sidelines after the club let go of head coach Yossi Abukasis, and their disarray was taken advantage of by Jaffa as Sally Gonen scored in the 11th minute and Mansour Badjie found the back of the goal an hour later to wrap up the shocking victory.
Jaffa coach Itzik Baruch spoke about the victory.
“It’s great fun to coach this group. In the league things aren’t going as well and you can’t ignore that. But I’m happy that we punched our ticket to the next round. The difference in this game is that there was more pressure on Netanya.”
Netanya’s caretaker manager Lam talked about the defeat.
“This is not how I imagined my return to the touchline. There is a crisis, there’s a lack of confidence, the energy is low and it’s very difficult. It hurts the fans and it’s a shame. Maccabi Netanya usually likes to make runs in the cup. I tried, but it’s hard, hard for the players because they’re going through a bad period. Jaffa should have even won 3–0.”
Maccabi Haifa slipped by Hapoel Ra’anana 1-0 as Guy Melamed scored off a Pierre Cornud comer kick in the 91st minute to advance to the quarterfinals.
Haifa coach Barak Bachar shared his thoughts.
“I was worried that we hardly created anything and we played against a team that was set up brilliantly, tactically and was dangerous in transitions. We didn’t create solutions, but it’s the cup and in the cup you need to get through. The way you make it through doesn’t matter as much, what’s important is that we won.”
Ra’anana bench coach Nitzan Damari spoke about the tough loss.
“Of course it’s very disappointing. We got to the 90th minute and we had held on which is credit to the players for the sacrifice in an excellent tactical game. It’s a shame it was decided by a set-piece, but that’s part of football.”
Maccabi Bnei Reineh got by Hapoel Petah Tikva 2-1 as Iyad Khalaili scored a brace while Shavit Mazal found the back of the goal for the hosts to send the last-place Premier League squad in the quarterfinals of the State Cup.
Reineh bench boss Adham Hadiya discussed the win.
“I knew we would come into this game different from the way we did last week and we learned from our mistakes in the previous match. In my opinion, we deserved this win big time, huge credit to the players. Everything we’re going through isn’t easy; even this week against Beitar Jerusalem we played well and missed chances. We came committed and players who got an opportunity proved they deserve to play.”
Petah Tikva coach Omer Peretz summed up the match.
“We tried to go for the cup, too bad we didn’t get through this stage. On the other hand, we’re running on fumes and many players are out. We need a deeper squad for this season and right now we’re quite short. We need to refresh the squad in January to continue our positive season.”
Finally, Bnei Yehuda downed Maccabi Herzliya on penalties 0-0 (3-2 on penalties) to move onto the next round.
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