Hapoel Acre 1, Bnei Yehdua 2; Hakoach Ramat Gan 0, Hapoel Tel Aviv 3; Hakoach Ramat Gan 0, Hapoel Tel Aviv 3.
By ALLON SINAIbnei sakhnin 88(photo credit: )
There were no surprises in the first three quarterfinal matches in the State Cup Tuesday, as favorites Hapoel Tel Aviv, Bnei Yehuda and Bnei Sakhnin all advanced to the semifinals. The last remaining spot will be determined on Wednesday, when Maccabi Haifa hosts Maccabi Petah Tikva.
Hapoel Tel Aviv, which eliminated Hakoach Amidar Ramat Gan, and Bnei Yehuda, which needed extra time before it ousted Acre, ended a three-year run where a non-Premier League team reached the finals.
Hapoel Acre 1, Bnei Yehdua 2 (AET)
Hapoel Acre of the National League was only seconds away from booking its place in the semis, but a stoppage time goal by substitute Barak Badash sent the teams into extra time, from which Bnei Yehuda eventually prevailed.
Hapoel was the better side throughout the match and took a deserved lead in the 70th minute from a Kobi Hasan penalty.
Acre, which beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in the previous round, held on to its lead until the 90th minute, but a lapse of concentration in stoppage time cost it a second straight win against a Tel Aviv giant.
Five minutes into the extra period, Moshe Biton scored the winner for Bnei Yehuda. Biton took advantage of a defensive mistake by Hapoel and coolly slotted the ball in.
Hakoach Ramat Gan 0, Hapoel Tel Aviv 3
Hapoel Tel Aviv was far from its best on Wednesday afternoon, but Hakoach's lack of cutting edge in front of goal gifted the reds a valuable semifinal spot.
Despite dominating the play, Hakoach was incapable of repeating its shock win against Betar Jerusalem in the previous round and the hosts will now try and console themselves with promotion from the National League.
Elyaniv Barda was the man of the match, assisting in the 18th and 80th minute goals of Omer Peretz and Zito Ogabuna and scoring a solo effort in the last minute.
Hapoel Kfar Saba 1, Bnei Sakhnin 3
Shye Figenboim got off to dream start as coach of Bnei Sakhnin leading his new club to the last four of the cup.
Figenboim took charge of Sakhnin on Monday and will hope the cup run will give his team a much needed boost in the fight against relegation.
Sakhnin took the lead on the stroke of halftime when Yaniv Abergil lobbed the ball over the Kfar Saba 'keeper.
Five minutes from time Hapoel scored an equalizer. Yauza Abubakri took advantage of a poor Sakhnin clearance and leveled the score.
The match seemed destined for extra time when Eliran Hudeda was in the right place in the right time to benefit from a spilled clearance by the Kfar Saba 'keeper and put his team back in the lead.
Sakhnin added a third a minute from the final whistle when Pascal Kondofoni found himself clear in the box a scored with ease.
On TV: Maccabi Petah Tikva at Maccabi Haifa (live on Channel 1 at 5:40 p.m.)
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