This fixture has regularly been one of the best that Israeli football could offer. Maccabi Tel Aviv, the oldest and biggest club in Israel, against up-and-coming Hapoel Be'er Sheva.
Coming into the game, both teams knew this tournament would be their last chance at silverware this season. Hapoel Be’er Sheva find themselves in second place in the league, with an almost insurmountable gap between them and leaders Maccabi Haifa, while Maccabi Tel Aviv languish in third place, despite being in the midst of one of their most disappointing seasons in recent history.
They have already played each other this week, with Hapoel coming out on top on Sunday. But both sides knew that this would be different.
The fans of both teams with a tremendous performance. Israeli football at its best#IsraeliCup 🇮🇱
— BabaGol (@BabaGol_) April 20, 2022
📸 Our @NickieLiberman is in the house 👸 pic.twitter.com/wR9Z4QsohU
Seven minutes in, a series of defensive mistakes ended with a decent strike by Đorđe Jovanović. The Serbian has improved Maccabi’s scoring record since signing in the winter, supplying six league goals.
But the game remained balanced, with both sides keeping their focus on their offensive tactics.
Halfway through the first half, Hapoel scored the equaliser. Hatem Elhamed headed the ball to Mariano Bareiro, who found Daniel Tenenbaum off his line - easily hitting the back of the net to make it 1-1.
In the 40th minute, Hapoel made another great attack. Eugene Ansah recovered the ball near the half-way line, and ran it all the way into the box. Ansah’s barely scored this season, but managed to finish well to give his side the lead.
Hatem Elhamed, from an early 1-0 down to a 2-1 lead in the first half (Shaul Greenfeld)
But they didn’t stop there. Rotem Hatuel capitalised on a Hélder Lopes cross to see them take a two goal lead. Hapoel were even closer to the final.
Hapoel were dominating, but the game was interrupted five minutes from the end, and not for the first time. It was the second pause after Maccabi fans threw objects at opposition goalkeeper Omri Glazer. The clubs fans have form too, earlier this season their Europa Conference League match against PSV Eindhoven was stopped for the same reason.
A night to remember for Hapoel Be’er Sheva fans (Nicole Liberman)
The final whistle marked the end of an amazing night for Hapoel Be'er Sheva, and it means they have now reached their second cup final in three years.
It's now a year of three finals between Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Maccabi Haifa. They were the main competitors in the race for the league, and they’ve already battled it out in the Toto Cup - next up, it’s the final of the Israeli State Cup.
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