The Israel State Cup semi-finals couldn't have asked for a better stage.
The Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa was full as two of the biggest clubs in the country, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem, faced off.
Maccabi Tel Aviv, who recently won the cup in 2021, is in the midst of an unsuccessful season.
Despite bringing in some great new talent in the summer, including arguably the best Israeli goal scorer at the moment, Eran Zahavi, the club has failed to make it even close to the title battle.
With Aitor Karanka at the helm, they were hoping they could save their season with a title.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, last chance to save the season (Shaul Greenfeld/BabaGol)
Beitar Jerusalem also had a long journey to this stage.
Their summer was difficult, as the club was close to administration and, despite finding a new owner, they are in the midst of a relegation battle.
With their last cup win being all the way back in 2009, the club desperately wanted to end this drought.
Seven minutes in, Maccabi Tel Aviv were close to scoring an early goal.
Ofir Davidzada ran to the left-hand side and crossed the ball into the middle. Djordje Jovanovic hit it well and scored, but the assistant referee raised his flag as the ball had been off the pitch before the cross was made.
At the half hour mark, Beitar’s Trazié Thomas ran through Maccabi Tel Aviv's defense and, after a one-two with Yarden Shua, scored the first goal of the game.
The game would be made equal before half-time. After several failed attempts, Ofir Davidzada headed the ball to Djordje Jovanovic who scored the equaliser.
Things were looking worse for Maccabi too, as Eran Zahavi needed to be taken off after picking up an injury.
Gabi Kanichowski was subbed on, as his team looked to find someone who could score a goal.
The second half didn’t go well for either side, with both teams looking confused and making mistakes.
With just a couple of minutes left, one of these mistakes proved crucial.
Maccabi failed to stop Fred Friday from easily running into the box, and he put the ball past Daniel Peretz - 2-1 to Beitar.
That wasn’t the end. Maccabi pushed forward to equalise, but got stung by a quick counter-attack from Beitar.
Peretz found himself in a bad position, near the half-way line, and Avishai Cohen eased past him before scoring into an empty net.
When the final whistle came, Beitar could officially celebrate their place in the final.
Since their last title in 2009, they’ve reached this stage only once, and on that day they were thrashed at their home stadium.
Their current manager, Yossi Abuksis, is known as a cup specialist, he has won the title twice in the past, in 2019 with Bnei Yehuda and in 2020 with Hapoel Be'er Sheva.
He couldn't let his team miss the chance to play in the final, and now only Maccabi Netanya are in the way of their shot at glory.
Edited by Alex Smith
All photos by Shaul Greenfeld
