Tal Ben Chaim played hero for the Yellow-and-Blue as the winger’s 85th minute strike was the difference in a 3:2 victory over Bnei Sakhnin. Firas Mugrabi fired the first shot but Barak Itzahki answered quickly for Maccabi. Shlomi Azulay then gave Sakhnin a 2:1 but a Zahavi penalty drew the defending Cup holders even. However, it was Ben Chaim who saved the day and won the match for the champs scoring a fantastic goal to send Maccabi back to the State Cup finals to be held in Jerusalem.
Peter Bosz, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Head Coach made a number of changes to his Starting XI as Dor Peretz, Barak Itzhaki and Avi Rikan all got the nod in place of Gal Alberman, Orlando Sa and Yuval Shpungin who has featured in place of the injured Omri Ben Harush. Predrag Rajikovic took his usual spot in goal as Eli Dasa, Eitan Tibi, Carlos Garcia and Rikan played in front of the Serbian keeper. Haris Medunjanin and Peretz shored up the midfield while Tal Ben Chaim, Dor Micha, Eran Zahavi and Itzhaki featured on attack for the Yellow-and-Blue.
Medunjanin made his presence felt in the early going as his 3rd minute 25 meter screamer missed the mark while Peretz’s 13th minute scorcher just went wide of the Sakhnin goal. Just two minutes later, Firas Mugrabi had the first of a number of quality chances as he raced down the right side on the pitch only to be stopped at the last second by central defender Garcia who pushed the ball out.
In the 18th minute Mugrabi once again flew down the right side but his effort went wide of the goal. However, as they say the third time’s a charm and it certainly was for Bnei Sakhnin as the clock hit minute 23. Mugrabi took a terrific through ball that went between the Maccabi defenders allowing him to score on a one-on-one situation against Rajikovic for a 1:0 lead.
Maccabi immediately looked for an equalizer and found one soon thereafter. Itzhaki’s strong 25th minute effort just scooted by the Kandil’s post but his 27th minute header cleanly beat the Sakhnin keeper thanks to a perfect pass by Micha drawing the Yellow-and-Blue even at 1:1.
As the heat index climbed a few degrees at Sammy Ofer Stadium, Sakhnin coach Yossi Abuksis argued with the referee claiming that Maccabi had continued play in an unsportsmanlike manner as a Sakhnin player was down on the pitch injured. The veteran manager was shown a red card and ejected for his efforts while Mugrabi also picked up a yellow card for kicking the ball out of play in protest as the half ended deadlocked at one a piece.
Maccabi came out of the box quickly to start the second half as Ben Chaim steamed down the pitch but was fouled just outside of the box by Wanderson Silva who was shown yellow. Both Zahavi and Medunjanin lined up to take the free kick but it was the latter who stepped up, hitting the bar with his brilliant opportunity.
As Maccabi looked to take the lead it was Sakhnin who took advantage of their first chance of the half as Shlomi Azulay beat Rajikovic good to go up 2:1 in the 52nd minute. Down by a goal, the Yellow-and-Blue searched in earnest to draw even.
Zahavi provided an evening’s worth of chances between the 58th and 63rd minutes from a header, a free kick and an opportunity from right in front of the goal but couldn’t find a way past the Sakhnin shot stopper.
As Maccabi continued to press, Head Coach Bosz made his first substitution of the match introducing Orlando Sa in favor of Garcia as the Dutchman looked to add some more firepower to his potent offense. In the 67th minute Itzhaki took a Micha pass in the box and was tripped up by Tambi Sagas good for a Zahavi spot kick. The Captain beat Kandil from 11 meters to draw Maccabi even once again at 2:2.
With the match settling down after a frantic pace, Bosz made his second substitution of the evening inserting Gal Alberman for Itzhaki while Sakhnin countered by taking off Haled Halayla who had just picked up a yellow card for Eldar Hasanovic.
With Maccabi searching for a hero to win the match by the final whistle they had to look no further than Tal Ben Chaim whose vicious effort from the left side beat Kandil in the 85th minute good for the win and a trip to the Israel State Cup final in Jerusalem.
