Beitar Jerusalem defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 2:0 on goals by Arik Sabo and Itay Shecter as the Yellow & Blue will now turn their attention to the State Cup Final against Bnei Yehuda in the Little Derby at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem on Thursday night.

 

Prematch
Prior to the match former player Yoav Ziv was honored in a moving ceremony and was cheered to the fans delight.

Head Coach Lito Vidigal made a number of changes to his Starting XI and gave Brazilian Ramon Roma his first Maccabi start while also inserting Eliel Peretz into the midfield. Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic was back in goal after getting the last match off while Eli Dasa, Tel Ben Haim and Eitan Tibi were on defense. Gal Alberman was wearing the Captain’s armband while Yossi Benayoun, Barak Itzhaki, Tal Ben Chaim and American-Israeli Aaron Schoenfeld rounded out the lineup.

Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Lifshitz, Avi Rikan, Vidar Kjartansson, Ruben Micael, Dor Micha, Sagiv Yehezkel and Egor Filipenka.

First Half
The half began with both sides playing tentative football but Arik Sabo gave Beitar the lead in the 12th minute after taking an Itay Shecter pass from the right and scored uncontested in the middle of the box for a 1:0 advantage. Six minutes later Schoenfeld’s header off of a Ben Chaim corner was caught by keeper Boris Kleyman while just one minute later, the visitors took a 2:0 lead thanks to Shecter. Dan Einbinder’s chance hit the bar and went to Shecter who took a sharp angled shot from 15 meters out that found it’s way into the left corner of the goal and past Rajikovic.

A shocked Maccabi began to control the play and in the 38th minute Itzhaki’s opportunity was off the mark while Dasa’s 45th minute long attempt was blocked by the keeper and sent out for a corner as the half came to an end with Beitar holding a 2:0 advantage.

Second Half
After Head Coach Lito Vidigal inserted Dor Micha into the match for Itzhaki, the Yellow & Blue came out strong to begin the second half as Ben Chaim had a pair of chances early on. The first came thanks to a brilliant pass by Micha but Kleyman was able to come out and snag the ball while Number 11’s second opportunity was cleared off of the line by David Keltjens.

Ben Chaim picked up a yellow card for a reckless tackle in the 54th minute while two minutes later Idan Vered cut into the box but his attempt just skipped by the left post and out. Ben Chaim had a third chance to score but his 61st minute attempt was grabbed by the Beitar shot stopper. Central defender Ben Haim was issued a yellow card in the 63rd minute while three minutes later Benayoun’s long opportunity went flying over the bar as Beitar maintained their 2:0 lead.

The visitors almost added a third goal but Hen Ezra’s 71st minute chance went wide right of the goal while Lito Vidigal made his second substitution of the evening as Avi Rikan entered the contest in favor of Ben Chaim. In the 75th minute Rajikoivc came out to make a nice stop on Avishai Cohen to keep the score as is while Ezra tried gain but came up empty in the 77th minute.

Ruben Micael came into the match for Yossi Benayoun in the 81st minute as Maccabi couldn’t muster any more opportunities as the match ended with Beitar defeating the Yellow & Blue to finish off the regular season.

Maccabi will now turn their sights to the State Cup Final against Bnei Yehuda in the Little Derby at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem on Thursday night.