Preview
Maccabi Tel Aviv will make their 38th appearance in the State Cup Final as they face Hapoel B’ersheva at Teddy stadium aiming to win the title for the 25th time in the Club’s history.
Three days after the 2025/26 league campaign came to an end with the league title changing hands after two years and heading south, Be’ersheva once again stands between Maccabi and a trophy. A season which began with a Super Cup encounter between the two sides in July that Be’ersheva won 2-1, will come to an end with Maccabi’s 57th match of the entire campaign.
After resting several players in Saturday’s final league match away to Hapoel Petah Tikva, Maccabi’s interim Head Coach Kenny Miller made a host of changes to his starting line up.
Ofek Melika returned to goal with Ali Camara and Tyrese Asante lining up as the two central defenders in front of him. Sagiv Jehezkel at right-back and Roy Revivo at left-back completed Maccabi’s defensive line. Issouf Sisokho was named by Miller in the anchorman role right behind the team’s top goalscorers Ido Shahar and Dor Peretz. On the wings Miller named Helio Varela on the left and Emir Sahiti on the right flank with Saied Abu Farchi leading the attack.
On the bench alongside goalkeeper Roi Mishpati, Miller named Kervin Andrade, Raz Shlomo, Kristijan Belic, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harosh, Itamar Noy, Itai Ben Hamo and Osher Davida.
First Half
A sea of colour and a wall of noise welcomed the players at a packed Teddy Stadium split into two with one half yellow and the second red. Maccabi began the match on the front foot and created the first chance in the 5th minute. Emir Sahiti cut inside from the right and switched to the opposite flank where Helio Varela cut onto his right and fired a shot which was palmed away by Be’ersheva’s keeper Ofir Marciano. In the 12th minute however, Be’ersheva broke the deadlock as Kings Kangwa dispossessed Issouf Sissokho before slipping the ball to Mohamad Abu Rumi who kept his calm and rolled the ball past Ofek Melika. Within a minute Melika denied Kangwa from doubling Beersheva’s lead as the keeper was at full stretch to keep out the Zambian’s thunderbolt.
Guy Mizrahi was shown the yellow card by referee David Fuxman for a foul on Roy Revivo in the 29th minute. A minute later Varela burst forward and saw his effort blocked by Mizrahi for a corner. Maccabi came close to level as Dor Peretz headed the resulting Revivo corner wide of the post. In the 38th minute Sagiv Jehezkel was booked as well for a tackle on Amir Ganah.Inside injury time Sissokho picked the ball in the middle of the park and charged forward before being charged down by a Be’ersheva defender. Fuxman gave an advantage and waived play on as the ball reached Saied Abu Farchi whose weak shot was easily collected by Marciano. Peretz was given another chance to score but his header which sailed wide was the final action in the first half.
Second half
Maccabi’s coach Kenny Miller didn’t make any changes for the second half, his Be’ersheva counterpart Ran Kuzukh replaced Mizrahi with Zahi Ahmed at the restart. In the 56th minute Maccabi were back on level terms as the Yellow half of Teddy was up in the air. A pinpoint corner reached Tyrese Asante at the far post before the Dutch defender headed across goal for Varela to nod it home. Two minutes after the hour mark a well drilled free kick routine saw Revivo pick Peretz unmarked at the far post. As Maccabi’s captain sent a glancing close range header, Marciano pulled a stunning reflex save to tip the ball onto the crossbar before catching it at the second attempt. Maccabi’s blitz continued as Revivo completed the comeback on 64 after winning a challenge deep inside Be’ersheva’s half, turned onto his weak right foot and beat swept a shot that beat Marciano to make it 2-1.
Camara was booked for a foul on the edge of the area before Mohamad Kna’an blasted the free kick which was punched away by Melika. Miller added another fresh pair of legs as Kervin Andrade replaced Varela in the 81st minute. Two minutes later Maccabi almost scored the third with a dangerous counter attack which began with a Peretz through ball to Davida whose cross was cleared from the goalmouth preventing Abu Farchi from scoring.
Shortly after the fourth official raised his sign for 7 minutes of added time, Miller sent in Itai Ben Hamo for Jehezkel. Tempers faired as Kangwa and Lukas Ventura run to the Maccabi bench at the end of which Sahiti was shown the red card.
