After a 6-1 aggregate victory over second division side Maccabi Petah Tikva in the Quarter Finals, Maccabi were drawn to face Beitar Jerusalem in the State Cup Semi Final. The draw which took place at the Israel Football Association Headquarters Today (Monday) also teamed-up Ashdod SC and Maccabi Netanya for the second Semi Final as both ties are scheduled to take place between May 2nd to May 4th with the venues announced at a later stage.

Despite a 2-1 defeat at home to second division outfit Hapoel Afula, Beitar Jerusalem advanced to the Semi Finals with a 5-2 victory on aggregate.

Ashdod SC also advanced at the expense of a second division side as a 4-2 victory in the second leg against Hapoel Petah Tikva, secured a 5-3 aggregate win.

Maccabi Netanya were the only side to knock out a top flight opposition as their 2-1 victory away to Maccabi Haifa, completed a 4-3 aggregate victory and a spot in the final four of the primary cup competition.

Semi Final draw: (matches to take place on May 2^nd – May 4^th)
Beitar Jerusalem vs Maccabi Tel Aviv
Ashdod SC vs Maccabi Netanya

Eran Zahavi, whose fourth minute goal against Hapoel Jeruslaem wasn’t enough to lead the team to victory as Maccabi suffered a painful 2-1 home defeat to Hapoel Jerusalem at Bloomfield.

“We started the match in an excellent way but suddenly there was a drastic dip in form” Zahavi said, “We didn’t manage to respond and didn’t score the second goal partly due to my fault. We conceded soft goals and in the end got ourselves under pressure. As soon as we concede a goal at Bloomfield there is enormous pressure and we struggle to handle that pressure, fail to create chances and don’t score goals.”

When asked about the team’s reaction to Jerusalem’s comeback the 35-year-old replied: “I don’t know if we don’t believe, but what I have seen is a team under pressure. We tried everything, the players gave a 100% and Hapoel Jerusalem did an amazing job and deserve a lot of credit for their performance. The made the adaptations during the game, changed formations and played good football.”

On what is currently not working, Zahavi replied: “Everything is not working right now. None of us is doing his job properly from the last player all the way to the top, including the coaching staff, the fans, everyone means everyone. We are one club and we are all not doing our jobs. There is not a player who doesn’t give from himself 200%. Sometimes it works more and sometimes less. We would all like to remain united even in tough moments. I also expect the fans not to boo but I also expect a lot more from ourselves.”

Preview

Maccabi Tel Aviv returned to Bloomfield stadium for the MD25 ONE ZERO League match against Hapoel Jerusalem aiming to string a third victory in succession. On the eve of the penultimate match of the regular season, the last two victories over Hapoel Be’ersheva and Sektzia Ness Ziona took Maccabi’s point tally to 51 points- one adrift of second place Be’ersheva and 5 behind the leaders.

Maccabi’s coach Aitor Karanka made several changes to his starting line-up as Shahar Piven and Nir Bitton returned to the heart of defence alongside Derrick Luckassen. With Ofir Davidzada nursing a hamstring injury, Enric Saborit, slotted-in at left back with Andre Geraldes completing the defensive line at right back.

Karnaka named Gabi Kanichowsky and Eyal Golasa in the midfield engine room with Parfait Guiagon handed a more attacking role at the top of the midfield trio. Upfront, Karanka stuck with his striking duo Djordje Jovanovic and Eran Zahavi who led the line wearing the captain’s armband.

On the bench alongside goalkeeper Or Yitzhak, the Spanish coach named Dan Glazer, Dan Biton, Rares Ilie, Avi Rikan, Yonatan Cohen, Maor Kandil, Dor Turgeman and Dor Peretz.

Prior to kick-off a ceremony was held in honor of the class of 1978/79 as the championship winning side of that season were invited onto the pitch. To mark the memorable season and celebrate yet another annual retro festival, Maccabi’s current team wore a replica kit of that season during the match against Hapoel Jerusalem.

First Half

The presence of the Maccabi legends in the stadium must have inspired the team as it didn’t take long for Maccabi to break the deadlock. Parfait Guiagon slid the ball to Enric Saborit down the left flank before the Spanish full-back whipped in a cross which was volleyed home by Eran Zahavi to put Maccabi in front after four minutes. Zahavi took his tally to 15 league goals while Saborit added another assist to his 7 this season.

Two minutes later Guiagon skipped past Yao Koffi and charged towards the area but his cut-back from the byline was caught by Adeley Adebayo. Jerusalem’s keeper denied Zahavi a second goal in the 10th minute as the veteran marksman headed Andre Geraldes’ cross from the right straight at him. Maccabi’s continued as Djordje Jovanovic flashed a shot which agonizingly crept to the wrong side of the post.

Right on the half hour mark Ofek Biton got the ball in the back of Daniel Peretz’s net but the goal was disallowed after the Jerusalem forward was caught in an offside position. Six minutes later a Jerusalem attempt of a through ball near the halfway line struck Saborit to release Jovanovic through on goal. The Serbian forward unselfishly squared the ball to Zahavi who uncharacteristically managed to miscue his shot wide.

In the 42nd minute Maccabi broke into the Jerusalem area but Gabi Kanichowsky fired his shot over. On the stroke of halftime Guiagon sent Kanichowsky into the area once again before the diminutive midfielder skipped past a defender’s tackle but shot straight at Adebayo.

Idan Leiba’s halftime whistle sent both teams to regroup in the dressing room with Maccabi feeling disappointed by their slender lead.

Second Half

Karanka didn’t make any changes to personnel at the restart while his counterpart Ziv Ariye made two substitutions as Maccabi’s on-loan-duo Roy Revivo and Nadav Nidam bowed out and were replaced at the restart by Ariel Shalom and Jordan Botaka.

In the 52nd minute a kanichowsky corner was knocked down by Derrick Luckassen into the path of Zahavi whose close range effort was cleared by Adebayo and his defence.

Dour minutes later Maccabi counter attack saw Saborit carry the ball more than half the length of the pitch. The Spaniard exchanged passes with Kanichowsky before firing his shot over the crossbar. This was Kanichowsky’s final contribution on the night as he came off on 57 as part of a double substitution together with Guiagon with Dan Glazer and Dor Peretz entering the field.

The change didn’t seem to help as within a minute, Jerusalem were awarded a penalty after Saborit brought down Guy Badash inside the area. Idan Leiba pointed at the spot and despite the fact Peretz got a hand to the shot, he couldn’t deny Badash from scoring the equalizer. The visitors completed their comeback within two minutes as Glazer conceded possession deep inside Maccabi’s half before Badash picked the ball, shrugged off a challenge from Shahar Piven and Nir Bitton before curling a left foot shot beyond the reach of Peretz to make it 2-1.

Jovanovic came close to level the score on 69 as his effort from inside the penalty area required a double save from Adebayo who was also assisted by his crossbar in the process.

In the 71^st minute, Karanka reacted with a triple substitution as Dan Biton, Rares Ilie, and Yonatan Cohen came on for Golasa, Bitton and Jovanovic.

Cohen had a close range header tipped by Adebayo over the bar in the 80th minute but it wouldn’t have counted anyway as the linesman raised his flag for offside. Two minutes later Biton ghosted in at the far post to head Abdre Geraldes’ cross towards goal only for the keeper to pull yet another save.

With the clock ticking fast, the fourth official signaled six minutes of added time with Maccabi throwing everything forward in a desperate bid to level the score. Inside injury time Luckassen tried a long range effort which went a high and wide and summed up Maccabi’s performance on the night.