Baltaxa who made a rare start at the heart of defense, said after the game: “It feels good to be on the pitch, good to play and good to play well. From here onwards let us hope that I would continue like that. It was a very tough match, Be’ersheva are a strong side, but everyone gave everything and I am proud of my teammates. Today we made it tough for ourselves but it was sweet in the end and I hope to continue this way”.

“The Cup game was a match that was extremely important for us. I am delighted that I scored t hmm e winning goal and even happier we won and advanced to the next stage”.

Peretz, who scored the goal that inflicted Be’ersheva their first home defeat at Turner stadium, added: “I am trying to join as much as I can from the second line. I am delighted to be doing that, reach chances a d help the team in any way I possible can. All I want to do is to continue doing that”

Dor Peretz’s 65th minute goal earned Maccabi Tel Aviv a 1-0 victory against Hapoel Be’ersheva at Turner stadium. The victory booked Maccabi’s place in the next round of the State Cup with the draw set for Tuesday 23rd.

Pre Match

Three days after playing Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of the Europa League Round of 32 at Bloomfield, and in view of Thursday’s return leg at Kiev, Maccabi’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen made no less than 8 changes to his starting line-up for the State Cup match away to Hapoel Be’ersheva.

Daniel Tenenbaum, Enric Saborit and Dor Peretz were the only members of the team who kept their places in the team. Sheran Yeini and Matan Baltaxa both started as the two central defenders in front of Tenenabum with Maor Kandil on the right and Saborit on the left completed the back four.

Eyal Golasa, who recovered from an injury recently and made a second half substitute appearance against Shakhtar, returned to the midfield as did Shahar Piven in the anchorman role. Peretz completed the midfield trio while Eylon Almog, Nick Blackman and Etey Shechter led Maccabi’s attack against a Be’ersheva side plagued with suspensions and injuries.

First Half

Seven minutes from the start Maccabi reached their first chance as Nick Blackman whiped in a cross from the left before Eylon Almog ghosted at the far post and sent a volley straight at Ohad Levita.

Six minutes later, Blackman sent another pinpoint cross from the left this time to Etey Shechter whose volley rocketed high over the crossbar before the veteran striker was judged to have been offside.

In the 17th minute Enric Saborit exchanged passes with Eyal Golasa to break into Be’ersheva’s area but the Spaniard’s shot come cross was parried by Levita for a corner. Shahar Piven went down in the 21st minute after a hard tackle on his ankle by Dudi Twito who was consequently booked.

Mariano Bariero flashed a long range effort which on 25 which crept wide of Tenebaum’s post. Two minutes later Twito should have received a second booking for tripping Almog but referee Erez Pappir opted to show Dor Peretz the yellow card for descent. Blackman crossed the free kick before Matan Baltaxa headed over the crossbar. At the opposite end, Daniel Tenenbaum came to the rescue as he kept out Tomer Yossefi’s shot in the 31st minute.

Golasa must have thought he had scored as he latched onto a back pass in the 38th minute and sent a chip over the advancing keeper. But as the ball slowly rolled into the open net, Eitan Ratzon cleared it off his line to deny Maccabi the opener.

On the brink of halftime, Sagiv Yehezkel, managed to break into Maccabi’s penalty area but was placed under pressure and shot wide.

 

Bariero limped off before the halftime whistle with what seemed to be a dislocated shoulder and replaced after the interval by Hatem Elhamid.

Second Half

The injury he suffered earlier, prevented Piven from continuing in the second half as he was replaced by Avi Rikan at the restart.

In the 57th minute Almog’s trickery earned him the time and space to float a cross towards Pertez at the far post before the blocked attempt fell to Rikan who shot over. A minute Yehezkel beat Maccabi’s offside trap and lifted the ball over the advancing Tenenbaum only to miss the target. Right on the hour mark Rikan met Blackman’s cross with a diving header which Levita managed to save.

Van Leeuwen made a triple substitution in the 63rd minute as he replaced his entire frontline and introduced Matan Hozez, Eduardo Guerrero and Aleksandar Pesic for Blackman, Almog and Shechter.

The impact was almost instantly as Maccabi took the lead on 65 following a Maor Kandil cross which was flicked by Pesic before Peretz thumped in the opener.

Be’ersheva came close to less than a minute later as Tenebaum pulled a stunning save to deny Yehezkel before Kandil’s last gasp tackle cleared the loose ball off the line.

Itamar Shviro who came on as a sub for Yossefi flashed a header wide of Tenenbaum’s goal in the 83rd minute.

1928 – The year Maccabi Tel Aviv began their matches in the State Cup with a 5-2 over Maccabi Petah Tikva.

84 – This is the 84^th season Maccabi begin their State Cup journey

Maccabi played in 36 State Cup finals and lifted the Cup 23 times – more than any other Israeli club.

A 90% success rate of advancing through from the first round of the Cup – the highest success rate in Israel.

Maccabi Petah Tikva were Maccabi’s State Cup opponents 23 times – more than any other team.

In 225 State Cup matches Maccabi played throughout history they were beaten only in 60 encounters.

The latest goal Maccabi ever scored in the first round was scored in the 119^th minute by Giovani Rosso during a 2-1 victory over Hakoah Ramat Gan in 2007.

The highest victory recorded in the State Cup was a 10-0 victory over Maccabi Bar Kochba Jerusalem back in 1937.

Hapoel Be’ersheva met Maccabi in the State Cup 8 times with Maccabi winning 7 of the ties.

Maccabi’s leading goal-scorer in the State Cup is Benny Tabbak with 31 goals to his name.

Maccabi’s all-time record appearance holder, Miko Belo, also holds the record appearances in the State Cup with 75.

Jerry Beit Halevi won the State Cup 4 times as Maccabi’s coach (1954, 1955, 1964, 1965). Yisrael Halibner (1967, 1970) and Nir Levin (2001, 2002) are guided Maccabi to State Cup victories on two occasions each.

“It is extremely annoying, especially when we conceded the second goal. At these levels you get punished for every mistake” Glazer said. “We felt that we were strong in the game and we could do it, but sadly it didn’t happen and we conceded a late goal”.

“Despite all that, we could feel proud of ourselves. We are a group of men, everyone helped each other and we showed that we could play football at this level. To demand the ball all the time and play positive football. Now we will rest a little bit and start preparing for for Sunday’s cup match”.

Pre Match

After a two months break Bloomfield stadium returned to stage European matches as Maccabi Tel Aviv hosted Ukrainian Champions Shakhtar Donetsk for the first leg of the Europa League Round of 32.

Maccabi’s Coach Patrick van Leeuwen made a solitary change from the side that beat Hapoel Kfar Sava in the league as Dan Glazer replaced Sheran Yeini as the midfield anchor-man.

Daniel Tenenbaum kept his place in goal, as did the entire defensive line which included the two central defenders, Louis Hernandez and Eytan Tibi with Andre Geraldes and Enric Saborit as the two full-backs on the left and right respectively.

Dor Peretz was handed the captain’s armband on the night and together with Avi Rikan completed the midfield trio. Tal Ben Chaim and Dan Biton were named by Van Leeuwen as the two wingers in support of Aleksandar Pesic who led the attack.

First Half

Maccabi took the initiative right from the start and were awarded their second corner as early as the eighth minute. Andre Gerlades crossed the corner before Luis Hernandez managed to get a header but couldn’t keep the ball down as it cleared the crossbar. Four minutes later Avi Rikan found himself with the goal at his mercy but Aleksandar Pesic was caught offside denying the midfielder the embarrassment of missing the target.

Daniel Tenenbaum was forced to make his first save on 22 as Alan Patrick cut the ball back for Junior Moraes whose shot was equalled by the Maccabi custodian.

Shakhtar began increasing the pressure as a Taison shot on 29 deflected off a Maccabi defender before the ball was collected by Tenenbaum. Two minutes later however the deadlock was broken by Patrick who latched onto a Mykola Matviyenko knockdown before firing a shot which proved too powerful for Tenenbaum as it went in off the post.

In the 39th minute, Francois Letexier, went to the video screen to check claims for a Maccabi penalty after Pesic was brought down in the area, but the French referee didn’t award a spot kick.

Second Half

Van Leeuwen made his first change as Matan Hozez replaced Dan Biton for the restart. Dor Peretz wasted a chance as he fired wide on 55 while Hozez also had an attempt on goal two minutes later.

A minute after the hour mark, a perfectly timed Enric Saborit tackle denied Manor Solomon whose powerful shot from inside the area was blocked the Spaniard.

Nick Blackman replaced Tal Ben Chaim and Eyal Golasa came in for Avi Rikan on 63 as Van Leeuwen added two fresh pair of legs into the midfield.

Solomon flashed another shot on 72 but the diminutive Israeli international who failed to keep his shot down made his final contribution as he was replaced by Tete. Tenebaum saved with his feet to keep out Yevhen Konoplyanka’s shot on 77 while at the opposite end Blackman fired a left foot half volley which was caught by Anatolii Trubin.

A Golasa pass carved through Shakhtar’s defense to release Hozez whose cross on 83 found Pesic who shot over. But the move was ruled out for a Hozez offside and the Serbian was replaced seconds later by Eduardo Guerrero. A Hozez cross was directed at Guerrero on 87 but was cleared for a corner by a Shakhtar defender before the Panamanian forward could convert the ball on target. The resulting corner was crossed in by Hozez to find Hernandez only to see the Spaniard’s powerful header equalled by an instinct Trubin save to deny Maccabi an equaliser.
In the 90^th minute, Tenenbaum, managed to keep Maccabi in the game as he charged out of his goal-line to keep out a Fernando Santos close range effort.

But, inside injury time a Fernando Santos counter attack resulted with Tete sending the ball past Tenenbaum to double Shakhtar’s lead and set the first leg score at 2-0 before both teams meet in Kiev next Thursday.