Maccabi Tel Aviv advanced to the Israel State Cup Quarterfinal Round after defeating Hapoel Raanana via penalties 4:2 (1:1 after 120 minutes).

The draw will take place on Thursday at the Israel National Team Headquarters in Shefayim for the two legged quarterfinal round which will take place on February 7/8 with the return match on February 28/March 1.

Here are Maccabi’s potential Quarterfinal opponents:

Hapoel Ramat Gan – Defeated Hapoel Jerusalem via penalty kicks

Hapoel Haifa – Beat Hapoel Rishon Le’Zion 3:0

Kiryat Shemona – Defeated Hapoel Beer Sheva 2:1

Maccabi Petach Tikva – Beat Hapoel Tel Aviv 2:0

Bnei Yehuda – Defeated Hapoel Ashkelon 3:0

Beitar Jerusalem – Beat Bnei Sakhnin 2:1

Ashdod – Defeated Tel Aviv/Ramle by penalties

Maccabi Tel Aviv visited Hapoel Raanana at the Netanya Stadium for a trip to the Israel State Cup quarterfinals and earned their way to the next round after winning via penalty kicks 4:2 following 120 minutes of action

The Yellow & Blue defeated Hapoel Raanana on penalties as Maccabi scored on all of their spot kicks while Rajikovic made one save and Raanana missed their last kick to pick up the win and move on to the Quarterfinal round of the Israel State Cup. Vidar Kjartansson had scored in the 102nd minute after a goalless 90 minutes but a late penalty which Shimon Abuheitzera converted sent the contest to spot kicks. The draw will take place on Thursday to determine Maccabi’s next opponent in the competition, so stay tuned to the Official Website for all of the latest news and reactions.

Prematch
Sports Director Jordi Cruyff made a number of changes to his Starting XI from last Matchday against Bnei Sakhnin, however, Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic wasn’t one of them as he stood in goal for the Yellow & Blue. Eli Dasa, Eitan Tibi, Egor Filipenka and Omri Ben Harush rounded out the defense while Dor Peretz, Haris Medunjanin and Oscar Scarione roamed the midfield. Yossi Benayoun, Dor Micha sporting the captain’s armband and Vidar Kjartansson provided the attack up front.

Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Lifshitz, Yuval Shpungin, Gal Alberman, Barak Itzhaki, Sagiv Yehezkel, Avi Rikan and Eliel Peretz.

First Half
Raanana came out strong in the early goings of the contest as Yarden Cohen and Ben Vahaba threatened Rajikovic’s goal, however came up empty. As the match hit the 14th minute, Cruyff had to make his first substitution due to an injury to Scarione as Sagiv Yehezkel came on in his place. Eli Babayev lofted a free kick to Vahaba, but his header was grabbed by the Yellow & Blue keeper to keep the game goalless in the 18th minute.

Maccabi had their first really good chance of the evening in the 41st minute when Medunjanin sent Yehezkel a terrific ball in the box, but number 17’s opportunity was cleared off of the line at the last second by Vahaba. Two minutes later, Benayoun played a fantastic ball by Medunjanin right on the Raanana goal line but that too didn’t find the back of the goal as the sides headed into the break at 0:0.

Second Half
Maccabi looked to get onto the board first as Yehezkel’s 53rd minute effort was off the mark while number 17 was booked three minutes later when he was shown a yellow card. Abuheitzera’s 20 meter chance missed the goal as Raanana tried their luck to break the ice from long range.

Cruyff made his second substitution of the game in the 81st minute when he inserted Eliel Peretz in place of Dor Peretz as the Yellow & Blue looked for a winner. As the clock wound down in regulation time, Maccabi controlled the tempo but couldn’t find a way past the stingy Raanana defense as the match headed to extra time.

Extra time
The Yellow & Blue made their third and final substitution in the 98th minute as Barak Itzhaki joined the fray in place of Sagiv Yehezkel. With Maccabi pressing for a goal they finally got one via a Kjartansson header thanks to Micha and Benayoun as the Icelander put the visitors ahead 1:0 in the 102nd minute.

With Raanana being forced to go on the attack, Benayoun tripped up Mohamed Shaker in the box in the 119th minute good for a penalty as Shimon Abuheitzera put home the tying goal to send the contest to penalty kicks.

Penalty kicks
Maccabi Medunjanin Goal 1:0
Raanana Nimni Goal 1:1
Maccabi Itzhaki Goal 2:1
Raanana Binyamin Miss, Save by Rajikovic 2:1
Maccabi Kjartansson Goal 3:1
Raanana Yanko Goal 3:2
Maccabi Eliel Peretz Goal 4:2
Raanana Kola Miss 4:2

Maccabi defeated Raanana on penalties, 4:2 to move onto the quarterfinals of the Israel State Cup!

The Yellow & Blue will now prepare for the draw on Thursday and a Matchday 20 contest at Maccabi Haifa.

Maccabi Tel Aviv added another W to their record after defeating Bnei Sakhnin 2:1 on their way to their fourth win overall and cutting the Hapoel Beer Sheva lead to 6 points atop the table. Now’s the time to take a look at the stats behind the win.

Can we play everyday?
Oscar Scarione has scored five league goals with four of them coming against Bnei Sakhnin. The Argentine had a pair of goals in the first round and another brace in the return contest. His only other goal came against Ashdod in first round of matches.

Streaking
The Yellow & Blue have won four in a row which is their longest winning streak since August of this season when they won 6 games including two Toto Cup contests.

Home cooking
Maccabi has won 11 straight home matches against Bnei Sakhnin. Overall, the Yellow & Blue have defeated Sakhnin 19 out of their last 21 meetings.

Shooting
The Yellow & Blue took 23 shots on goal with 15 coming in the first half when Maccabi held possession for 69% of the time compared to 57% in the second half. Scarione led all players with 7 shots while Dor Micha and Barak Itzhaki each had five.

Run, run as fast as you can
Eitan Tibi ran the quickest with 32.3kph while Vidar Kjartansson with 31.2kph and Egor Filipenka 30.9 finished second and third.
Scarione ran the most out of all the Maccabi players for total of 10.8km. Avi Rikan was second running 10.7 while the Icelandic striker Kjartansson was third with 10.5km. All in all the Yellow & Blue players ran 109.7km compared to 104.8k. for the visitors from Sakhnin.

Ticket sales will begin today at 19:00 via the Leaan Website and will be available at the Leaan Ticket Office beginning at 9:00 on Tuesday with 2016/17 Season Ticket Holders having priority to purchase tickets until 24/1/17 at 19:00. Should tickets remain, they will go on sale to the general public. Maccabi fans will be seated in Sections J-K (unreserved).

Tickets are available at the Leaan Ticket Office, 101 Dizengoff Street Tel Aviv, by telephone *8780 and the Leaan Website.

Please note:

• Each Season Ticket Holder may purchase up to 2 tickets
• The 2016/17 Season Ticket must presented in order to receive the tickets
  Home Printing is not available

Ticket Prices
Leaan Ticket Office 101 Dizengoff Street
Adult – 99 ₪
Youth/Soldier/Woman – 49.50 ₪

Telephone/Website
Adult – 104 ₪
Youth/Soldier/Woman – 54.50 ₪

*Anyone presenting a discounted tickets to enter the stadium will need to show proof that they are entitled to the discount (youth, soldier etc…) Any fan that is not entitled will be ejected from the stadium and will not be able to purchase a ticket at full price.

Ticket Collection
Tickets may be collected at the Leaan Ticket Office located at 101 Dizengoff Street between Sunday-Thursday 09:00-19:00, Friday 09:00-13:30.

Tickets may be collected on Matchday at the Southern end Stadium ticket windows beginning 3 hours prior to the match until 45 minutes after the start of the match.

We recommend picking ups your tickets at the Leaan Ticket Office in order to avoid long lines on Matchday. Tickets may be collected at the Dizengoff Ticket Office until 12:00 on Matchday.

Eyal Golasa, the Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder summed up his side’s important 2:1 victory over Bnei Sakhnin at the Netanya Stadium on Matchday 19 of the Ligat Ha’Al. The veteran talked about getting back on track, playing hard and the importance of the win:

“We played well and it was very important for us to take the full three points. You could see right from the get go that we were playing to win the match and I’m happy that we were able to do just that. Now we have to look ahead to Wednesday’s State Cup match.”

Getting back on track:

“It’s like we are having a new start and we are playing with a lot of energy. We look much better and we’re pressing really well from the the beginning. I’m happy that the wins are coming now and we have to keep the streak going.”

Playing hard:

“We spoke about these things in the dressing room, that if we keep up our good form that everything will get back to normal. The goal was in the air and that’s what happened. We could all feel it.”

Giving heart and soul:

“I think that it would be a mistake to look at the top of the table. We have to look at ourselves and come into every match giving all of our heart and soul and that’s what we did today.”