The Yellow & Blue advanced to the State Cup Round of 16 after defeating Bnei MMBE 3:0 thanks to second half goals by Barak Itzhaki, Aaron Schoenfeld and Ofir Davidzada as the visitors had Maccabi goalless for 70 minutes.
Head Coach Jordi Cruyff’s lineup featured a number of changes including Daniel Tenenbaum starting in goal along with a defensive quartet of Yuval Shpungin, acting captain Tal Ben Haim, Egor Filipenka and Ofir Davidzada. Tomer Altman made his first team debut in the midfield together with Jose Rodriguez and Or Dasa while Barak Itzhaki, Eliran Atar and Aaron Schoenfeld played up front.
Available on the bench were Predrag Rajikovic, Vidar Kjartansson, Sheran Yeini, Dor Micha, Matan Baltaxa, Eyal Golasa and Eylon Almog.
First Half
Maccabi had the first chance of the match in the 4’ when Itzhaki sent a cross from the right to Schoenfeld but MMBE keeper Eyal Vakart was in place to make the save while one minute later Ben Haim was issued a yellow card. In the 14’ Shpunign sent a ball into the box to Itzhaki, but his header was taken care of by Vakart as well.
At the 26’ mark, Rodriguez gave the ball to Atar on the left wing as the striker went by two players but his attempt was again saved by Vakart, while 3 minutes later Davidzada sent the ball into the box to Or Dasa but his chance went into the MMBE defense. In the 34’ Rodriguez tried his luck from long distance to no avail while Altman did the same three minutes later and missed the target as well as the half came to an end goalless.
Second Half
In the 50’ Dasa sent a cross into the box that the MMBE defense cleared, however it went to Itzhaki who left the ball for Rodriguez, but his attempt went over the bar while 5 minutes later Schoenfeld’s attempt also missed the target as Maccabi looked to break the deadlock. Dor Micha and Eyal Golasa came on for Altman and Dasa in the 63’ as Maccabi freshened up their offense.
In the 70’ Barak Itzhaki finally broke the deadlock as he pounced on a Micha free kick pass to take a 1:0 lead. Itzhaki almost doubled the advantage when he came in off the left side but hit the outside netting of the goal in the 72’ while one minute later, Itzhaki sent Atar the ball in the box but Vakart was in place to make the stop. MMBE had a terrific chance in the 78’ when Amar Abu Jabal sent a scorcher towards Tenenbaum, but the Maccabi keeper made a fantastic diving stop and sent the ball out for a corner.
The Yellow & Blue would find the back of the goal in the 84’ and 85’ thanks to Aaron Schoenfeld who sent the ball into the goal after taking a Rodriguez pass from the top right corner of the box for a 2:0 lead while Davidzada found the back of the goal one minute later from the left side of the box for a 3:0 advantage. Eylon Almog then came on for Barak Itzhaki in the 86’ as Maccabi moved on to the Round of 16 after winning 3:0 over Bnei MMBE.
