Ben Sahar’s first half penalty was all Hapoel Beer Sheva needed to defeat Maccabi Tel Aviv 1:0 at Turner Stadium on Matchday 28 of the Ligat Ha’Al. The Yellow & Blue will now get ready for a State Cup semi-final contest against Beitar Jerusalem on Wednesday night at Sammy Ofer Stadium.

Prematch
Lito Vidigal’s Starting XI included Serbian keeper Predrag Rajikovic with a defensive quartet of Eli Dasa, Tal Ben Haim, Egor Filipenka and Sheran Yeini. Gal Alberman was in his usual defensive midfielder position as Ruben Micael, Oscar Scarione, Dor Micha, Tal Ben Chaim and Vidar Kjartansson rounded out the lineup.

Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Lifshitz, Roma Ramon, Barak Itzhaki, Avi Rikan, Aaron Schoenfeld, Marcelo dos Santos and Yossi Benayoun.

First Half
Vidar Kjartansson had the Yellow & Blue’s first chance of the contest but his 8th minute right footed shot from the top of the box was saved by Guy Haimov while Micael tried his luck a minute later as the match remained goalless early on.

However, in the 21st minute Dasa tripped up Maor Melikson in the box for a penalty that Ben Sahar converted to give Beer Sheva a 1:0 lead. As the match hit the 34th minute, Maharan Radi’s corner was headed by Miguel Vitor just wide of the goal. Six minutes later Maccabi strung together a beautiful passing play that went from Ben Haim to Micael then to Scarione and finally to Ben Chaim in the box but his effort missed the mark as the half ended with Beer Sheva holding a slim 1:0 advantage.

Second Half
Barak Itzhaki came on to begin the second half in place of Scarione as Maccabi looked to jump start the offense. Vitor and Ben Haim each picked up a yellow card in the 52nd and 57th minutes respectively as both sides looked to find the back of the goal.

Just one minute later, Rajikovic made an unbelievable save on Huban from in close to keep the score as is and in the 59th minute Itzhaki was issued a yellow card for a reckless tackle on John Ogu in the middle of the pitch. With Maccabi controlling the flow of the match, Avi Rikan came into the contest for Alberman in the 79th minute.

Seconds after the substitution, the Yellow & Blue had back to back chances in the box with both Yeini and Itzhaki taking shots from inside the box, but Haimov came up big yet again for the hosts. Maccabi Head Coach Lito Vidigal made his 3rd and final substitution that saw Aaron Schoenfeld come on for Micha as the Yellow & Blue looked for some offense.

But instead Eliyaniv Barda who had come on earlier for Ben Sahar went in all alone on Rajikovic however, the shot stopper made an amazing one on one save to give Maccabi hope with 5 minutes remaining. With the visitors pressing into the final seconds of the match they couldn’t find the back of the goal as Beer Sheva came away with the 1:0 win to widen the gap atop the table to 6 points.