Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Dynamo Kyiv 3-2 on aggregate after falling 1-0 in the second leg of their Europa League Playoff Round tie to advance to the Europa League’s league phase. With Kyiv looking to quickly cut into the Maccabi Tel Aviv aggregate lead, former yellow-and-blue striker Eduardo Guerrero took advantage of a corner as he was wide open inside of the box and put the ball by keeper Roei Mishpati to give the Ukrainian squad a 1-0 lead in the 5th minute.

Guerrero almost picked up his second goal of the game a few minutes later but his attempt went wide of the goal. Both sides traded chances throughout the balance of the game, but ultimately Maccabi closed down Kyiv and despite falling 1-0 in the second leg advanced thanks to a 3-1 win in the opening match between the two.

“It’s true that we missed some opportunities,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Zarko Lazetic began. “But I think we played from the beginning the way we wanted to and didn’t play for a result. Our goal was to score, to be honest we didn’t look good at the start of the game and the fact that we conceded a goal helped the team, there was more attention, especially on defense.

“When I summarize this tie, I think we deserved to advance,” Lazetic continued. “It’s very important for us to be in the Europa League again and have the chance to play against good opponents. This is an amazing opportunity for us and a big challenge. Congratulations to the players and the club for the achievement. Now the focus is on the first game in the Israeli league and the rest of the season.”

Itamar Noy, who came on as a substitute at halftime, spoke at the end of the match about his feelings following the team’s qualification to the Europa League, “It wasn’t easy, but I’m happy we pulled through. It’s very exciting, a dream, amazing. I hope we will show in the Europa League that we deserve to be at this level. That we will play well and get good results. I am really looking forward to it. It’s a dream come true and I hope we will put in good performances and make the fans proud of us. Unfortunately, we can’t play at Bloomfield, which is a bit of a disappointment, but I’m sure we will get the push from our fan in the Israeli league.”