Beitar Jerusalem defeated Kiryat Shemona 2-0 as goals by Yarin Levy and Timoti Muzie saw the yellow-and-black through to the Israel State Cup quarterfinals at the Netanya Stadium.

With close to 10,000 traveling away Beitar fans, Barak Itzhaki’s team found the back of the goal in the 39th minute as Muzie fed Ziv Ben Shimol on the left side of the pitch who sent a perfect pass to Levy that the midfielder slotted home for a 1-0 lead as they headed into the break with the one goal advantage. Muzie, who had been involved in the attack all match long doubled the advantage late in the second half as Shua assisted on his goal to close out the win.

Beitar Head Coach Barak Itzhaki spoke about the win, “I don’t think the performance was particularly impressive, but we created enough chances, especially in the second half and at the end of the day we won. The crowd enjoyed it and we’re looking ahead to the next stage. As for our winning streak, the results speak for themselves, but it’s not something that we should be blinded by, now we’re focusing on Hapoel Petach Tikva.”

Kiryat Shemona Assistant Coach Mano Haronian shared his thoughts on the loss, “The guys fought hard. There are days when things don’t go your way and then you concede at the other end. I feel we could have gotten more out of this game. I have no complaints about the players, they were in it until the last minute.”

Timoti Muzie, who scored the second goal spoke about the game that was, “Both the players and the crowd pushed me after the miss. It was a bit difficult for me, but it gave me encouragement and in the end led to a goal. After the miss Yarden Shua told me not to worry and that he’d give me another one. As for the next opponent in the cup, it doesn’t matter to us, we want to play our football and hopefully we’ll come away with a win.”

Beitar took control early on and had their first shot on target from Bryan Carabali who was way outside of the box, but Kiryat Shemona came back and had an opportunity to take the lead but Nemanja Ljubisavljević’s header went off of the bar as the ball was cleared to safety in the 18th minute. Yarden Shua’s free kick went over the goal and then picked up a yellow card for a foul on Ljubisavljević as both sides looked to break the deadlock which the yellow-and-black finally did in the 39th minute.

Timoti Muzie led a break down the left flank and got the ball to Ziv Ben Shimol who sent Yarin Levy on his way as the midfielder beat Kiryat Shemona second choice keeper Matan Zalmanovic for a 1-0 lead. Barak Itzhaki’s side almost doubled their advantage as Ben Shimol, Shua and Adi Yona were all active in the box but the latter skied the ball over the goal as the squads headed into the break.

Kiryat Shemona began the second half pressing Beitar up high as Yair Mordechai’s attempt missed the target, Ben Shimol went down the other way and couldn’t get a shot off in the box while Roie Elimelech’s cross to Shua was headed just to the left of the goal. Yona’s chance from inside the box was saved by Zalmanovic while Mordechai marched into the box but his ball went off a Beitar defender and out. An active Muzie looked for a second Beitar goal and broke downfield but his attempt grazed the left post and went out and then lofted a ball towards Johnbosco Kalu who came up just short on his chance in the 79th minute.

Beitar kept pushing for an insurance marker and they found it as a deserving Muzie’s shot pin-balled off the left post and into the goal for a 2-0 lead thanks to an assist by Shua in the 84th minute as Beitar wrapped up the win and moved into the quarterfinals of the State Cup.