Hapoel Tel Aviv blanked Katowice 2-0 as goals by Stav Turiel and Roi Alkukin made the difference for the reds to snatched the win in first leg third round UEFA Conference League qualifying at Miskolc, Hungary. Should Head Coach Elyaniv Barda’s team make it past the Polish squad they will match up against Italian Serie A powerhouse Atalanta in the playoff round for a place in the league phase.

Hapoel looked to be the better side off the bat against Katowice and proved their point early and often as Omri Altman fed Stav Turiel a terrific ball at the top of the box which he put right past the keeper Gabriel Kobylak while a steal by Emmanuel Boateng allowed Roi Alkukin to chip the ball over the shot stopper for a 2-0 lead at the 18th minute. Barda’s squad kept pushing for more, but the visitors kept them at bay as Alkukin missed a number of chances in close as did Daniel Dappa in the second half as the reds settled for the two goal victory.

Beitar Head Coah Almog Cohen summed up the match, “It’s very disappointing. We came here to win the game. Whenever you lose, even though it’s only halftime in the tie and we still have another half to play in Vienna, you’re disappointed. I still need to watch the game back, but my feelings are a bit mixed. I knew for certain the match would be played at a very high tempo, and the burden of proof was on us, not on them. Against AEK Larnaca we wanted to play an aggressive, high-pressing game and against Austria Vienna we knew they would play at a very high pace. The question was whether we would be able to match that tempo.”