Beitar Jerusalem defeated Ironi Tiberias 2-1 in driving rain up north at Nof HaGalil, Omer Atzily scored a brilliant goal from midfield as the yellow-and-black needed to come back form a 1-0 deficit to advance to the Round of 16. Guy Hadida scored a stunning left footed strike from the right side of the box to give the Kineret side a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.

However, less than ten minutes later Atzily lined up the ball from midfield and sent a swerving low liner past the Tiberias keeper Ido Sharon in one of the goals of the season to draw Beitar even. Atzily then had his part in the winning goal as his free kick went into the box, was mishandled by the keeper, went off of Niv Gotlieb and into the goal for the 2-1 lead in the 70th minute which held up over the final 20 minutes to hand Beitar the win.

Beitar Jerusalem Head Coach Barak Itzhaki spoke about the win, “We may not have had the best game but we created some chances in what was a tough State Cup match. We went down early on and we had to come back to get this win. Hapoel Tel Aviv is coming up on Thursday and when we lost to them in the league that was when we started to really raise our play and we were able to beat them to win the Toto Cup.”

Ironi Tiberias bench boss Eliran Hodeida said, “We gave up two goals that were gifts. We could have gotten more out of the first half and it’s disappointing that we lost. Now we have to focus on the league and make sure that we remain in the top division which is what I believe will be the case.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv trounced Hapoel Haifa 5-0 as Osher Davida scored a brace while, Ido Shachar, Helio Varela and Sayed Abu Farchi also found the back of the goal to take the win.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Žarko Lazetić spoke after the match, “A good win for us, now we’ll focus on our next game, but really nothing changed, it’s just one game. We won and that’s good, now we need to focus on the next match.”

Hapoel Haifa bench boss Gal Arel also spoke about the game, “From the start of the match we didn’t show up. We really studied them, but we conceded an early goal and that disrupted our plans and it was a really poor game from us.”

The Man of the Match Osher Davida shared his thoughts, “It’s impossible to explain how important this was for us as a team and for me personally. I hope we can start a new path. It’s not easy when goals and assists aren’t coming, there were games where I played well and I’m happy the ball finally went in. We’ll need to bring this attitude into league play as well.”

Maccabi Haifa crushed Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 8-1 as Dolev Haziza and Guy Melamed each scored braces while Silva Kani found the back of the goal in the opening minute and Kenji Gorre also scored to go along with a pair of own goals to take the easy win over the Liga Alef side.

“I’ve never had an eight-goal game in my career,” Greens Head Coach Barak Bachar said. “But that’s not the point because the most important thing is that we came prepared, the players understood there was no room for mistakes and it’s not easy to play in difficult conditions with rain and wind. That really encourages me going forward.”

Hapoel Beer Sheva slipped by Hapoel Sderot 2-1 as the southern reds had plenty to handle from the Liga Bet squad, but were able to come away with the win and advance to the next round. Mohammad Kanaan scored off an early penalty due to a handball in the first half, but then lost defender Ofir Davidzada to a straight red card in the 16th minute when his reckless tackle left the hosts with ten men. Miguel Vitor hammered home a header off a free kick by Kanaan to double the advantage in the second half but Gal Aviv pulled back a late marker to cut the lead to a lone goal, but it was not enough for the lower division side to shock the Premier League table leaders.

Hapoel Beer Sheva Head Coach Ran Kozuk discussed the match that was following the victory, “This game started very well for us. We were in rhythm, we were awarded a penalty and took the lead and we created a few more chances, but then the red card came and put us under pressure and we had a tough time. Even with ten players, regardless of who the opponent is, we have to stick to our principles and there were parts where that didn’t happen. But the bottom line is that in the cup you need to advance to the next round, especially when players who don’t usually play featured in this game.”