Beitar Jerusalem slipped by Hapoel Akko 1-0 as Li On Mizrachio headed home a Yarden Shua ball to send Barak Itzhaki’s team into the next round of State Cup play.

Itzhaki spoke about the win following the game, “In the cup, you have to know how to move on. We arrived at a difficult pitch against a team that tried very hard to make it tough for us. We managed to create a few chances and I was happy that we scored a goal. The game was under our control although we didn’t manage to score again, but now we are already looking towards the next stage. We came here with the goal of moving to the next round, certainly after the last game in the league against Reineh and while there was also absolutely fine football here, there is always room for improvement.”

Yarom Hochemboim gave his thoughts after the game, “We had good minutes in the second half when we were superior but we capitalize on that and it’s a shame. I don’t want to make excuses, even before the game we only talked about how to win, but we are playing with a short roster and that was to our disadvantage today. We had a lot of limitations, but I am looking at the good things. We are a good team, our goal is to stay in the league. We put on a very respectable performance against one of the best teams in the country.”

Maccabi Haifa blanked Maccabi Netanya 1-0 as Eitan Azoulay scored the lone goal of the game form 20 meters out in the 62nd minute to advantage to the next stage of the State Cup.

Greens coach Barak Bachar spoke about the win, “It’s a different competition and a different feeling in these types of games. You’re less concerned with the ability and more with aggressiveness and commitment. We took advantage of one chance and it was important to win the game and go through. I always have criticism of the team and myself but here it doesn’t matter as much because going through to the next round is what’s most important.”

Netanya bench boss Yossi Abuksis shared his thoughts, “I think we could have won the game, we had situations where we pressed them in the first half and it’s a shame because in the second half we fell off of our feet. This team ran plenty for a few games in a row and we’re tired.”

Bnei Sakhnin got by Maccabi Petach Tikva 1-1 (4-2 on penalties) to advance to the quarterfinals of the State Cup. Idan Vered gave Petach Tikva a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute but Abdalla Halaihal headed home the equalizer in the 79th minute to send the match into overtime and eventually to spot kicks. Following Tamir Glazer’s missed penalty, Daniel Joulani who happens to be on loan from Petach Tikva to Sakhnin slotted home the winning penalty to send Slobodan Drapic’s squad into the next round.