Beitar Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Ramat Gan 4-3 (5-4 on penalties) as Ori Dahan scored the decisive spot kicks in an entertaining game to finish off in 7th place in Toto Cup action. Luka Gadrani headed home the opening strike for Beitar but David Asanka drew the hosts even before Eugene Ansah scored ahead of the break to take a 2-1 lead at halftime.

Srđan Mijailović took advantage of a costly error by Beitar keeper Yehonatan Ozer to tie the game up at 2-2 while Moshe Semel helped Messay Dego’s team take the lead in second half injury time. However, Nadav Markovich scored off a missed Ziv Ben Shimol penalty to send the match into the shootout where Ido Oli missed for Ramat Gan and Ori Dahan slotted home the decisive spot kick to give Almog Cohen’s side the win.

Almog Cohen spoke about the victory, “I think we have a great squad and we played at a very high pace. We have to make some changes but we will take a very good look to see that we can bring in a player that can make a difference. We played a number of players in this game, we made some mistakes but we will look to correct them. I want to use a lot of players and we saw many in this game as well as in Europe. I trust every player in this squad.”

Messay Dego talked about the game, “We wanted to win this game and we gave up a goal at the end of the penalty. Beitar Jerusalem is a very good team with a great crowd which will be similar to what we will have on Saturday night at Maccabi Haifa when we open the season which is good as well. We can’t give up so many goals and we will make some corrections ahead of the opener.”

Tomer Yosefi looked back at the win, “We feel great that we won this game and it was important for us to come into the season with confidence. The staff has been working with us in order to prepare us for the league. We need to take a look at the game over the next few days and work on what needs to be improved.”

Amit Reef also discussed the game, “I feel good and we have a team that is coming together well. We are trying to play our best and each game has its own life. The atmosphere was incredible for me and I enjoyed the fans which allowed me to really experience playing this level.”

Beitar looked to break the ice early on as a trio of attempts hit the Ramat Gan woodwork, however, Luka Gadrani finally found the back of the goal when he headed home a Tomer Yosefi corner kick for a 1-0 lead in the 9th minute. As the yellow-and-black looked to double the advantage, David Asanka went the other way and beat second choice keeper Yoni Ozer after a neat give-and-go with Maxim Plakushenko just five minutes later.

Almog Cohen’s squad immediately tried to regain the lead and they did so as Eugene Ansah pounded home a juicy rebound off a terrific play between Ziv Ben Shimol and Roie Elimelech to give Beitar a 2-1 lead at the break.

The yellow-and-black came out strong in the second half as they hunted for an insurance goal but Omer Atzily’s chance missed the target, however, Messay Dego’s team was the one who scored the equalizer instead as a poor clearance pass by Ozer was booted into the goal by Srđan Mijailović to draw Ramat Gan even at 2-2 in the 58th minute.

Beitar searched for the go ahead goal but Ramat Gan keeper Amit Reef was up to the task time and time again, however, against the run of play, Moshe Semel sent a scorcher into the top left hand corner of the goal, cleanly beating Ozer to give the hosts a 3-2 leas in second half injury time. Just as it looked like Dego’s squad had wrapped up the win, Beitar was issued a spot kick that Ben Shimol missed but Nadav Markovich put home the rebound to send the match to a penalty shootout.

In penalties, Beitar scored all five spot kicks with central defender Ori Dahan putting home the fifth while Ido Oli missed his for Ramat Gan as Jerusalem wrapped up the Toto Cup win.

Hapoel Jerusalem slipped by Maccabi Haifa 1-0 thanks to Israel Dappa’s second hold goal as he turned in the box and slotted it by greens keeper Omri Glazer for the Toto Cup win.

Reds Coach Lior Zada said, “We didn’t play very well. There were certain moments in the first half and the second half when we were okay, but overall, it was not a good game. Maybe the tempo dropped a little ahead of the opening round, but we can and need to play better.”

Haifa bench boss Barak Bakhar also spoke about the game, “Even if we had won and looked better, we need to take away the things that aren’t working. We weren’t sharp enough because in the first half we got into the situations we wanted fairly easily. In the second half, we hardly created any chances. We need to keep working.”