Hapoel Tel Aviv topped Hapoel Haifa 2-1 to advance in State Cup play to the quarterfinal round. Yaren Nassar was left all alone in the box and gave Hapoel Tel Aviv a quick 1-0 lead in the 3rd minute while newcomer Shacahr Piven put home a corner kick 40 minutes later to give the visitors a 2-0 lead just ahead of the break. The Carmel Reds pulled a goal back by Fernand Mayembo in the 80th minute but that is as close as the hosts would get as the second division team punched their ticket to the next round.

“I have great respect for the players due to how hard they worked and played in this game,” Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Eliyaniv Barda said. “We knew how to get through the difficult moments together. We were leading 2-0 in a cup game, so the priority is to maintain the result. I hope that we will play at Bloomfield in the next stage but for now we advanced to the quarterfinals and we need patience.”

Hapoel Haifa head coach Roni Levy said, “Football, cup, surprises. Hapoel Tel Aviv, at the level of the Premier League and we started the game very poorly which we paid dearly for. We weren’t sharp, on both sides of the pitch. The young players actually helped us get back into the game.”

Hapoel Ramat Gan blasted Hapoel Ramat HaSharon 7-0 as Sagi Dror scored 6 goals in the game in what was an incredible performance.

Dror spoke about his tremendous performance, “It’s a dream. It was crazy, but the bottom line is that it’s really important that we went through to the next round. I felt that every kick went in, that everything was going, just aim for the corner and the ball would go in. It was a day like that, one of a kind. It doesn’t happen often and I’m really happy.”