Hapoel Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Petach Tikva 3-1 as Israel Dappa scored a late brace to help the capital city reds to the Toto Cup victory. After 75 minutes of goalless play, the floodgates broke open as Dappa headed home an Ohad Almagor ball to give the hosts who are playing their home games in Rechovot a 1-0 lead.

However, Avishay Cohen evened up the game at 1-1 in the 84th minute but Andrew Idoko scored immediately after to help Jerusalem retake the lead. Dappa then finished off the win with his second of the game in the 89th minute to give the fans a thrilling end to the Toto Cup group stages.

Petach Tikva will face Bnei Sakhnin while Jerusalem will play Maccabi Haifa in Toto Cup placement games next weekend.

Jerusalem Head Coach Lior Zada spoke about the win, “I felt the exhaustion of the players in the second half but the final quarter hour was great and the guys did what they needed to do to win the game. I’m happy that Israel Dappa was able to score although he had a rough time when he first came in, but he did what he needed to. We have one more game against Maccabi Haifa at Sammy Ofer Stadium which will be a good test for us ahead of the season.”

Petach Tikva Head Coach Omer Peretz discussed the defeat, “This wasn’t a good game and it’s our second one in a row that we had trouble creating chances and that we conceded as well. We have a good base here but we need to improve and we have to make sure that we score when we have the chance to. We have a bit of time until the season starts but we need to strengthen the squad before the league begins.”

Vitalie Damascan looked back at the win, “It was a good game against a tough opponent. Petach Tikva knows how to keep the ball and I’m happy as to how we handled it and that we were able to eventually win. It’s not my first time in Israel so I’m used to playing and the club has done everything to make me feel comfortable since I’ve arrived.”

Maccabi Petach Tikva slipped by Hapoel Ramat Gan 2-1 in the final game of the Toto Cup group stage. After a goalless first half, Samuel Owusu scored a screamer off the bar to give Petach Tikva the lead while Liran Hazan doubled the advantage when he headed home the ball in the 74th minute. Amit scored soon thereafter to fit the lead but that’s as close as Rabat Gan would get as Ziv Arie’s team wrapped up the win. Petach Tikva will now visit Ironi while Ramat Gan will host Beitar Jerusalem in placement games next week.