The Israel State Cup is back! The annual competition sees the top flight first division teams looking for soccer glory while the lower level clubs try their luck in what is an opportunity of a lifetime by upsetting one of the Premier League teams as every single squad in the country has a chance to hoist the trophy at the end of the tournament.

Many of the smaller teams, the so called minnows have already played in earlier rounds as we enter the Round of 32 which includes the 14 first division teams and 18 more from the various other leagues in Israel.

Beitar Jerusalem just slipped by Kiryat Yam 2-2 (5-4 on penalties) as the yellow-and-black were almost knocked out of the tournament but were saved by a late second half injury time goal by Mayron George to knot the game up and send it to overtime. After no goals were scored in the extra session Yarden Shua scored the decisive penalty to send Beitar to the Round of 16.

Adi Yona gave Barak Itzhaki’s team a 1-0 lead in the 39th minute but a pair of late second half goals by Moshe Golan and Gil Hadad gave Maor Siso’s team the shocking 2-1 lead. However, George came up big in injury time to draw Beitar even and save the top division team from being upset early on in the competition.

“I’m not someone who is lacking grey hair,” Beitar Head Coach Barak Itzhaki said. “But before we begin I want to say how well Kiryat Yam played, they played a great game here. We knew it would be difficult, we sent our staff to film them ahead of this game and we followed them really closely. They play great football and they usually control their games in league play which they did against us. Kudos to them.”

Maor Siso, Kiryat Yam’s head coach also spoke about his team’s play, “I didn’t expect the guys to look like this. They prepared for Beitar at the highest level possible and the guys gave a tremendous show and thrilled the entire team and our fans who have huge hopes for them. There are people behind the scenes here at the level of the Premier League with amazing conditions, whether it’s nutritionists to food supplements and more, this club’s ambition is to advance as high as possible, we’ve seen Bnei Reineh and Ness Ziona do it and I hope we’ll see this club do the same.”

Maccabi Haifa crushed Ironi Asheklon 8-0 as Gadi Kinda scored a goal and added 3 assists while Omer Dahan added a brace as Matias Nahuel, Eitan Azoulay and Iyad Khalaili also scored in the victory.

“I have to commend Ashkelon for coming to play and enjoying the experience,” Greens head coach Barak Bachar said. “We saw a team from a lower league come and try to break us down and compete and they didn’t lose pace for 90 minutes. The attitude of our young players was good and you always have to come prepared and ready. This game was important for all of us.”

At Bloomfield Stadium, Maccabi Tel Aviv eased past Hapoel Jerusalem 3-0 on second half goals by Eran Zahavi, Elad Madmon and Osher Davida to cruise into the Round of 16.

“It was a tough game as we expected against a tough opponent who was aggressive,” the yellow-and-blue bench boss Zarko Lazetic said. “ In this game, unlike other teams in the league who defend against us, Jerusalem pressured us and that was surprising. This is a very important victory ahead of our upcoming games, many players got into the rhythm, I expected better ability in the second half and they brought it and I am pleased with that.”

Meanwhile, Ashdod just got by Hapoel Afula 4-3 in overtime as Muhammed Knaan who scored a pair of goals along with Stav Nachmani found the back of the goal in the extra session to send Eli Levy’s side into the next round.

Levy spoke about how tough the match was for his team, “ This was a difficult game that we made even more difficult than it needed to be. I don’t have much to say other than in the cup, what’s important is to advance.”

Elsewhere, Hapoel Hadera downed Hapoel Beit Shean 2-1 as Omer Senior’s 62nd minute goal handed Asaf Nimni’s side the win to advance.

“The game wasn’t difficult, we made it difficult,” Nimni said after the game. “With all due respect to Beit Shean, the game depended on us, Hadera. They didn’t create too many dangerous situations, we should have scored another goal after our first one and polished off the game. But at the end of the day, the important thing is that we advanced to the next stage.”

Also, Hapoel Tel Aviv knocked off Premier League side Ironi Tiberias 2-0 as the Leumit Reds moved into the round of 16 thanks to goals by Stav Turiel and Milan Makaric for Elyaniv Barda’s squad.
“We had a lot of good minutes and we did things that worked well,” Barda said. “Our team doesn’t fall behind many teams in the Premier League, this game was very important so that we understand how much more we can get out of this squad.”

Tiberias coach Eliran Hodada  commented, “I said before the game that I didn’t see big gaps between the clubs. Hapoel Tel Aviv wanted it more, came more prepared and deserved to go up to the next round, we didn’t. Even last year when we played against Ashdod, we saw that there were no gaps between the top of the Leumit League teams and the bottom of the Premier League.”

In other games, Hapoel Beer Sheva cruised past Dimona 4-0 in a one sided affair that saw Zahi Ahmad open the scoring for Ron Kozuk’s team while Antonio Sefer added a brace and an assist on Alon Turgeman’s goal to record the win.

Bnei Sakhnin just got by Ironi Modiin 3-3 (4-2 on penalties) as Slobodan Drapic’s team almost fell to the League Alef South table leaders. Ahmad Salman and Alexandre Ramalingom gave Sakhnin a 2-0 lead but Yarin Machluf and Almog Pinto drew Modiin even in the 90th minute. Salman gave the hosts the lead once again in the overtime period, but Eli Elbaz knotted the match up at 3-3 to send it to penalty kicks. Modiin missed a pair from the spot and Omer Abuhav slotted home the winner to send Sakhin into the Round of 16.

Hapoel Haifa just got by Hapoel Petach Tikva 1-1 (5-3 on penalties) in an entertaining game at Sammy Ofer Stadium. Chipyoka Songa gave the Leumit team a 1-0 kead, but super striker Guy Melamed scored a 67th minute penalty to draw the Carmel reds even at 1-1. In the penalty shootout, Ben Zubel missed his attempt while Oren Bitton scored his to hand the win to Roni Levy’s team.

Bnei Reineh blanked Hapoel Kfar Shalem 3-0 as Sayed Abu Farhi, Muhammed Shaker and Saar Fadida all scored to send Sharon Mimer’s team into the next round.

Maccabi Netanya took care of Hapoel Um El Fahm 2-0 on second half goals by Rotem Keller and a penalty by Maor Levi to move on in the competition.

Maccabi Petach Tikva defeated Kiryat Shemona 2-0 in an all Premier League clash as Vitalie Damascan and Niv Yehoshua both found the back of the goal to take the victory.

Hapoel Ramat Gan dropped Bnei Yehuda 2-2 (6-5 on penalties) as keeper Itamar Israeli stopped Yuval Fiben to send the hosts into the next round.

Other action included, Ironi Ramat HaSharon slipping by Maccabi Herzliya 1-0 on Uri Azzo’s goal, Beitar Nordia Jerusalem getting by Hapoel Raanana 4-2, Hapoel Akko beating Tzieri Um El Fahm 2-0.

The Round of 16 matches will feature
Hapoel Haifa v Hapoel Tel Aviv
Hapoel Beer Sheva v Hapoel Hadera
Hapoel Akko v Beitar Jerusalem
Maccabi Haifa v Maccabi Netanya
Beitar Nordia v Ashdod
Maccabi Petach Tikva v Bnei Sakhnin
Maccabi Tel Aviv v Bnei Reineh
Hapoel Ramat Gan v Ironi Ramat Hasharon