Maccabi Tel Aviv got by Hapoel Tel Aviv 1-1 (5-4 on penalties) as Itay Ben Hamo scored the decisive spot kick to win the State Cup Derby and send the ten-men yellow-and-blue into the quarterfinals. After a goalless first half, Helio Varela scored in the box to give Maccabi a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute but three minutes later Stav Turiel found the equalizer to draw Hapoel even.

Zarko Lazetic’s squad was reduced to ten-men when Roy Revivo was issued a second yellow card for a reckless tackle, but the Reds were unable to take advantage of the extra man as the match headed to overtime. With both teams having few chances in the extra session, it was off to penalties where Itay Ben Hamo scored the winning spot kick after both Liran Rotman and Roie Alkukin missed their chances from 11 meters with keeper Ofek Melika coming up big to send the yellow-and-blue into the next round.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Zarko Lazetic talked about the win, “Congratulations to the players, we played our match the entire game and we deserved the win. we did our job and now we have to move onto the next challenge. I told the guys before the penalties that it’s the small details that will decide the game. We lost a player and we had a lot of practice playing with ten-men so that helped us. I’m very proud that I was able to experience this derby.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Elyaniv Barda reflected on the defeat, “Football is cruel. I’m very proud of the team and the players, sometimes the ball doesn’t go in on penalties and I missed my share as well. The guys are very disappointed as we wanted to advance as far as we could in the Cup.”

Maccabi keeper Ofek Melika spoke about the victory, “I think we didn’t stop believing even attar the red card and we were able to win this game, we are all winners. It’s quite pressure packed but I always want o give my heart and my soul and I was able to make the tile saves. But most importantly we all did this together.

Itay Ben Hamo who scored the winning penalty also shared his thoughts, “I think coming into a game like this especially with the red card, we just didn’t stop believing and that is what sent us to the overtime and then to the penalties. I had a lot of confidence but it’s amazing that we are standing right here now celebrating this win.”

In other State Cup play, Maccabi Haifa slipped by Hapoel Raanana 1-0 as Guy Melamed scored off a Pierre Cornud comer kick in the 91st minute to advance to the quarterfinals.

Haifa Head Coach Barak Bachar shared his thoughts, “I was worried that we hardly created anything and we played against a team that was set up brilliantly, tactically and was dangerous in transitions. We didn’t create solutions, but it’s the cup and in the cup you need to get through. The way you make it through doesn’t matter as much, what’s important is that we won.”

Raanana bench coach Nitzan Damari spoke about the tough loss, “Of course it’s very disappointing. We got to the 90th minute and we had held on which is credit to the players for the sacrifice in an excellent tactical game. It’s a shame it was decided by a set piece, but that’s part of football.”