Maccabi Tel Aviv crushed Maccabi Jaffa 5-0 as new recruit Amir Sahiti scored a brace to go along with three other different goal scorers helping the yellow-and-blue advance to the Israel State Cup semifinals where they will join Hapoel Beer Sheva, Maccabi Haifa and surprise package Bnei Yehuda. Ido Shahar polished off a new passing play together with Sayed Abu Farchi and Dor Peretz to take a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute.

Peretz once again helped Ronny Delia’s squad score when Abu Farchi found the back of the goal while Roy Revivo headed home the third goal off a Kervin Andrade cross for a 3-0 advantage by halftime. The second half was all Sahati as the striker scored a brace to polish off the 5-0 victory.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Ronny Deila spoke about the win, “We scored the first goal, which was important. I’m very pleased with the players’ attitude and commitment. We also created a lot of chances. It was a good performance. Do I feel I’ve already made a change? The morale was low; now there’s a good spirit at the club and I think we’re better now. We press better and create chances, that’s what we want to show our fans.”

Jaffa bench boss Itzik Baruch shared his thoughts, “The gaps were known before the match and we tried to do the best we could. I don’t think it could have looked much different, to get past Maccabi Tel Aviv you need a great day from us and a weak day from them.“

Sahiti also spoke after the match, “It’s an amazing feeling to come here, this is a big club. The fans were incredible and I hope that the next league game there will be even more. I feel good with the players; they welcomed me warmly and they’re great guys. I’m doing my job and I want to help the team.”