Mac Haifa, Hap Beersheba advance in Europa League • Mac TA claims Super Cup
Although the calendar is squarely in the middle of the summer, Israeli soccer teams are playing in both European and domestic competition, with Champions League and Europa League qualifiers on tap along with the local Super Cup and Toto Cup contests.
Maccabi Haifa defeated NS Mura in Slovenia 3-2 to win their firstround Europa League qualifying tie 5-2 on aggregate and advance to face Strasbourg from France in the second round.
Yuval Ashkenazi continued to find the back of the goal for the Greens as the newly acquired midfielder added a brace in the win.
Mura forward Luka Bobicanec shocked Haifa in the sixth minute as his shot from the right side of the box went through the legs of Maccabi ’keeper Guy Haimov to give the hosts an early 1-0 lead. Muhammed Awad drew Haifa even in the 32nd minute as his left-footed screamer went into the Mura goal, while Ashkenazi scored his first of two just three minutes later to give Marko Balbul’s squad a 2-1 advantage.
Ashkenazi completed his brace in the 76th minute while Mura pulled a goal back five minutes later as the game ended in a tight Haifa victory.
The Carmel Mountain squad will now begin the second round in France on Thursday night while the return leg will be the following Thursday at Sammy Ofer Stadium.
Balbul was already looking ahead to the challenge that awaits his side.
“Strasboug is an entirely different story and it won’t be simple,” he said. “We have only played a couple of games and we will have to prepare very well for the next encounter.”
Meanwhile, Hapoel Beersheba slipped by KF Laci from Albania 1-0 in their Europa League first-round qualifying tie to advance to the second round, where Kairat Almaty from Kazakstan awaits. After drawing 1-1 away in the first leg, the southern Reds took the match 2-1 on aggregate.
Naor Sabag scored the second leg’s lone goal in the 69th minute when he sent home a Jimmy Marin cross from the right side to send the hosts into the second round.
Beersheba coach Barak Bachar looked back at the victory with pride.
“It’s not easy to come into a game where there is a tremendous amount of pressure and the opponent has nothing to lose. We won, but we still have plenty to improve on, which we will do as we continue.”
Sabag also spoke about scoring the decisive strike.
“The second I came onto the pitch for the warm-up the fans made me feel like I was at home, and scoring a goal was like a dream come true. I have been able to adjust quickly and my teammates helped me do so after playing last season in the second division.”
In other action, Maccabi Tel Aviv begins its Champions League qualifying campaign with a second-round first leg at Cluj on Wednesday night.
The Romanian squad is coached by Dan Petrescu, who had an illustrious career as a player, featuring for a number of top European clubs including Chelsea, where he plied his trade from 1995-2000. Cluj won its league title this past season after a tight battle with Steaua București and took home the championship by just two points.
On the domestic side, the yellowand-blue defeated Bnei Yehuda 1-0 in the Super Cup, which pits the previous season’s league champion and State Cup holder.
American-Israeli Aaron Schoenfeld scored the lone goal of the contest in the 28th minute to help earn Maccabi Tel Aviv the first silverware of the 2019/20 campaign and move the club into the Toto Cup semifinal.
Coach Vladimir Ivic was content with the conquest, but also put the title win in perspective.
“It’s great to win a title to open the season, but it’s important that after a match like this we continue with our next goal.”
Hapoel Beersheba squeaked by Maccabi Haifa 1-0 on a penalty goal from Niv Zrihen to also advance to the Toto Cup semifinals. Two Beersheba players were shown a red card midway through the second half, but the Greens couldn’t capitalize on the numeric advantage.