Mac TA, Beitar progress in dramatic fashion
Maccabi defeats Almaty 2-1 for 3-2 aggregate win, while Jerusalem edges Nicosia on away goals
Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem advanced to the Europa League third qualifying round on Thursday night, while Maccabi Haifa was sent packing in humbling fashion.
A Gal Alberman volley from 20 meters out four minutes from time gave Tel Aviv a 2-1 win over Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan in the second leg in Netanya, securing a 3-2 victory on aggregate.
Tal Ben-Haim netted the opener for Maccabi with a solo effort in the fifth minute, but the yellow-and-blue struggled in the second half and conceded through Gerard Gohou in the 64th minute. Alberman ensured, however, that the tie wouldn’t go to extra time, finding the bottom left corner with his unstoppable volley.
Maccabi will face Pandurii Targu Jiu of Romania in the third qualifying round. The first leg will be played in Romania next Thursday, with the return leg to take place in BEITAR JERUSALEM striker Omer Atzili (left) celebrates after scoring the first of his two goals last night, which couldn’t help the team avoid a 3-2 defeat to Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus, but were enough to send the Israelis into the Europa League third qualifying round. Netanya a week later.
“We set ourselves the target of progressing past this round and we want to reach the group stage,” said Alberman, who is confident Maccabi will continue to improve over the coming weeks. “I think we are undergoing a rebuilding process. A new player is joining every week and there are four more weeks until the start of the Premier League season, so I’m assuming four new players will be coming in, and that could change the team.”
Maccabi was playing without its latest signing, Argentinian Ezequiel Oscar Scarione, who joined on a free transfer from Turkish outfit Kasimpasa. The 31-year-old midfielder was brought in to help fill the void left by Eran Zahavi after scoring 40 league goals in 94 appearances for Kasimpasa where he spent the last three seasons, being coached between October 2012 and March 2015 by current Maccabi boss Shota Arveladze.
Jerusalem lost 3-2 to Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus on Thursday, but advanced on away goals after winning 1-0 in the first leg at Teddy Stadium. After scoring the winner in Teddy, Omer Atzili (17, 45) twice gave Beitar the lead on Thursday, which wasn’t enough to give his team the win on the day, but ensured it qualified for the next round.
Israeli Amir Agajev (26), Cillian Sheridan (45) and Onisiforos Roushias (81) brought Nicosia within a single goal of progressing, but Beitar survived a nervy finish to secure its place in the third qualifying round.
Beitar next faces Jelgava of Latvia, which advanced with a 3-0 win in the second leg, and on aggregate, over Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia.
“We were under pressure to advance and that showed in the second half,” said Beitar coach Ran Ben-Shimon. “We could have made the match easier for ourselves after our goals, but we weren’t very smart. Our team has a big heart and I’m very proud of my players.”
Maccabi Haifa, playing in Europe for the first time after three seasons, suffered an embarrassing exit at the hands of Nomme Kalju of Estonia, losing 5-3 in a penalty shootout. Haifa conceded a 90th-minute equalizer that leveled the score at 1-1 and sent the tie to extra time.
Haifa took the lead through Nikita Rukavytsya’s penalty in the 34th minute, and despite a far from impressive performance, looked to be heading to the next round. However, Tarmo Neemelo’s late goal forced extra time, and after Amit Zenati missed Haifa’s third spot kick, Igor Subbotin secured Nomme’s triumph, with the hosts netting all five of their penalties in the shootout.