A pair of second half goals by Matan Baltaxa and Dan Bitton helped Giorgis Donis’s side to the title as the yellow-and-blue played with a primarily young squad for the match.
By JOSHUA HALICKMANMACCABI TEL AVIV players celebrate their second goal in Wednesday night’s 2-0 conquest of Riga FC in Champions League qualifying at Bloomfield Stadium(photo credit: DOV HALICKMAN PHOTOGRAPHY)
Maccabi Tel Aviv captured the Toto Cup for the seventh time by defeating Bnei Sakhnin 2-0 at Doha Stadium in the Galilee. A pair of second half goals by Matan Baltaxa and Dan Bitton helped Giorgis Donis’s side to the title as the yellow-and-blue played with a primarily young squad for the match, due a midweek clash in Lithuania against Suduva in Champions League second-round qualifying.Dan Bitton got things started for Maccabi in the 65th minute when his free kick was headed by Itay Shechter right to Baltaxa, who put the ball into the back of the goal for a 1-0 lead. As the game headed into injury time, new recruit Ben Bitton sent a beauty of a cross from the left side of the box to an oncoming Dan Bitton, who beat the Sakhnin keeper to wrap up the victory.“We’re very and they game will give us confidence,”said the winning coach Donis as he took home his first piece of hardware in Israel. “The first half was a bit tough, but we made some changes which made the difference and gave us proper balance. Our main goal is to prepare our team for our European games but I can’t say that we are 100% ready yet. We have a good team and I believe that we will advance.”The star of the show, Dan Bitton, was all smiles after the victory. “Maccabi isn’t just a big club in Israel, it’s one that wants to win all of the titles in Israel. We’re very happy but now we have to turn our focus to our Champions League game on Wednesday.”Hapoel Beersheba slipped by Maccabi Haifa 1-0 on a 58th minute goal by Sintayehu Sallalich to secure fifth place in Toto Cup action. David Keltjens found the speedy winger Sallalich, who made no mistake as he put the ball past Greens keeper Josh Cohen for the win ahead of their Europa League clash against Dinamo Batumi on Thursday.“This was a good preparation game for us,” said Beersheba boss Yossi Abukasis. “Our foreign players finally played in their first game and I knew we would look better with them. We are still getting into shape but we played well defensively and we were able to close down Haifa who have a very good attack.”Barak Bachar who faced his former team for the first time since joining Maccabi Haifa also reflected on the game as they ready for their Europa League clash against Željeznicar, “We want to win every game and we should have played a little bit smarter on the offensive side. On Thursday we have a do or die game and we will have to work hard in a game that will be tough.”The game’s lone goal scorer Sallalich was content with his team’s showing after moving from the Carmel to the desert capital, “This was a good start and another chance to prepare for our European game as well as the Israeli league. This match wasn’t anything special for me as I come into every game ready to give the maximum and I am happy that this was the case today.”Beitar Jerusalem got by Maccabi Netanya 1-0 on a brilliant second half goal by Shalom Edri to help the capital city side finish in third place in Toto Cup play. Edri finished off an excellent team attack which he began to give Roni Levy’s squad the victory at the Netanya Stadium. Beitar will now get ready to fly to Albania for their Europa League game at Tueta Durres.“This was excellent preparation,” said Levy. “I was very pleased with many things that I saw as well as some that need to be worked on. We could have been a bit more accurate and I am always expecting more from my players. We will do our maximum to bring back a good result in Albania.”Shalom Edri also reflected on the game, “It was important to finish in 3rd place and the goal was a lot of fun to score. The sky’s the limit for us.”In other Toto Cup placement games, Bnei Yehuda downed Hapoel Kfar Saba 2-1 at Bloomfield Stadium. Luwagga Kizito opened the scoring when the Ugandan winger took advantage of a Dan Mori error to give Kfar Saba a 1-0 lead. However, a pair of Bnei Yehuda second half substitutes wiped out the deficit as Ariel Lazmi headed home the tying goal in the 66th minute and Amit Zenati scored twenty minutes later from inside the box to take the win for Elisha Levy’s squad.Hapoel Hadera dropped Hapoel Haifa 4-2 at the Netanya Stadium in a game that saw three goals scored during injury time. Odah Marshall scored a first half brace for Hadera, but William Agada answered for the Carmel Reds in the 55th minute to cut the lead to 2-1. Shoval Gozlan helped Sharon Mimer’s team regain a two goal lead in injury time, but Gal Arel scored from the penalty spot to once again cut the Hadera lead to 3-2. However, Reef Mesika buried a gorgeous team play to seal the deal for the hosts as the referee finally blew the final whistle to end the game.Kiryat Shmona blanked Ashdod 2-0 in the northern capital as a first half Lucio goal and a second half Guy Ben Lulu strike helped Kobi Refuah’s side to the victory.Joshua Halickman, the Sports Rabbi, covers Israeli sports and organizes sports adventures for tourists and residents (www.sportsrabbi.com). Follow the Sports Rabbi on Twitter @thesportsrabbi or feel free to contact the Sports Rabbi at sportsrabbi9@gmail.com
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