Last update - 00:00 19/04/2007
Soccer / State Cup / Haifa ruins Beitar's double dream
By Haaretz Sports Staff
Maccabi Haifa ruined Beitar Jerusalem's dreams of a league and cup double last night as it advanced to the round of 16 of the State Cup after a 3-2 penalty shoot-out win.
Michael Zandberg put Beitar in front against his former team with a superb 25th minute volley, but Shlomi Arbeitman, who crossed the lines from Jerusalem to Haifa, leveled the scores on 63 minutes as he tapped in a cross from Eyal Meshumar.
Regular time ended 1-1 and the teams went into extra time and then a penalty shoot-out, which saw the first four kicks miss their mark.
Shimon Gershon opened the penalty shoot-out with a feeble effort straight into the arms of Haifa goalkeeper Nir Davidovich, but Rafael Olarra had his shot stopped by Beitar's Itzik Korenfein.
Gall Alberman saw his effort crash against the cross bar and Korenfein did well to hold on to Yaniv Katan's shot before Milovan Mirosevic finally got it right with Beitar's third penalty.
Abbas Suan pulled Haifa level, Tuto Ruschel put Beitar 2-1 in front and Adoram Keisi leveled again for Haifa.
Davidovich parried David Amsalem's kick and Gustavo Boccoli stepped up for Haifa. The Brazilian made no mistake as he sent Davidovich diving in the wrong direction and Haifa into the next round.
"We dominated the first half, but in the second our midfield didn't function," said a deflated Beitar coach Yossi Mizrahi. "It's painful to go out on penalties, but on a given day even the greatest players can miss from the spot. I'm not disappointed with my players; they gave it everything they had."
"We should have finished the game off in the first half when we were in charge," said Beitar goalscorer Michael Zandberg, who went off after suffering a muscle strain late in the game. "It's a shame that the match went to penalties."
The Haifa camp was jubilant after its victory. But the celebrations were short-lived as coach Roni Levy tried to bring his players down to earth ahead of Saturday's round of 16 match against minnows Bnei Lod.
"We need to keep our feet on the ground," Levy said. "We have an important game on Saturday and I hope we stay focused."
Nir Davidovich said the win proved that Haifa was equal to Beitar.
"It was important to beat Beitar, mainly because we hadn't done so this season," he said.
"We have only got over one hurdle however and we still have a long way to go."