Hapoel Beer Sheva

Match report

Hapoel Beer-Sheva saw off Sabah 2:1 in the UEFA Champions League play-offs at Toto Turner Stadium on Tuesday evening. The hosts took a narrow lead through V. Simic in the first half, then held firm after J. East extended their advantage before half-time. Sabah pulled one back late on through I. Zlatanovic, but the visitors could not find an equaliser.

Simic opened the scoring in the sixth minute, firing past the keeper from close range. Hapoel controlled the tempo after that, and East doubled their advantage in the forty-third minute with a well-taken effort. The visitors had little to show for their possession after the break, struggling to create anything meaningful in the final third.

By then, the match had settled into a pattern the hosts understood well. Sabah made changes to their side — Severina and Ahmed came on in the fifty-sixth and sixty-sixth minutes respectively — but the game was already slipping from their grasp. East was replaced in the seventy-first minute, and Zlatanovic's late goal in the seventy-ninth gave the visitors a glimmer of hope.

The statistics told a clear story. Hapoel held 67 per cent possession and registered 133 attacks compared to Sabah's 71. They took 23 shots, seven on target, while the visitors managed five attempts with three on target. Expected goals stood at 2.01 for the hosts and just 0.6 for Sabah. They created three big chances against two for the away side.

This result keeps Hapoel Beer-Sheva in the hunt for European football next season. A win like this, especially against a side that refused to go away, matters more than the numbers. Sabah's recent form — four wins and a defeat in their last five — offered no guarantee of success here. The hosts have hit a wall in domestic competition, but European nights like this remind them how far they can still reach.

Prepared from match data

Key numbers

Possession, % 67 – 33

Shots on target 7 – 5

Shots off target 6 – 3

Expected goals 2.01 – 0.60

⚽ 6' V. Simic — Goal ⚽ 43' J. East — Goal ⇄ 56' X. Severina — Substitution ⇄ 66' Z. Ahmed — Substitution ⇄ 71' J. East — Substitution ⇄ 74' A. Isayev — Substitution 🟨 76' Miguel Vitor — Yellow card 🟨 77' I. Rotman — Yellow card ⚽ 79' I. Zlatanovic — Goal 🟨 84' A. C. Ganah — Yellow card ⇄ 85' I. Zlatanovic — Substitution ⇄ 85' N. Yehoshua — Substitution ⇄ 89' S. Solvet — Substitution

Match events

6' 0:1 Sabah FA Goal V. Simic assist: T. Puchacz
43' 1:1 Hapoel Beer Sheva Goal J. East
56' 1:1 Sabah FA Substitution X. Severina off: O. Mbina
66' 1:1 Hapoel Beer Sheva Substitution Z. Ahmed off: A. C. Ganah
71' 1:1 Hapoel Beer Sheva Substitution J. East off: M. Abu Rumi
74' 1:1 Sabah FA Substitution A. Isayev off: C. Nwachukwu
76' 1:1 Hapoel Beer Sheva Yellow card Miguel Vitor
77' 1:1 Hapoel Beer Sheva Yellow card I. Rotman
79' 2:1 Hapoel Beer Sheva Goal I. Zlatanovic assist: E. Peretz
84' 2:1 Hapoel Beer Sheva Yellow card A. C. Ganah
85' 2:1 Hapoel Beer Sheva Substitution I. Zlatanovic off: Y. Malede
85' 2:1 Hapoel Beer Sheva Substitution N. Yehoshua off: H. Kanaan
89' 2:1 Sabah FA Substitution S. Solvet off: E. A. Santos Junior

Statistics

67 Possession, % 33

7 Shots on target 5

6 Shots off target 3

2.01 Expected goals 0.60

3 Big chances 2

133 Attacks 71

3 Corners 2

12 Fouls 6

6 Free kicks 11

3 Offsides 1

3 Yellow cards 0

0 Red cards 0

5 Goal kicks 7

27 Throw-ins 15

All statistics

9/1656% Aerial duels 7/1644%

95 Backward passes 38

5 Blocked shots 0

18 Clearances 24

6/1443% Crosses 6/1638%

7/1741% Dribbles 5/1436%

1.33 Expected assists 0.83

64 Failed passes 69

4 Goalkeeper saves 4

10 Interceptions 6

14 Key passes 6

24/4060% Long passes 25/5050%

140 Passes into the final third 39

340 Passes in the opposition half 143

335 Passes in own half 179

0.39 Shot accuracy 0.63

2 Shots from outside the box 3

16 Shots inside the box 5

15/2075% Tackles 14/2070%

661 Total passes 306

Line-ups

Starting XI
#	Player	number
1	Ofir Meir Marciano	1
2	Guy Mizrahi	2
4	Miguel Ângelo Leonardo Vítor	4
5	Pedro Amador	5
12	Itay Rotman	12
7	Eliel Peretz	7
25	Lucas Ventura	25
28	N. Yeoshua	28
9	Zahi Ahmed	9
20	Javon Romario East	20
66	Igor Zlatanović	66

Substitutes
#	Player	number
34	Marco Wolff	34
3	Matan Baltaxa	3
13	Ofir Davidzada	13
44	Djibril Diop	44
18	Roy Levy	18
23	Itai Hazut	23
27	Yoan Stoyanov	27
8	Mohammad Kna'an	8
11	Amir Haim Ganach	11
14	Yonas Malede	14
19	Amit Ohana	19
45	Mohammad Abu Rumieh	45

Show full squad

Sabah FA

Starting XI
#	Player	number
92	Stas Pokatilov	92
3	Steve Loic Solvet	3
5	Rahman Dashdamirov	5
27	Tymoteusz Puchacz	27
80	Akim Zedadka	80
7	Umarali Rakhmonaliev	7
10	Aleksey Isaev	10
13	Ivan Lepinjica	13
21	Veljko Simić	21
34	Xander Severina	34
20	Joy-Lance Mickels	20

Substitutes
#	Player	number
1	Amin Ramazanov	1
94	Ravan Mirzammadov	94
4	Eden McCarthy	4
17	Tellur Mutallimov	17
33	Erivaldo Almeida Santos Junior	33
6	Abdulla Xaybulayev	6
11	Kaheem Anthony Parris	11
16	Rauf Rüstəmli	16
88	Rodrigo Francisco Pinto Vieira Fernandes	88
8	Christian Nwachukwu	8
23	Younes Lachab	23
99	Patrick Orphe Mbina	99

Show full squad

Recent form