Hapoel Ramat-Gan held on against Beitar Jerusalem to win 5-4 on penalties in the Toto Cup Ligat Al 7th Place Final on Sunday. The match finished 3-3 after extra time, with N. Markovitch's late strike for Beitar forcing the shootout. Hapoel had taken the lead twice before Beitar equalised, and the game swung back and forth until the final whistle.
L. Gadrani opened the scoring in the ninth minute, but D. Asanka responded quickly to level matters fourteen minutes in. E. Ansah put Beitar ahead twenty-seven minutes in, and S. Mijailovic restored parity fifty-eight minutes in. M. Semel then found the net in the second half of stoppage time, and just moments later Markovitch's goal in the ninety-fifth minute meant the tie went to penalties.
And here's the thing about the shootout — it went the full distance. Hapoel's N. Shedo and M. Semel scored from the spot early on, while Beitar's I. Oli missed his first attempt. N. Antwi and N. Markovitch kept Beitar level, and M. Noubissi added a third for the visitors. L. Deri and T. Glazer replied for Hapoel, then Asanka scored to give his side the advantage. O. Dahan equalised for Beitar, and that was it — five apiece, but Hapoel had scored all five while Beitar had one miss.
By then, Hapoel had already seen Jota sent off in the ninety-fourth minute for a second yellow, which came after earlier bookings for Luan, I. Baranes, S. Mijailovic, R. Elimelech and T. Glazer. Beitar picked up only one caution, from Jota before the red card. Hapoel made five substitutions — Boniface, Atzili, Gadrani, Yosefi and Mijailovic — while Beitar brought on Baranes and Muzie.
The numbers told a familiar story. Beitar kept the ball more, holding 57 per cent possession to Hapoel's 43, and created more attacks — 92 compared to 83. But Hapoel's three shots on target versus Beitar's five did not translate into a different result. Both sides went deep into extra time, and the shootout proved the ultimate decider.