Maccabi Tel Aviv secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Maccabi Netanya in the Toto Cup Ligat Al semi-finals on Saturday evening. The decisive moment arrived in the seventeenth minute when H. Varela found the net for the visitors. Netanya's attack never quite found its rhythm against a Tel Aviv side that held their shape well throughout the ninety minutes.
Yellow cards came thick and fast as the match progressed, with five going to the home side and two to the away team. I. Sissokho picked up a booking early on at six minutes, while Varela himself was cautioned at the eighty-minute mark. The home side made three changes in the forty-sixth minute, bringing on G. Morozov, Y. Abuhazira and I. Noy in quick succession.
And here's the thing about the statistics — both teams registered three shots on target, but Netanya fired eleven times off target compared to Tel Aviv's five. The home side enjoyed 49 percent possession against 51 percent for the visitors, yet it was the away team who took all three points. Attacks were evenly matched at 92 for Netanya and 94 for Tel Aviv.
Substitutions continued to pepper the second half, with Tel Aviv bringing on O. Davida and S. Abu Farkhi at sixty-one minutes. Netanya responded with M. Levi and I. Sissokho at sixty-seven, followed by O. Bilu at seventy-one. The visitors added A. Ouattara at eighty-nine minutes as they looked to see out the game.
By then, the result was beyond doubt. Tel Aviv advance on aggregate, though the return fixture will determine who progresses to the final. Netanya's recent form — including victories over Hapoel Petah Tikva and Maccabi Petah Tikwa — couldn't quite translate into a breakthrough performance on this occasion.