The Israeli football fans have waited patiently for that moment after a long time.
Everyone almost forgot the feeling and the atmosphere of that moment. It can describe the fact that the Israeli State Cup final is being played in the fully packed Bloomfield Stadium. It also can describe the moment of a Tel Aviv derby in the cup final for the first time since 1994.
Maccabi Tel Aviv came after they missed the championship to Maccabi Haifa. Now, their mission is to win at least one major title, and it would be the domestic cup that they have failed to win since 2015.
Hapoel Tel Aviv is completing an awful season. They played in the relegation group of the league and avoided being in the bottom places in the last matches. For a long time, they have been away from the cup final, aiming for ending a 9-year drought without a title.
First Half
The first event of the match was within a minute. Hapoel Tel Aviv fans presented a pyro show that stopped the game for a while. Three minutes later, Maccabi Tel Aviv fans gave their version of the show. In five minutes, the match wasn't only full of emotions but also full of smoke.
In the following minutes, Maccabi Tel Aviv was more dominant, but in the 32nd minute, Hapoel Tel Aviv made the first move. A decent pass sequence was ended with a goal of Omri Altman. Hapoel's top scorer has done it again, giving his team the lead.
Until the end of the first half, Maccabi was constantly looking for a quick equalizer. Itay Shechter hit the post in the 35th minute. More shots and headers missed the target, as Maccabi could feel desperate.
Omri Altman with the first goal of the evening (Shaul Greenfeld)
SECOND HALF
Minute after minute, Maccabi Tel Aviv was still in search of the goal in the second half. The league's runner-ups attacked, but something was missing. An inaccurate pass, a narrow miss, a wrong decision, anything you could think of was the difference between Maccabi and their first goal in the final.
Then came the game-changer. In the 73rd minute, Edi Gottlieb and Ernestas Šetkus left Yonatan Cohen in front of the open-wide goal. Cohen easily scored it, and Maccabi Tel Aviv was back in the game with a 1-1.
Yonatan equalize for Maccabi Tel Aviv (Shaul Greenfeld)
In the 90th minute, Maccabi Tel Aviv could feel that they are finally doing it. Eduardo Guerrero ran into the box, but he was tripped by Edi Gottlieb one step away from the line. In a last-chance shot, Maccabi tried to aim, but Dan Einbinder blocked it with his chest.
After 90 minutes, a 1-1 draw, and the teams had the extra time to look for the winning goal.
Extra Time
Seven minutes. Maccabi Tel Aviv didn't manage to score the winning goal in 90 minutes, but within 7 minutes in the extra time, they found the net. Luis Hernández was in the right place to score, and Maccabi Tel Aviv was getting closer to win the cup.
In final matches, nothing is over until the final whistle. In the 117th minute, Hapoel Tel Aviv attack, and after a bad save of Daniel Tenenbaum, Shai Eisen took the ball and scored. Then, the referee was called by VAR to check it. The play began with a strong tackle of Eisen against Dor Peretz. The referee disallowed the goal, and he was sent off.
The last minutes were nothing but continuous aggression until the final whistle. Maccabi Tel Aviv won another derby, and this time it was worth a title.
