Maccabi Haifa took on cross-town rival, Hapoel Haifa, in the first leg of the State Cup Quarterfinals. Manager Fred Rutten looked to keep their run in the State Cup alive at Sammy Offer.
In the first minute of the match, Maccabi Haifa showed ther intention of pressing and going forward when Roi Kehat broke down the left side and crossed a ball that found Sallallich’s head, who put the ball just over the bar. Minutes later, Mabouka crossed a ball into Alberman, but he also put the ball over the bar. In the 10th minute, Nikita Rukavytsya pounced on a dropped ball by Hapoel goalkeeper, Kadosh, and hit the target to put the Greens up 1:0. In the 14th minute, Omer Demari won the ball at half and played a well-weighted pass into Sallallich’s feet, who then beat Kadosh to give Maccabi Haifa the 2:0 advantage. Maccabi Haifa did not sit back after early goals, but kept pressuring and creating chances. With multiple chances falling to Haifa throughout the half, it seemed as though there were more goals to come. In the closing minutes of the half, Omri Glazer produced a point-blank save to keep a clean sheet entering the break.
To begin the second half, Maccabi Haifa made their first change when Raz Meir replaced Mabouka. Hapoel Haifa began the half strong, and Turgeman scored for Hapoel in the 56th minute. Manager Fred Rutten used his second change when Shlomi Azulay replaced Omer Demari. The last change for the Greens was in the 71st minute, when Ofir Mizrachi replaced Roi Kehat. In the 76th minute, Gabriel Tamas equalized for Hapoel Haifa on a brilliant free kick from 25 meters out. In the 83rd minute, Rukavytsya found space at the top of the box, but his shot was over the goal. In the 87th minute, Shlomi Azulay received the ball at the edge of the box, turned, but his shot was into the hands of Kadosh. In the 93rd minute of the match, Ofir Mizrachi had a chance to score when took the ball on his chest, but the ensuing shot was saved by Kadosh. The match ended 2:2 and sets up a thriller in the 2nd leg of this quarterfinal matchup.