‘18 ⚽️ 0-1 Ra'anana goal
‘23 ⚽️ 1-1 Beni Polnauer goal, James Green assist
‘27 ❌ Pablo Zayat saves Ra'anana penalty
‘53 ⚽️ 2-1 Isaac Kahtan goal, Ori Hatuka assist
‘54 ⚽️ 3-1 Alex Branum goal, Alon Zurita assist
‘82 ⚽️ 3-2 Ra'anana goal (penalty)
Top row (from left to right): Pablo Zayat, Max Mzhen, Alex Branum, Ben Mordukhovich, Nate Sadoun, Joey Spijer, Uri Yavin and Matt Keston.
Bottom row (from left to right): Sabi Beraha, Sam Sank, Isaac Kahtan, David Garzon, Beni Polnauer, Reuben Lewis and James Green.
Last week a sensational comeback in the final 5 minutes kept us in the cup with the 2-2 draw to IFLI2 champions Ramle-Ukraine earning us a point and giving us an outside chance to go through to the knockout stages.
However, it meant that we would need to beat IFLI1 opposition Ra'anana Gentlemen if we were to keep our cup run going, a stern task considering they are an established side in the division above.
We competed from the very beginning and showed the kind of fight that we displayed last week against a good side. Yet, a moment lapse of concentration saw Ra'anana's star striker break the offside trap and put his side ahead.
We looked dangerous from set pieces with consistently excellent deliveries from captain James Green, who was playing in his final game for the club before returning to London.
It was one of these set pieces that saw us equalise, with Beni Polanuer's strong header levelling the scores. We went into the break level, but only thanks to Pablo Zayat's incredible penalty save after Sam Sank had handled in the area.
Being on level terms at the break gave us the belief that we could go on and win the game, and a quickfire double early in the second half turned the game on its head and put us in control.
First, Isaac Kahtan delivered an unbelievable strike into the top corner and then a minute later, having regained possession from Ra'anana's kick-off, Alon Zurita played in Alex Branum, with the American striker finding the net from a difficult angle.
Ahead in the game and less than 40 minutes away from the knockout stages, we managed the rest of the half to perfection, killing the game and defended admirably.
A penalty from a Max Mzhen foul gave Ra'anana hope of a very late equaliser but we were resilient enough to keep our composure, see out the game and deliver a historic win, this team's first-ever progression to the cup knockout stages.
We face off against IFLI1's Ramat Gan in the round of 16.
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