Hapoel Tel Aviv Stuns Maccabi Tel Aviv in Toto Cup Final Thriller
Translated & summarized from Walla by baba
Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-2 in the Toto Cup final on Thursday, winning the season's first trophy. Maccabi Tel Aviv, trailing 3-0, mounted a late comeback with two goals from Dor Peretz but ultimately fell short. Coach Kenny Miller cited poor defense as the reason for the loss, while Peretz lamented the team's overall performance and claimed a missed penalty call.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Hapoel Tel Aviv beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-2 in the Toto Cup final.
- Maccabi Tel Aviv trailed 3-0 before Dor Peretz scored twice late.
- Maccabi coach Kenny Miller blamed the defense for the loss.
- Dor Peretz expressed disappointment with the team's performance and claimed a missed penalty.
- Only the winning team attended the medal ceremony.
Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-2 in a dramatic Toto Cup final on Thursday, securing the season's first trophy. Maccabi Tel Aviv, despite winning the Champions of Champions Cup earlier, suffered a painful loss in the derby. They trailed 3-0 and appeared out of contention before Dor Peretz scored twice in the final minutes, in the 89th and 91st minutes, to narrow the deficit. Aster Sakler nearly equalized in stoppage time following a mistake by Maccabi goalkeeper Assaf Tzur.
Following the final whistle, the losing Maccabi players left the field as per an agreement between the teams and the league management that only the winners would attend the medal ceremony. Maccabi coach Kenny Miller expressed his deep disappointment, stating, "We didn't do enough in most minutes, we didn't create chances. But when you defend like that, you won't win games, and certainly not finals." He added, "When you defend properly, you don't concede goals like that. It's very disappointing. It's hard to chase after conceding goals like that."
Dor Peretz, who scored the two late goals for Maccabi, shared his frustration, saying, "I don't know what to say. Super disappointed, bummed. Not just with the result but with our performance tonight. To show up like this in a derby in the Toto Cup final, it's not enough." He acknowledged the team's failure to execute basic defensive and tackling fundamentals, stating, "Winning tackles is the basis and we didn't do it today. Returning to defense is the basis and we didn't do it today. So we don't deserve to win." Peretz also insisted he was fouled for a penalty, declaring, "There was a 100 percent penalty on me, no doubt at all." He concluded that while they can be upset now, they will recover.
