Champs League Defeat For Hapoel
Hapoel Tel Aviv's hopes of qualifying for this year's Champions League suffered a setback on Wednesday after they lost 1-0 against Kazakhstan champions FK Aktobe.
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MILLET SPORT
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The Israelis struggled to create any chances of real note in a disappointing display and were indebted to their Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enveama who was called into action on a regular basis in the first half.
Itay Shechter and Eran Zahavi did have chances for the Israeli champions, though were to be undone in the 67th minute when Samat Smakov converted from the penalty spot to give the hosts a vital goal.
Gil Vermut had a chance for the Israelis late on as they piled on the pressure, but even with four minutes of extra time shown on the board, they were unable to get a priceless away goal leaving it with them all to do in next week’s second leg at the Bloomfield stadium on Tuesday night.
Hapoel manager Eli Guttman said: "We are disappointed with the score, especially after our excellent second half in which we created plenty of opportunities.
"This match is just the first half of the tie and we will try and get the job done in front of our fans at Bloomfield. At home we can play without pressure and hopefully advance.”
Meanwhile, former Chelsea and Portsmouth striker Ben Sahar played the last half hour of last night's match for Hapoel having completed a one-year loan move from Spanish side Espanyol.
Hapoel will pay approximately £84,000 for the 20-year-old Israel international, while also receiving 10 percent of any future sale of the striker.
Sahar, for whom this will already be his seventh club, said: "I hope I have a good year at Hapoel and then return to Europe.
"I'm motivated to show what I’m worth and I’m happy this move worked out. I grew up at Hapoel from the age of nine and I’m happy to be here. Hapoel has an excellent team and I hope we can qualify for the Champions League group stage."
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MILLET SPORT
