Dappa celebrated: 'It moves me'. Shay Barda furious: 'What about the law of logic?'

Before departing for Bergamo to face Atalanta in the Conference League playoffs, Hapoel Tel Aviv gave its fans a thrilling finish in Petah Tikva, securing a 1:2 victory over Ironi Kiryat Shmona. Adrian Ugrisa gave Kiryat Shmona the lead with a heel flick in the 6th minute, but after Ofir Benvenisti was sent off in the 30th minute, the hosts switched to a deep defensive block, which Daniel Dappa finally broke with a dramatic brace deep into stoppage time (97th and 99th minutes).

"We currently love the drama. Today ended in our favor; in Katowice, it was against us. From halftime, we talked about the need to play faster and move the ball from side to side, but the ball refused to go in. We missed chances, and they played excellent defense. The time-wasting bothered me a bit, but it's legitimate. Eight minutes of stoppage time? In this game, they should have added 15. When the first one went in, I looked at the clock and believed the second would come," said Elyaniv Barda after the match.

Regarding Dappa, he added: "He is still a kid. He remains humble and understands that through hard work, he will earn his minutes. He deserves to be happy. I know what the players are worth, and I told them this was an opportunity to show the fans and themselves their true value."

Dappa concluded: "It is very exciting, especially to see the fans and the club jumping like this. It moves me. I went through a season of learning, gaining experience, and improving with the team. What now? Only God knows. I improve every day, and that is what is important."

Shay Barda, the Kiryat Shmona coach who was also sent off late in the game, was agitated: "I have no food for thought, others do. I know the new law, but what about the law of logic? That is more important—first of all, to apply it. To take out seven players seven times for treatment and let us play with nine men, including on the final goal? Do you think that didn't decide the game? I don't know why I was sent off; ask him. I was taught to look and choose the best. I salute my players; in the first 30 minutes, we dominated, scored, and worked as we should. No need to pity us. We are a very proud team, and on Saturday we will start our journey."

Nemanja Ljubisavljevic, who was asked to leave late in stoppage time due to the new rule and watched Dappa equalize from the sidelines, said: "I don't know what happened there; I had a cramp and lay down for a few seconds. I jumped up immediately, and he still told me to leave. We are angry because we lost. There is great potential in this team, and I love these players. We were very good for 90 minutes against Hapoel Tel Aviv, who have quality players and a large crowd."