Beitar Jerusalem Advances After Penalty Shootout Drama

Beitar Jerusalem made history last week by becoming the first Israeli team to beat a Cypriot team on its home turf, and on Thursday they kept their fans on edge as they completed the job in the return leg in Ploiești only after a penalty drama and a 4:3 victory over AEK Larnaca, following a 3:2 loss in 120 minutes. Omer Atzili starred with a brace, but in the end, it was Miguel Silva who turned from the tragic hero after a goal he conceded in stoppage time into the great hero with two saves in the penalty shootout.

The Israeli crowd that flew to Romania got everything they could want from this game. Yarden Shua, who did not train in recent days, started on the bench and the captain's armband went to Atzili. Sean Weissman and Jonbosco Kalu joined him in the attack, but it was mostly Atzili. He cleverly drew a penalty and equalized in the first-half stoppage time, after a penalty by Hrvoje Miličević on the other side, and equalized again with a tremendous goal in the 87th minute that should have been enough, following a free-kick goal by Miličević (53).

But then Silva erred, Riad Bajić equalized in stoppage time, and the game went to extra time. Substitute Shua missed a ball from a meter out, but Silva appeared in his greatness in the penalties and stopped the kicks of Waldo Rubio and Charalambos Kyriakou, while Beitar was accurate with all four of its kicks.

And now, the focus is on Austria Wien. Beitar Jerusalem will "host" again in Ploiești next Thursday, and a week later will travel to Austria for the return leg.