BREAKING NEWS

Soccer: Maccabi Tel Aviv, Beersheba cruise into State Cup last 4

State Cup holder Maccabi Tel Aviv and last season’s beaten finalist Hapoel Beersheba are hoping to be kept apart in Thursday’s semifinal draw and remain on course for a second straight meeting in the final.
Maccabi and Beersheba comfortably progressed to the semifinals on Wednesday, building on their first leg victories to join Maccabi Haifa and Bnei Sakhnin in the last four.
Maccabi, which thrashed Beersheba 6-2 in last season’s memorable final, entered the second leg against Hapoel Kfar Saba with a 3-0 lead from the first match and cruised to a 2-0 victory on Wednesday, completing a 5-0 win on aggregate.
Maccabi coach Peter Bosz made the most of the opportunity and gave many of his fringe players rare playing time, resting star midfielder Eran Zahavi among others.
The yellow-and-blue’s second string side was still far too good for Kfar Saba, with Shlomi Azulay (22) and Eden Ben-Basat (45) scoring for the hosts.