Hapoel end Benfica's hopes
Reuters - Wednesday 24 November 2010, 23:21
TEL AVIV - Benfica's hopes of qualifying
for the last 16 were ended by Hapoel Tel Aviv who secured their
first ever Champions League win with a 3-0 victory over the
Portuguese side on Wednesday.
Schalke 04's 3-0 win over Olympique Lyon in the other Group
B tie means Benfica cannot reach the knockout stage.
Hapoel coach Eli Guttman said it was an "evening of pride"
for his club after they secured victory with two goals by Eran
Zahavi and another from Douglas da Silva.
The hosts had far less possession but maintained their
resolve and found the finishing touches which Benfica clearly
lacked.
In answer to a question if before the match he thought
Hapoel could beat Benfica 3-0, Guttman said: "Never... if you
had told me this before the match I would say you are drunk, but
football is football, everything is possible and we showed it
today."
He added that it was the players' way to give their
"wonderful crowd what they deserved to see."
Zahavi made the breakthrough after 24 minutes when he headed
in a free-kick from playmaker Gil Vermouth.
Da Silva doubled the lead in the 74th minute with a shot
from close range following a Hapoel corner, their first of the
match. Benfica, by contrast, had 20 corners.
Zahavi secured Hapoel's first win in their debut season in
the competition when he added his second goal in injury time
after a swift counter attack.
Schalke top the group on 10 points with Lyon on nine.
Benfica have six points with one match to play while Hapoel, on
four points, retain a slim chance of finishing in third place if
they beat Lyon next week in France and Benfica lose to Schalke.
Benfica coach Jorge Jesus said his side were unlucky and
once they fell behind their chance of winning faded.
"We controlled the game, we had seven or eight chances in
the first half but once Hapoel scored it became increasingly
difficult for us," Jesus said.