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Panevėžio "Ekrano" adventure in European cup tournaments has ended. Lithuanian champions suffered a hopeless 0-4 defeat to Tel Aviv's "Hapoel" club on Thursday in an away match and withdrew from the UEFA Europa League tournament.
The Panevėžys team had a chance to break into the group stage for the first time in the country's football history, but they could not maintain the minimal advantage of 1-0 gained at home.
"Hapoel" players scored the first goal in the 37th minute when Elroius Cohen headed in after a cross. Until then, the "Hapoel" players clearly dominated and rarely let the guests cross the midfield.
Interestingly, the ball was in the "Ekranas" goal twice in the first 45 minutes. Panevėžys defender Andrius Jokšas attempted to clear the ball but sent it towards his own goal, fortunately, the referee noticed the offside.
Emilijus Zubas brilliantly saved a shot from Toto Tamuz from a few meters away. On the other side of the field, Uchenna Umeh stood out, whose weak shot from a distance narrowly missed the post.
After the break, "Hapoel's" advantage became more apparent. In the 53rd minute, Omar Damari scored the second goal after slipping past Zubas from the right-wing pass. The hosts not only did not let "Ekranas" take the initiative but also continued to attack without stopping. Only heroic play by the Lithuanian champions' goalkeeper and luck for a while saved Panevėžys from conceding a third goal.
However, "Ekranas" eventually received two more blows. Toto Tamuz scored by being one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Maharan Lala scored the final goal with a head during the referee's added time.
Tel Aviv's "Hapoel" 4 - 0 Panevėžio "Ekranas" (first leg 0-1, aggregate result 4-1) 37' [1 - 0] E.Cohen 53' [2 - 0] O.Damari 81' [3 - 0] T.Tamuz 90' [4 - 0] M.Lala
Team line-ups: "Ekranas" E.Zubas; G.Tomkevičius, M.Samusiovas, D.Gleveckas,(70' A.Vertelis), I.Dedura, A.Jokšas; M.Andelkovič (79' M.Alonso), A.Kučys; R.Radavičius, U.Uche; A.Velička (57' A.Fofana); "Hapoel" E.Apoula; B.Fransman, W.Badier, E.Cohen (74' S.Toama), O.Damari, S.Abutbul, R.Gordana (86' M.Abbas), G,Shish, I.Khutaba, N.Igiebor (80' M.Lala), T.Tamuz.
