EUROPA LEAGUE ROUND OF 32 SECOND LEG

BESIKTAS 2 HAPOEL BEER SHEVA 1

Having lost the home leg 3-1 at the Turner Stadium last week, Hapoel were on the back-foot after 17 minutes when Vincent Aboubakar fired high into the net past David Goresh.

Hapoel, to their credit, showed great attacking intent throughout and they deservedly drew level through Nigerian forward Anthony Nwakaeme in the 64th minute, leaving Hapoel needing to score twice more.

But that was as good as it got for the Israeli champions and an error from Goresh allowed Besiktas to win it late on through Cenk Tosun - the Israeli No. 1 allowing his low shot to slip through his grasp and into the net.

Nonetheless, Hapoel coach Barak Bakhar was proud of his team. He said: "We experienced a wonderful journey which began last July and ended today.

“We competed in every match and showed that anything is possible. In virtually every game we faced teams that on paper were better and richer than us, but my players proved that they have an amazing character and showed that we are a very strong team of winners.

"I’m proud of every one of them. Now the real challenge will be to channel these energies as we move forward.”