Haifa through to Europa League group-stage after 1-1 draw with Astra

Football:
Maccabi Haifa advanced into the UEFA Europa League group-stage for the second time in 3 seasons after a 1-1 draw last night  (Thursday) against Romanian side Astra Giurgiu in the 2nd leg of their play-off tie put the aggregate score at 3-1 in favor of Haifa. Astra hit first when in the 27th minute a bad punch by Haifa's Serbian goalie Bojan Saranov off of an inswinging corner fell to the feet of Astra defender, Valerica Gaman, who smashed the ball into the back of Haifa's half empty net. That goal was the first one that The Greens had let in their whole Europa League campaign this season, after taking 5 clean sheets in the last 5 games. Haifa atoned very quickly for their goalkeepers error, scoring the Equalizer just 7 minutes later when their Spanish midfielder Ruben Rayos curled a free-kick from the wing of the keeper and into the top corner of Astra's goal. Rayos has now scored 6 goals in Haifa's 6 Europa league games this season.

Dekel Keinan with the ball last night vs Astra (m haifa)

"We had a target", said Haifa's manager Arik Benado after the game, "that target was to reach the next round and that is exactly what we did. I am very proud of my team who despite falling behind didn't lose their heads, and they managed to to get back into the game".
Rayos also had what to say about the game: "It wasn't easy for us to play here. The pitch was muddy and this forced us not to play the way we usually do. Our advancement to the group-stage is very special, it's for the fans".
The Greens will be drawn into a group this afternoon (Friday) as will fellow Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Haifa's next game is in the Israeli Premier League on Sunday (at 20:00) when they face Ashdod, who recently lost play-maker Nir Biton since he is currently in the process of signing for Scottish champions, Celtic.