Israel see off co-hosts Georgia on penalties to make U21 Euros semis
Inside the opening five minutes, Dor Turgeman had the opportunity to break forward through the midfield lines and into the area, but he could only fire wide of Giorgi Mamardashvili’s goalmouth.
A noticeably young visiting side dictated much of the early play thereafter, though Georgia thought they had scored the opener in the 20th minute, only for an impressive Giorgi Gocholeishvili strike from Zuriko Davitashvili’s cross to be disallowed after the ball had gone out of play.
Back came Israel, and Oscar Gloukh finally produced the game’s first legitimate effort on target, drawing a one-on-one save after being given time and space to foray forward.
Despite seeing a deflected effort of their own trickle just inches wide late in the first half, pre-match favourites Georgia were surely grateful to see their chances of a maiden clean sheet at the fourth attempt were still intact.
However, that distinction nearly crumbled in no time at all after the restart, with Gloukh playing the ball through to Omri Gandelman, whose point-blank shot forced Mamardashvili into clawing the ball off the line barely a millisecond before it could cross the whitewash.
If that wasn’t going to scare Georgia into action, nothing would. And Georgia did enjoy more of the ball from that point, with Portugal matchwinner Saba Sazonov putting a set-piece header wide - albeit from an offside position - to get the home crowd’s temperature rising.
So too did Heorhiy Tsitaishvili’s run inside the box, but he was thwarted by Stav Lemkin before he could pull the trigger. Straight up the other end, Mamardashvili denied Gandelman and Gloukh in quick succession, with the latter effort forcing him down sharply to his left to beat the ball away.
Everything pointed to a turbulent endgame where anyone could snatch that coveted semi-final spot. And it so nearly became Georgia’s with little of the 90 remaining, as Giorgi Moistsrapishvili’s run and cross into the area set up Giorgi Gagua for a glorious knockout blow, but the Real Union man could only fire over under pressure from the relentless Lemkin.
And that was as good as it would get for the time being, with the full-time whistle confirming 30 more minutes of pure exertion, during which Mamardashvili once again produced the goods, as he thwarted a close-range shot from Oz Bilevi that was bound for the bottom-right corner.
Gagua also saw a penalty appeal turned down at the 110’ mark, but clear chances were otherwise sporadic for the two exhausted sides in extra time, leading to the dreaded lottery of penalties.
After Gagua fired straight at Daniel Peretz with Georgia’s third attempt, the score stood at 4-3, putting all the pressure on Saba Khvadagiani to convert their fifth, but it was not to be, as he hit the post at his home stadium to send Israel through for a rematch with England or a first Euro finals clash against Portugal since 2007.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Giorgi Mamardashvili (Georgia)