Hapoel Jerusalem blanked Bnei Sakhnin 1-0 on Matan Hozez’s 29th minute goal to give the reds some breathing room away from the relegation zone at the bottom of the table.

Jerusalem Head Coach Lior Zada said, “It’s a sigh of relief, but only for one evening. The players know we can complete the mission on Wednesday against Ashdod and avoid relegation. Right now we’re not looking at the quality of the football. At this stage and after a season like this with all the pressure on us, first of all we need to sacrifice, stay organized and allow the opponent as few chances as possible. There is pressure and the points are more important than anything, because staying in the league is above all else.”

Sakhnin bench boss Yossi Abukasis spoke about the loss, “We’re trying to do good things and be sporting for the other teams as well, but we haven’t been good in the relegation playoff. We’re a team that needs to make many changes for next season. You saw it yourselves, we’re just not good enough.”

Ironi Tiberias defeated Maccabi Netanya 4-3 as Guy Hadida’s unanswered second half hat-trick helped mount an improbable comeback by Eliran Hodeida’s side to wipe out a 3-1 deficit over the last 25 minutes to record the win.

Tiberias Head Coach Eliran Hodeida said, “Even in the first half we played very good football and created enough chances to win the game. We got ourselves into trouble in the second half with two unnecessary goals from our perspective, but if there’s one thing everything we went through this year taught us, it’s to stay strong until the end. I’m happy and proud of the players for staying strong and believing until the very last second. They deserve huge credit for the belief, the mental strength and the professional ability. Despite all the excitement, we still haven’t completed the mission. On Wednesday we have a game here against Reineh to finish the job.”

Netanya bench boss Roni Levy talked about the loss, “I’m very disappointed with the ending. We came to play because that’s how we approach every match. After Tiberias made it 3–2, we knew they would go all in and we had enough transition opportunities to finish the story. In the final minutes our decision-making was terrible. I’m very disappointed.”

Maccabi Bnei Reineh and Kiryat Shemona drew 1-1 as Antonio Sefer gave Lior Reuven’s squad the lead but Adrian Ugarriza leveled the score for Shay Barda’s side early in the second half as the sides split the points.

“From the first moment I did things my way,” Bnei Reineh bench boss Lior Reuven began as his team is precariously close to being relegated. “The fact that we’re even talking about the team having a chance to stay up means we achieved something. The players are giving everything, but here it wasn’t enough. In the second half we wanted to decide the game, but it didn’t work out. I still believe and we’ll do everything to stay in the league.”

Hapoel Haifa slipped past Ashdod 1-0 as Roy Nawi scored the second half winner to hand Head Coach Haim Silvas the victory and close in on ensuring that the Carmel reds will avoid relegation. For Sharon Mimer, his port city side still remains in the battle against relegation as they sit in 13th place with a match versus Hapoel Jerusalem, the 12th place team coming up.

“There is a very significant feeling of relief after the win against Ashdod,” Silvas said. “We went through some difficult days. It’s not shameful to say this, but in recent years I’ve taken on projects with teams expected to escape relegation earlier than they actually did and things usually went more easily for me but not this year. Everything came down to this game and the tension was terrible, but the players knew how to rise to the occasion.”