Hapoel Beer Sheva downed Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0 with an impressive performance at Turner Stadium in the desert capital. Danilo Asprilla opened the scoring early on as he nodded home with authority a Helder Lopes for a 1-0 lead in the 5th minute. Ramzi Safuri doubled the advantage in the second half with a scorcher of a strike from outside of the box that beat Maccabi keeper Daniel Peretz to secure the 3-points.

“We have a lot of potential and we do have a number of new players,” Hapoel Beer Sheva coach Roni Levy began. “Some of the players still need to get into proper shape but we are a very strong team. I am very confident in the players and we need to get a win streak going and play well on a consistent basis.”

“We didn’t pay attention in the first minutes and we needed to be more aggressive,” Maccabi coach Patrick van Leeuwen. “At halftime we thought we could get back into the game and we created chances in the second half and then gave up a goal and the game was done.”

Hapoel Haifa blanked Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-0 as the Carmel Reds moved to the top of the league table. Alon Turgeman continued to score as he took an Alen Ozbolt pass and put it behind Ernestas Setkus to give the Elisha Levy’s squad a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute. After helping out on the first goal, Ozbolt scored one as well in the 73rd minute for his 3rd of the season and hand his squad the 3 points.

“I believe that we have a reason to smile,” Levy said after the game. “We won in what was our first big test at a stadium like this against a terrific team like Hapoel Tel Aviv with a lot of fans. We put on a show in an intensive game in which the better team took the victory. We came into the game well prepared and this was a very important win.”

Turgeman also reflected on the win, “I am having a good time right now and I came into the season in great shape. I am happy that I was able to help the club and I hope that this can continue every week.”

“We didn’t start the game well and we knew that Hapoel Haifa would come in to play a tactical game,” Tel Aviv assistant coach Saleem Tuama explained. “They went on counter attacks with was our downfall as we controlled the game for the most part.”

Hapoel Hadera downed Maccabi Netanya 2-0 as coach Raymond Atteveld’s squad is still winless this season. Almog Cohen was handed a red card in the 26th minute and Menachem Koretzky’s side took full advantage of the extra man following the halftime break as Shoval Gozlan and Gustavo Mermentini found the back of the goal to take the victory.

Maccabi Haifa blanked Maccabi Petah Tikva 2-0 on a first half own goal and a strike by Omer Atzily in the second half to hand Barak Bachar’s team the 3-points.

Kiryat Shemona slipped by Hapoel Nof HaGalil 1-0 in the northern capital thanks to a late Eyad Habshi penalty to take the 3-points. After a goalless first half, Itamar Shviro was sent off due to a reckless tackle leaving the hosts Kiryat Shemona with ten men. However, as time ticked down, Yarin Peretz pulled down Nadav Nidam in the box setting up Habshi’s 84th minute penalty to give the northerners the victory.

“This was fun and it was a very emotional game,” Kiryat Shemona coach Amir Nussbaum said following the win. “The game is over but I am still trying to get over what happened on the pitch after we received another red card for the second time this season. We have to take a serious look at that but I am very proud of guys.”

The goal scorer Eyad Habshi reacted to the victory, “After a tough start to the season, we all said that we needed to take 3 points in this game and we did just that. We began the game off well and we deserved to score at least a goal. This was a huge win and everyone deserves credit for that.”

“We were much better from the 10th minute all the way until the end of the game and this is very, very disappointing,” Yaron Hochenboim, the Nof HaGalil coach said. “We made offensive substitutions and we did the maximum.”

Hapoel Jerusalem and Bnei Sakhnin played to a dry goalless draw to split the points at Teddy Stadium in the capital city. The Reds have not scored a goal in ta heir first four games but have collected three points so far this season.

“I am not content and disappointed,” Jerusalem coach Ziv Arie said. “I want to win, but we are also a young team with a lot of players who have never played in the top league. We are working the way we want to and we are trying to improve our play in the final third of the pitch. We had some good chances and the ball will finally go in.”

“There were some good things from this game along with other things that we will have to work on,” Sharon Mimer, the Sakhin coach commented. “Anyone that wants to put down Jerusalem are truly mistaken as they are a strong team. We had a number of opportunities on one hand but we also could have given up some goals as well.”

Ashdod won their first game of the campaign with a 2-0 victory over struggling Beitar Jerusalem. Oz Bilu scored in the 38th minute while Nenad Cvetkovic added an insurance marker at the stroke of half-time to take the win.