Hapoel Beer Sheva blasted Ironi Tiberias 4-0 as Amir Ganah scored a brace to help the southern reds take the win and the 3-points on the day that hostage Iair Horn, one of the club’s biggest supporters returned home. Kings Kangwa gave Ron Kozuk’s squad a quick 1-0 lead with a 3rd minute goal while Amir Ganah latched onto a Helder Lopes ball to make it 2-0 at the break. Dan Bitton assisted on Ganah’s second goal of the game in the 48th minute as the aforementioned Bitton scored ten minutes later to wrap up the match.

Beer Sheva Head Coach spoke about Horn’s release and what it went to the club, “Iair, this victory is for you! Enjoy it, get stronger and God willing, we will see you here with us. I hope that God willing, we will see his brother Eitan and all of the hostages return home this coming week. These things are more important than football, it is our moral obligation to help bring them home and with God’s help it will happen soon. In the lockerroom prior to the game, the feeling was chilling, they all saw it live on TV. It is a million times more important than football. The most important thing is that he is home, we wish him well and that we will see him here with us and his brother Eitan here as soon as possible.”

Tiberias coach Eliran Hodeida shared his thoughts as well, “Before the game there was a very moving ceremony, there was not a person who was in the stadium and was not moved.”

Hapoel Haifa clipped Beitar Jerusalem 3-2 in an entertaining game as Dor Hugi’s brace helped the Carmel reds take the 3-points and the win. Rony Levy’s team quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead as Theimoko Diarra opened the scoring in the 14th minute while a quarter hour later sent a tremendous through ball to assist on Hugi’s first goal of the game. Hugi then added a marker from the penalty spot to send the hosts into the break holding a 3-0 lead. However, Patrick Twumasi and an Omer Atzily penalty less than 15 minutes into the second half by Beitar cut the lead to 3-2 but that would be as close as the visitors would get.

“It’s not over until it’s over, certainly against Beitar, who as a club love such drama,” Haifa bench boss Roni Levy said. “They are a very high-quality team and when you concede a goal it can go in dangerous direction, but it was a good test for my players to hang on to the 3-2 win. The guys deserve compliments for that and I’m proud of their attitude and investment. We played very good football and we’re happy with the victory.”

“The fans enjoyed the game but I less so in the first half,” Beitar assistant coach Moshe Ohayon who was in charge of the game due to Barak Itzhaki being out ill said. “I thought we were better in the second half and it’s funny to say that we started well but we conceded a stupid goal and then we shouldn’t have conceded the other two goals. That’s not what we were preparing for and it’s a shame.”

Kiryat Shemona blanked Hapoel Hadera 2-0 as the northerners took the win and the 3-points. After a goalless first half, Hadera captain Menashe Zalka was sent off with a second yellow card in the 78th minute and just five minutes later Lidor Cohen found the back of the goal for Kiryat Shemona while Iyad Habshi slotted home an injury time penalty to close out the victory.

“We weren’t as organized as I would have liked in the first half and I didn’t like the intensity and the body language,” Kiryat Shemona Head Coach Shay Barda began. “But at the end of the day it’s a sweet win because the club has been going through upheavals for a year and a half. Three super important points for us.”

“This was very disappointing,” Hadera bench boss Nimrod Kostika said. “The result is doesn;t reflect the game at all as we had six or seven chances and we didn’t manage to score. It was one of our best games and then we had a player sent off. If you don’t score, you can’t win. We had 100% goal chances, we didn’t score and as they say, those who don’t score suffer in the end.”

Ashdod crushed Maccabi Bnei Reineh 4-1 as Muhammed Knaan scored a brace and added a pair of assists in the blowout win. Knaan opened the scoring in the 18th minute as he slotted home an Adir Levi cross while Roi Levi’s smart pass to Knaan twenty minutes later doubled the advantage to 2-0. Ori Azo scored right before the break while Noam Muche scored just minutes into the second half thanks to two Knaan assists before Saar Fadida broke up the clean sheet in the 64th minute. However, the lone goal by Reineh was too little, too late as the port city side wrapped up the win.

Winning coach Klemi Saban concluded looked back at the win, “We deserved the points and we played extremely well to earn them. We knew what Reineh was going to do and we countered with quality attacking players, but the entire team was great. I’m sure that Ashdod will remain in the league and not face relegation.”

“This was the opposite of every Reineh game since I’ve ben here as coach,” Sharon Mimer said. “Things happened here that I can’t remember having ever occurred. We had opportunities to get back into the game but we just weren’t at the level. This is the worst game since I’ve been here.”

Maccabi Netanya slipped by Maccabi Petach Tikva 1-0 thanks to Igor Zlatanovich’s first half goal to give the diamond city squad the 3-points and the win.

“The truth is that something good and positive is happening to us,” Netanya Head Coach Yossi Abuksis said. “It took a little time to get to know the team at first, but as we moved along, we changed the formation and not it fits perfectly. It helped the players to be better and I’m glad they’re doing it exceptionally well, they deserve credit.”

“There’s no doubt that we’re disappointed, even with how the game developed, we didn’t deserve to lose,” Petach Tikva coach Tamir Luzon said. “In the second half there was only one team on the field, we didn’t deserve to lose. In the first half we were passive, we didn’t press and gave them too much freedom. In the second half we stepped up and it’s a shame we didn’t earn at least a point, we deserved it.”