Beitar Jerusalem blanked Hapoel Hadera 2-0 as two second half goals handed the capital city side the 3-points. After a goalless opening 45 minutes, Yarden Shua sent a pinpoint perfect free kick to Fred Friday who nodded it home for a 1-0 lead in the 58th minute. Less than 10 minutes later Shua once again was the architect of the goal with a magnificent through that Mayron George put behind a helpless Ohad Levita to wrap up the win.

“This was a game with two entirely different halves,” Jerusalem coach Yossi Abukasis began after the game. “We tried some things in the first half but they just didn’t work. We weren’t aggressive enough and we made some changes that worked. With two strikers we needed to have a very strong defense and midfield and I’m happy that worked out as we did what we needed to in the second half.”

“The goal off the free kick killed us,” Hadera bench boss Niso Avitan explained. “We tried to come back into the game but we were unable to. It’s disappointing as the game had been even and then it got away from us. We aren’t afraid to attack but we are still missing some significant players and we couldn’t score.”

Hapoel Beer Sheva and Hapoel Tel Aviv played to an entertaining goalless draw as the sides split the points at Turner Stadium. Tel Aviv’s El Yam Kancepolski picked up a second yellow card in the 42nd minute giving the hosts a man to the good for the entire second half, but keeper Emilijus Zubas stood on his head making save after save for the visitors to preserve the blank sheet and record a point for his team.

“This was a frustrating game,” a disappointed Hapoel Beer Sheva coach Elyaniv Barda said. “To control 90% of the game and create plenty of chances in the box, the saves that were made and not to win was very frustrating, but that’s soccer. I always want to play as good as we can especially in front of a packed stadium.”

“I feel good after this game as many people have told me about previous results at this stadium,” Hapoel Tel Aviv head coach Michael Valkanis commented. “We didn’t play as how we would have wanted to but we battled and earned a valuable point thanks to hard work. I’m proud of my players who gave it their all.”