Beitar Jerusalem slipped by Hapoel Beer Sheva 1-0 at Turner Stadium in the south. Shlomi Azoulay headed home the winner in the 34th minute in a game that saw each team lose a player to a red card in the second half.

Maccabi Tel Aviv were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw with Sektzia Nes Tziona at Bloomfield Stadium to open up the second round of the Israel Premier League season. Not only did the yellow-and-blue split the points at home for the fourth time in seven games this campaign, keeper Daniel Tenenbaum finally conceded a goal after 13 straight clean sheets. Elad Shahaf gave the visitors the shock lead in the 9th minute as the winger took advantage of a poor clearance by the Maccabi defense to send a scorcher into the left corner of the goal from 16 meters. However, Israeli-American striker Aaron Schoenfeld pulled the hosts even just two minutes later who scored from in close as each side picked up a point a piece.

Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Raanana played to a dull goalless draw at the Moshava Stadium as the Greens lost an opportunity to pull to within one point of first place Maccabi Tel Aviv. Haifa controlled the pace of play but Raanana keeper Asaf Tzur came up big time and time again to stymie Marko Balbul’s squad. The draw gave Raanana coach Niso Avitan his first point since taking over from Menachem Koretzy last week.

Maccabi Netanya drowned Hapoel Tel Aviv 4-0 in a one sided affair at the Netanya Stadium. Gaby Kanichowsky opened the souring in the 28th minute thanks to a give and go with Roie Kehat for a 1-0 lead. Just five minutes later Kehat fed striker Guy Melamed a perfect pass as the striker pounded the ball behind a helpless Yoav Gerafi to double the Diamond City squad’s advantage. Yones Malade headed home Slobodan Drapic’s side’s third goal in the 70th minute while Melamed completed a brace four minutes later to give Netanya a huge 4-0 win over the Tel Aviv Reds. 

Hapoel Kfar Saba stunned Hapoel Haifa 2-0 at Sammy Ofer Stadium as the visitor’s snatched important points away from home. Boubacar Traore fed Mahmoud Yousef as the latter’s right footed strike beat Jasmin Buric to give Ofir Haim’s squad a 1-0 lead. Benjamin Kuku had a chance to double the Greens lead but his late first half penalty was stopped by Buric to keep the score as is after 45 minutes. However, it didn’t take long for Kfar Saba to add their second goal right after the break as Boubacar finished off a team play in the box to take all three points.

Kiryat Shemona surprised Bnei Yehuda 2-1 up north. James Adeniyi set up Omer Lakou in the 7th minute to give the hosts a quick lead for Kobi Refuah’s squad while Cillian Sheridan added a second strike right before the break for a 2-0 advantage after 45 minutes. Dor Kochav pulled a goal back in the 56th minute but it wasn’t enough for Yossi Abuksis’s side to salvage a point on the road.

Hapoel Hadera surprised Ashdod 2-0 at the port city as new coach Sharon Mimer recorded a victory in his first game in charge. Roie Zikri scored a nice goal from outside of the box in the 29th minute while Sagi Dror fooled the entire Ashdod team by scoring from the middle of the field as Hadera took all three points in the victory.