Bnei Reineh stunned Maccabi Haifa 2-1 as two first half goals helped the hosts take the win. Mark Kostza silenced Sammy Ofer Stadium as he slotted home the opening goal of the game just five minutes in while Freddy Vargas gave the visitors a 2-0 lead just a minute before the end of the half to head into the break with a commanding two-goal lead. Anan Khalaili pulled a goal back in the 80th minute but that was too little too late for the Greens title hopes took a massive hit in the loss.

“This was our third win over Haifa over the last two seasons,” Reineh head coach Sharon Mimer explained. “It’s something incomprehensible. I have to credit the guys as they proved once again that they are just a special specimen. We are doing the maximum at every stadium that we can.”

“This was not a good game by us,” Haifa coach Messay Dego said. “We have to keep on working as we were awful from the get go and we were so soft. Every Reineh attack was lethal and that is why we gave up the second goal. There are no excuses as I thought we would bitmap the energy into this game following the international break.

Beitar Jerusalem smashed Maccabi Netanya 3-0 as a trio of first half goals helped the yellow-and-black take the 3-points and the win. Ismaila Soro took an Adi Yona ball in the 6th minute and put it home to take an early 1-0 lead while Mayron George found Yarden Shua a quarter hour later to double the advantage. George then headed home the third goal off a Dor Micha ball in the 32nd minute to take insurmountable leas as the visitors wrapped up the victory before the game hit halftime.

“This was great to win,” Beitar bench boss Barak Itzhaki began. “We have been building something here and we believe in the path that we are taking. I’m proud of the guys and the work that they did in this game. There were some points in the game where there were some issues but our keeper was there for us. Ultimately, we won and that’s what is most important.”

“This is a very disappointing loss,” Netanya coach Guy Tzarfati said. “We missed a chance in the opening five minutes when we hit the bar and then we conceded on the other end. We had more opportunities but came up short and then we gave up the second goal and from they’re our confidence was lost. This was disastrous first half and that can’t ever occur again.”