Maccabi Haifa defeated Kiryat Shemona 2-0 on a pair of second half goals by the Greens as they collected the 3-points and the win to stay atop of the table. Tjaron Chery opened the scoring in the 65th minute when the midfielder scored from just outside of the box with a left footed scorcher while Dolev Haziza found the back of the goal from just in front as he added Haifa’s second which wrapped up the contest. Immediately following the game Kiryat Shemona head coach Nir Berkovic was relieved of his duties.
“When you haven’t won in some time and we haven’t played well it was important to get back onto the winning track which is what we did,” Haifa bench boss Barak Bachar said. “It was tough but we did it. We had some good minutes and we were able to control the ball well. we were able to accomplish what we set out to do.”
“Maccabi Haifa isn’t in our league and they are the best team in the country,” Berkovic said. “Next week the team will play against Hapoel Tel Aviv which is more of our league. The guys played hard and fought. There are young and hungry players on the team.”
Beitar Jerusalem downed Ashdod 2-1 as two first half goals helped the yellow-and-black move into prime position to punch their ticket to the championship playoffs. Ion Nicolaescu scored his 14th goal of the campaign to go to the top of the league’s goal scoring leader chart and give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute.
A quarter hour later, Tamir Adi who just returned to Beitar during the winter transfer window doubled the advantage just ahead of the break to take a commanding two goal lead. Ebenezer Mamatah broke up Portuguese keeper Miguel Silva’s clean sheet in the 90th minute but the goal was too little, too late as Yossi Abukasis’s squad took the win and the 3-points.
“This was a super important win against a team that is also battling for a Championship Playoff spot,” Abukasis said following the game. “This was a tough match as we didn’t begin so well and we didn’t play our best in the second half, but the end result was good.”
“We wanted to take 3-points and we knew that it would now be easy against Beitar who have the best momentum in the league right now,” assistant coach Moshe Ohayon said in place of the suspended Ran Ben Shimon. “We started off well but our mistakes gave them the opportunity to get into the game. There always seems to be a game that we need to win to solidify our spot in the Championship Playoffs and we end up losing.”
Nicolaescu also spoke about the victory from his point of view, “I am very content that we won this game and that was really important for me. We didn’t play as well as we had wanted to but the result was crucial. Right now we have to now turn our sights on our next game against Hapoel Haifa.”
Hapoel Beer Sheva and Hapoel Jerusalem played to a goalless draw as each team took home a point in the southern capital.
“Any situation where you can take a point at Turner Stadium against Hapoel Beer Sheva is good,” Hapoel Jerusalem assistant coach Lior Zada said in place of the suspended Ziv Arie. “We were there the entire game and were played well and handled ourselves against a very good and aggressive team. This point was a good one.”
“We were missing a number of things in this game and we played against a tough team that played a very solid defense,” Hapoel Beer Sheva coach Elyaniv Barda commented. “We needed to be better and show more quality and finish our chances. We tried everything and used all of our offensive capabilities.”
Hapoel Haifa blanked Sektzia Nes Ziona 2-0 as Roni Levy’s squad scored a goal in each half to move into a Championship Playoff spot and take the 3-points. On loan defender Constantinos Soteriou headed home a corner kick in the 37th minute while second half substitute Mohammed Kamara added the insurance goal for the Carmel Reds as they took the win.
“This was a game against a team that is fighting for their lives but from the get go we started well and I am happy that we scored in the first half and finished the game off in the second,” Haifa bench boss Roni Levy said. “There are a lot of good things to take from this game. We have a tough schedule coming up but we can’t look too far ahead with Beitar Jerusalem coming up first.”
“I am not happy with how we looked in a game that was so important and so crucial,” Nes Ziona coach Shlomi Dura began. “We woke up in the second half and had some chances but our attackers are just not doing the job. We are in a relegation battle that can go all the way to the end of the season.”
Bnei Sakhnin and Bnei Reineh played to a 1-1 draw as the sides split the points in an entraining contest up in the Galilee. After a scoreless first half, Beram Kayal poked home the ball after Guy Melamed’s header was saved to give Sakhnin a 1-0 lead in the 58th minute. However, Ahmed Abed headed home the tying goal in second half injury time to save a point for the relegation zone team as each squad captured a point for their efforts.
“There were plenty of missed chances in this game and a draw is like a loss for us,” a disappointed Sakhnin coach Kobi Refuah said after the match. “We had chances and then we couldn’t hold onto the ball at the end of the game. It’s unfortunate that we conceded when we did.”
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