As the Israel Soccer League heads towards the final gameday of the regular season and fans were allowed back in the stands for the first time in a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the championship race will see Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa battling it out for the title while a number of other championship playoff spots will be up for grabs next weekend.

Along with the yellow-and-blue and the greens, Ashdod has also punched their place in the playoffs while three teams of the following five clubs, Maccabi Petah Tikva, Kiryat Shemona, Maccabi Netanya, Hapoel Beer Sheva and Beitar Jerusalem will also enter the final stage of the season searching for a chance to play in a European competition next season.

Maccabi Tel Aviv blanked Kiryat Shemona 2-0 in the northern capital as the Yellow & Blue will remain at the top of the table heading into the final game of the regular season. Dor Peretz opened the scoring in the 31st minute when he stole the ball in the midfield, played a give and go with Eyal Golasa and then beat Džiugas Bartkus to give Patrick van Leeuwen’s squad a 1-0 lead.

Kobi Refuah’s side was reduced to 10 men just a few minutes later when Yoav Hofmayster was issued his second yellow card. Matan Hozez took advantage of the situation with an 82nd minute penalty after being hauled down in the box by Dor Elo to seal the deal and take the points.

Maccabi Haifa kept pace with Maccabi Tel Aviv as they defeated Bnei Yehuda 2-0 thanks to a pair of second half goals to remain one point behind the yellow-and-blue heading into the final regular season gameday. Neta Lavi broke the goalless deadlock in the 53rd minute when he headed in a brilliant Omer Atzily cross while Sun Menachem put in an Atzily corner ten minutes later to take the 3-points.

Beitar Jerusalem snatched a 2-1 win over Hapoel Kfar Saba as David Dego scored a late winner to keep the capital city squad in the running for a championship playoff spot. Timoti Muzie gave Elisha Levy’s team a quick 1-0 lead in the 6th minute but Eliran Atar drew Beitar even just ahead of the halftime break thanks to a 43rd minute penalty kick. Yarden Shua and David Dego plaid give and go in the 84th minute as the latter beat a helpless Matan Zalmanovich to keep Beitar’s Championship Playoff hopes alive when they play Ashdod next weekend.

Hapoel Hadera slipped by Maccabi Netanya 1-0 as Menachem Koretzky’s squad continues to climb the table and move further away from the relegation zone. Liran Rotman continues to score for Hadera after coming on loan from Beitar Jerusalem as he took a brilliant Gustavo Marmentini through ball to score the 42nd winner to take the points. With the defeat, Raymond Atteveld’s squad plays Maccabi Haifa as they attempt to make it into the Championship Playoffs.

Hapoel Haifa hosted Ashdod to a 2-2 draw at Sammy Ofer stadium in an entertaining matchup that saw Ashdod punch their ticket to the Championship playoffs while Haifa will feature in the relegation playoffs for the balance of the campaign. Fahad Bayo and Dean David gave Ran Ben Shimon’s team a quick 2-0 lead after just a quarter hour but Niso Kapilto pulled a goal back in the 28th minute to keep the Carmel reds in the game. Just as Ashdod looked to have earned the 3-points, Hanan Maman lofted a corner kick into the box that Itay Boganim nodded behind Yoav Gerafi to split the points.

Hapoel Beer Sheva and Maccabi Petah Tikva played to a goalless draw at the Moshava Stadium to split the points. Beer Sheva plays Bnei Yehuda while Petah Tikva faces Bnei Sakhnin on the last match day as both squads will look to ouch their ticket to the Championship Playoffs.

Bnei Sakhnin downed Hapoel Tel Aviv 1-0 at Bloomfield Stadium to snatch the 3-points in the relegation battle and are now level with the Reds with 26 points a piece. Ismaeel Ryan sent a pinpoint prefect corner kick to Ihab Ganayem who headed home the lone marker of the game in the 22nd minute. To seal Hapoel’s fate, Raz Shlomo was sent off in the 57th minute with his second yellow card of the game leaving the 1,500 fans who attended their first match in over a year disappointed with the result.