Maccabi Haifa moved into sole possession of first place after defeating Sektzia Nes Ziona 3-1 thanks to an Omer Atzily brace as the hosts took the 3-points at Sammy Ofer Stadium. Atzily gave the Greens the lead in the 22nd minute but Freddy Plumain scored his club’s first goal of the season just three minutes later to even up the game as the match headed into the second half all knotted up at 1-1. But it didn’t take long for Atzily to break the deadlock as he headed home the ball in the 52nd minute and Tjaron Chery added an insurance marker soon thereafter from 25 meters to sew up the win.

“We are in the midst of a very busy period of time and there are players who have not played with one another that much,” Haifa coach Barak Bachar explained. “Somethings are going well while others still need some work. We didn’t play as a team enough and I didn’t like how we controlled the ball and we could have scored more, but I am not going to complain after a win.”

“I’m proud of my players and they came into this matchup to work hard and battle,” Nes Ziona coach Nir Berkovics said. “However, there is a gap between the two teams and we weren’t able to take a point but we will continue on our way as we look to find points against Hapoel Tel Aviv.”

Haifa captain Neta Lavi also looked at the club’s situation while also playing in the Champions League, “Going from playing in Europe to the league is not simple, but we are doing it while scoring goals and winning as well so that is great. We are trying our best to do the maximum we can in every match. We have a very good squad that has quality depth and I am happy that everyone is getting playing time as we keep winning.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv traveled down to Ashdod and only came away with a 0-0 draw as both sides had issues finding the back of the goal all game long and earned a point a piece in the goalless contest. The yellow-and-blue had a chance to take the lead early on when they were awarded a controversial penalty but Eran Zahavi’s spot kick went flying over the bar as both keepers chalked up a clean sheet.

“This was a tough pitch and I wasn’t surprised from Ashdod as they are a good team,” Maccabi coach Vladen Ivic said. “I knew they would play with many players behind the ball. We played well in the first half and could have scored 2-3 goals but in the second half we weren’t creative enough and should have shot from outside of the box.”

“We looked great defensively and if we would have scored, the game would have opened up,” Ashdod bench box Ran Sen Shimon explained. “Maccabi only had a couple of chances and we needed to be a bit sharper on our counter attacks. We have played these types of games before and we could have been more accurate.”

Hapoel Hadera and Hapoel Haifa played to a 1-1 draw as the two goals were both scored in the second half. Steven Alfred broke the deadlock in the 56th minute to give Hadera the lead but twenty minutes later Liran Sardel found the back of the goal as each squad took home a point for their efforts.

“We totally controlled the first half,” Haifa coach Nir Klinger commented. “But we made mistakes as to where we needed to be on the attack. We had some good chances but in the second half we gave up a goal on their first shot, but we could have scored more.”

“We took a very valuable point after coming into this game with a clear plan,” Assaf Nimni, Hadera’s coach said. “I am using the tools that I have at my disposal and will do the best I can at this stage of the season. Perhaps I could have made a change earlier in the second half.”

Bnei Sakhnin hosted Maccabi Netanya to a dry goalless draw at Doha Stadium as the sides split the points.

“We really missed out with this draw,” a disappointed Haim Silvas commented. “This was an incredible battle between two very strong teams. I don’t think that the result really reflected the game itself as we had so many chances and the ball just didn’t go in.”

“We came into this game against a very good home team who had also come into the game after two wins,” Netanya bench boss Benny Lam said. “We entered the match after two losses and we wanted to really win but came away with a point after also not giving up a goal.”