Hapoel Beer Sheva took care of Maccabi Netanya 2-0 as Dan Bitton scored in the first minute of play after a poor clearing attempt by keeper Omer Nirron due to pressure from Igor Zlatanovic while the same Zlatanovic found the back of the goal in the second half to take the win to keep his team atop of the standings.

Southern Reds coach Ran Kozuk spoke about the victory, “First of all, I think we showed a lot of maturity this week. After an intense game against Maccabi Tel Aviv we scored in the first minute thanks to correct pressing. We had some not-so-good minutes and we still managed to take the game. We’re maturing from game to game and we need to keep going.”

Netanya bench boss Yossi Abukasis said, “We needed to score from the chances we got. We reached quite a few situations and we had to put them away. The game started with a big mistake that you’re not allowed to make at Turner Stadium against Beer Sheva.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv and Kiryat Shemona played to a dramatic 2-2 draw as Adrian Ugarriza scored his second goal of the match via a dramatic penalty deep into second half injury time to split the points. The Reds struck first as Roei Alkukin put home a Stav Turiel cross to take a 1-0 lead in the 6th minute while they doubled the advantage early on in the second half when Alkukin played facilitator for Turiel in a terrific 1-2 punch.

Ugarriza scored from the top of the box for the northeners to cut the lead to 2-1 in the 58th minute and as they then pressed for the equalizer Hapoel was reduced to 10-men due to a reckless tackle by Alkukin. With a man to the good, Ali Musa was fouled by Yazzan Nassar as he made his way into the box handing Kiryat Shemona a penalty that Ugarriza promptly scored in the 99th minute to hand each side a point for their efforts.

Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Elyaniv Barda spoke about the controversial penalty late in the match , “They [the referees] did everything so we would lose. The referees are imposing themselves on the game. When VAR is needed, they’re not there and when it’s not needed, they intervene. Something needs to be done about this because it decides games. Anything I say will sound like whining, but that’s the truth.”

Kiryat Shmona coach Shai Barda shared his thoughts on the draw, “In the first half we weren’t in the game; we need to be more precise. Last week Hapoel Tel Aviv scored four goals but here we showed character but we really didn’t play well until the 55th minute. To come back from a two-goal deficit to 2-2 you need to know how to take this point and just be content with it.”

Hapoel Jerusalem sunk Ashdod 2-0 as Cedric Don scored a second half brace to hand the capital city reds the 3-points and the win.

Jerusalem Head Coach Ziv Arie said, “Ashdod are a very good team that started well and we didn’t. After that, it turned around and the second half was more balanced. I’m happy that unlike other games, we managed to win this one at the end. It’s very important for us and we’re looking ahead to the next match.”

Kiryat Shemona bench boss Haim Silvas commented on the defeat, “Obviously when you lose, the feeling isn’t good. The first half was a good half for us; the second half wasn’t good enough. Overall the game was even, especially in the second half and it looked like it would be decided by one action and Jerusalem did that well.”

Hapoel Haifa blanked Ironi Tiberias 2-0 thanks to a second half own goal by Ondrej Baco as well as a Naor Sabag strike to sew up the victory and the 3-points.

Carmel Reds Head Coach Gal Arel shared his thoughts on the win, “We understood this was a must-win game. We’ve gone through a difficult period and then in the first half we hit the woodwork twice but I also liked the defensive effort. It was important not to concede and I’m happy we didn’t concede and happy we scored.”

Tiberias bench boss Eliran Hoddeda said after the loss, “We didn’t show up to the game at all and we didn’t threaten Hapoel Haifa. We let them score and we gave them gifts. We didn’t deserve to take a point as this was our weakest game. We didn’t get into proper attacking situations and we conceded soft goals.”