Hapoel Beer Sheva slipped past Ashdod 2-1 as Kings Kangwa scored the winning goal with a spectacular second half strike to take the win and the points to remain in first place. Guy Mizrachi gave the southern reds a 1-0 lead in the 7th minute but Eugene Ansah drew the port city side even less than ten minutes later. But Kangwa picked off a poor clearing pass, dribbled and blasted the ball into the Ashdod goal to take the lead for good to pick up the victory.

Beer Sheva Head Coach Ron Kozuk reflected on the win, “We spoke about how tough this match was going to be and we weren’t able to do what we had wanted to in this game. It’s not easy to win at this stadium and so many teams have lost points here, so we aren’t taking it for granted. There is a hunger in this team because of what we were above to achieve last season when we came up short in the championship race.”

Ashdod Head Coach Avi Avinu spoke about the loos, “We are very disappointed because we had so many chances against a team like Beer Sheva and we weren’t able to take advantage of them. We moved the ball well and we had a very good game plan which we worked on all week long, it’s disappointing to come up short and now we have to move on.”

Hapoel Haifa got by Hapoel Petach Tikva 1-0 as Alon Turgeman scored the lone goal of the match in the 17th minute after having just returned for his third stint with the Carmel Reds after having played with Hapoel Beer Sheva over the past 2.5 seasons.

Hapoel Haifa Head Coach Haim Silvas summed up the important win, “It’s a very sweet victory. We came up against a team in good form and it was clear we’d have to raise our level. It definitely wasn’t going to be a brilliant game, but rather one where teamwork and determination would come into play. It was tough and nerve-wracking, but that’s the only way you can win after such a long period without a victory.”

Hapoel Petach Tikva Head Coach Omer Peretz shared his thoughts, “It wasn’t a good game from us, but all the credit goes to Hapoel Haifa. They were tactically very well organized and didn’t leave us much space. It was a tight, closed, tactical game from their side and that should be a compliment to us.”

Kiryat Shemona and Ironi Tiberias played to an entertaining 2-2 draw as the Kineret based squad came back on two occasions to earn a point. Nemanja Ljubisavljevic headed home the opening goal off a Yair Mordechai free kick in the 4th minute but Guy Hadida’s left footed screamer from the top of the box knotted the score up at 1-1 ten minutes later. An active Mordechai was tripped up in the area just ahead of the break and slotted home a penalty to put Shay Barda’s squad back in front at 2-1. However, early on in the second half Stanislav Bilenkyi sent a scorcher behind keeper Daniel Tenenbaum as the two sides split the points.

Kiryat Shemona Head Coach Shay Barda summed up the game, “We should have known how to protect our lead and we didn’t manage to. We had a crazy miss by Fernando Pacheco and at the bottom of the table every point is important.”

Tiberias bench boss Eliran Hodeida spoke about the draw, “We showed the desire and the need to win. It’s a shame we conceded two goals from set pieces; we scored two goals from proper football moves. We took a point and wanted more, but now we look ahead. I’m sure we have the tools to win games like this.”

Maccabi Netanya blanked Maccabi Bnei Reineh 4-0 as all four goals were scored in the first half to hand the diamond city squad the 3-points and the win. Rotem Keller scored in the first minute to set the tone early for the visitors as Oz Bilu doubled the advantage twenty minutes later off an errant pass to take a 2-0 lead. Keller than sent Matheus Davo a brilliant ball who put it behind a helpless Reineh keeper Lior Gliklich in the 27th minute while Bakary Konate polished off the scoring three minutes later off a free kick to score his first for Netanya who wrapped the victory before the match was in a half an hour old.

Netanya Head Coach Roni Levy summed up the win, “The game developed in a way where we scored early and took control quickly. The players came with a very good approach and many of the things we worked on professionally were carried out very well. From my perspective, I see this as just one game and I want to continue this level of performance in the next match, to build momentum, because one game won’t be enough.

Reineh bench boss Adham Hadiya spoke about the loss, “You can’t start a game like that when you’re fighting for your life by losing the ball and conceding a goal. A team that wants to stay in the league, in such an important home match, can’t concede goals so softly. We need to look better as a team, our body language has to be different.”