Hapoel Haifa pounded Hapoel Tel Aviv 4-0 as Haim Silvas’s squad decimated Nir Klinger’s Reds at Sammy Ofer Stadium thanks to a brace by Gidi Kanuk. Last week, Tel Aviv were shell shocked by second division squad Maccabi Petah Tikva to knock them out of the Israel State Cup semifinals as the Carmel mountain side took full advantage of Hapoel’s precarious situation to put up a 4 spot on them.

Gidi Kanuk began the onslaught in the 16th minute when he buried a penalty for his first goal of the game. The attacking midfielder doubled the advantage in the 55th minute when Hapoel Tel Aviv defender Orel Dagani lost the ball to Tomer Altman who in turn sent a brilliant through ball to Kanuk who beat Arik Yanko once again to give Haifa a 2-0 lead.

Less than nine minutes later Doron Linder pulled down Almog Buzaglo in the box good for a spot kick that Gal Arel converted, while 60 seconds later Liran Sardel fed Nes Zamir as the latter found the back of the goal to help Haifa to the three points just ahead of their date in the capital against Beitar Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Beer Sheva played to a 1-1 draw at an empty Bloomfield Stadium. Dor Peretz put home the opener for the Yellow & Blue after taking a terrific Eyal Golasa cross as the midfielder saved the ball off of the line but Josue’s brilliant left footed second half strike split the points.

Maccabi Haifa hosted Beitar Jerusalem to 0-0 and split the points at Sammy Ofer Stadium. Neither side seemed interested in finding the back of the goal in the snoozefest as the Greens have a total of 3 goals in four Championship Playoff games while the yellow-and-black have scored a grand total of one. Roni Levy’s team will now prepare to host Hapoel Haifa on Wednesday at Teddy Stadium in the capital.

Kiryat Shemona defeated Hapoel Raanana 1-0 in dramatic fashion as the lone goal of the contest came in the 93rd minute by Ori Dahan to give Kobi Refuah’s squad 3 valuable points in order to move further away from the relegation zone. After 90 plus minutes of scoreless play, Dahan found the back of the goal from 12 meters to put the visitors ahead 1-0. However, just three minutes later, the aforementioned Dahan pulled down Idan Shemesh in the box as Israeli international referee Orel Grinfeld issued a penalty to Raanana. But Kiryat Shemona keeper Džiugas Bartkus made the key stop on Snir Shuker’s spot kick and secure the points. Raanana will take on their relegation counterpart Nes Tziona on Thursday.

Bnei Yehuda dropped Maccabi Netanya 3-1 as 17 year old starlet Silva Kangani scored his second goal in as many league games to get Elisha Levy’s squad off and running in the 14th minute. Netanya found the equalizer 20 minutes later as Tim Heubach’s penalty hit the post, went off of keeper Yehonatan Shabi and into the goal. In the 56th minute Ariel Lazmi gave Bnei Yehuda a 2-1 advantage after he put in an Amit Zaneti pass while Joseph Mensa wrapped up the 3-1 win with a 76th minute strike.

Ashdod defeated Sektzia Nes Tziona 2-0 as Lior Zada’s squad remains precariously close to being relegated. Sagiv Yehezkel opened the scoring in the 14th minute thanks to a magnificent counter attack that saw Shlomi Azoulay lead the way to Dean David who in turn sent the ball to Yehezkel who headed it by a helpless Omri Glazer for a 1-0 lead. The port city side sealed the deal in the 75th minute when Dries Wuytens put the ball into his own goal to give Ran Ben Shimon’s team the 3 points and the win.

Hapoel Hadera and Hapoel Kfar Saba played to a dry goalless draw as both sides played not to lose in order to ensure another season in Israeli soccer’s top flight division. Hadera will host Maccabi Netanya in a midweek fixture on Thursday.