Hapoel Tel Aviv blanked Maccabi Netanya 2-0 to take the 3-points at Bloomfield Stadium. The Reds grabbed an early 1-0 lead thanks to an Alen Ozbolt penalty after Mavis Tchibota had been pulled down in the box while captain Dan Einbinder scored in the second half to notch the club’s first victory of the season.

“We have always believed in the work we are doing,” Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Michael Valkanis began. “We still have a long way to go but we had a good performance in this game. We played attacking football and we had intensity off the ball and we knew Netanya was a very similar team. This is a good time for the international break as we can work with some players over the course of the two weeks.”

“We have begun this season very poorly,” Netanya coach Ron Kozuk said. “We lost two important points at home and then fell in this game. We will have to deal with this situation as we just weren’t up to pace from the get go and this was not a good game whatsoever. I believe that we will strengthen the squad during the break.”

Hapoel Haifa and Maccabi Petach Tikva drew 2-2 as the Carmel Reds came back from a two goal, deficit to earn a point in front of their home crowd at Samy Ofer Stadium. Idan Gorno helped the visitors to a quick 1-0 lead off a corner while Mohammed Hindi scored a penalty in the 52nd minute to double the advantage. However, two minutes later Tomer Yosefi headed home the ball to cut the lead to 2-1 and guy Melamed scored from in close in the 84th minute to snatch the draw and a point.

“We showed a lot of character in coming back in this game,” Hapoel Haifa coach Roni Levy said. “We pushed forward and it wasn’t easy but they really were able to do it in front of the home fans. We still have a lot of new players and it will take some time, but to comeback from two goals down is very good.”

“We started going backwards and we needed to attack,” Maccabi Petach Tikva bench boss Benny Lam explained. “The first half was excellent and we should have scored four goals. But you have to give credit to Haifa who had a lot of fans after they won last week. We needed to finish this game off and we just didn’t.”

Hapoel Beer Sheva and Maccabi Bnei Reineh drew 1-1 in a spirted game at Green Stadium in the Galilee. Kayes Ganem stunned the southern reds to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute but seconds later Alon Turgeman found the stunning equalizer as the sides split the points.

“We gave up a goal on a set piece and that a the only chance they had all game,” Hapoel Beer Sheva coach Elyaniv Barda said. “They played with 10 players behind the ball and it was tough to score. We created many chances and we moved the ball from side to side with patience. Next time the ball will go in.”

“We didn’t fall apart after Beer Sheva drew even which is very important,” Bnei Reineh coach Sharon Mimer explained. “We could have taken the win should we have had a bit of luck. These are some of the toughest games that we will have this season with Maccabi Tel Aviv coming up as well, but the fact that we have looked like a team was the most important thing that I can take away so far.”

Hapoel Petach Tikva and Bnei Sakhnin played to a 1-1 draw as each squad earned a point a piece at the Moshava Stadium. Idan Vered scored off a Raz Stain corner kick to give the hosts a 1-0 lead early on, but just ahead of the break Petach Tikva was reduced to ten men and Sakhnin lost their captain Beram Kayal.

Haitian defender Djimi Alexis’s reckless tackle sent the veteran midfielder directly to the hospital with what is thought to be a broken ankle. Sakhnin pushed for a goal throughout the second half and found it late in the game via Mohammed Badarna to rescue a point for their efforts.

“We can split up the game into two halves,” Hapoel Petach Tikva bench boss Ofer Tesselpepe said. “The guys really played hard and we created many chances in the first 65 minutes. We showed character and the players gave it their all, but it was too bad that we ended up conceding a goal.”

“I would give up the points and prepared to lose just to have Beram Kayal healthy,” Sahknin coach Slobodan Drapic began. “We gave up a goal on a set piece and we have a lot of young players that we want to develop. Hopefully we can strengthen the squad.”