Ashdod stunned struggling Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0 to add insult to injury to the Yellow & Blue’s rough start to the season. After Maccabi captain Sheran Yeini was sent off for a reckless tackle on Fahad Bayo, Naor Sabag took full advantage of the extra man to give visiting Ashdod a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute. Or Inbrum doubled the advantage in the 82nd minute for Ran Ben Shimon’s team to take the 3-points and the victory to move to within one point from Maccabi.

“Even when it was 11 versus 11 we still played better than Maccabi Tel Aviv,” Ben Shimon began. “Our players have trained well and management gave us quiet which was why we won this game. We came to play today and we needed the points to move closer to getting out of the relegation zone.

“It’s a tough night,” embattled Maccabi coach Patrick van Leeuwen said. “We got a red card after several minutes in the game and that changed our plan and influenced the game. After the international game you need to stay in the game which we could have after it was 1-0. We had to move forward.”

Maccabi Haifa defeated Maccabi Netanya 2-0 to continue to move up in the standings. Dolev Haziza opened the scoring early for the Greens when he latched onto an Omer Atzily pass in the 5th minute to beat Dani Amos for a 1-0 lead. Atzily then took a Godsway Donyoh through ball 35 minutes later and scored to wrap up the win before the break.

“I was not happy as to how we played in the second half and we allowed Netanya to get close to cutting our lead to 2-1,” Haifa coach Barak Bachar lamented after his team picked up the win as he focussed on where his side needed to improve. “Exhaustion is just an excuse after our European game and I am leaving this game with a bad feeling despite the victory.”

“Giving up an early goal after working so hard all week wasn’t an ideal way to begin the game,” Netanya bench boss Benny Lam said. “Slowly but surely I am learning the team and we have a good squad here. We played better in the second half but just colluding find the goal.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv blanked Hapoel Hadera 3-0 to welcome back head coach Nir Klinger is style after having served a lengthy suspension for his actions at last year’s State Cup final that kept him away from the sidelines. The loss for Menachem Koretzky’s club was their first of the campaign as the Reds continued their fine play since the beginning of the season.

After a goalless first half, Idan Vered broke the deadlock as the midfielder took care of a nice passing play between Dan Einbinder and Doron Lindner while Farley Rosa doubled the advantage with a scorcher of an effort beating a helpless Robi Lefkovich for a 2-0 lead. Osher Davida added the third marker taking care of yet another fine Einbinder pass to wrap up the win and the 3-points.
“It was important for me to get back into the action,” Klinger explained following the victory. “I want to thank my staff who did a fantastic job while I was gone. We prepared very well for this game and we knew how to play against them. We had a tough time in the first half but them we made some corrections and did what we needed to.”

“We played well in the first half but we unfortunately we couldn’t score,” Koretsky lamented. “We didn’t show up in the second half and we will have to analyze the game to see where we went wrong. I’ll lift up the players’ spirits as the league is very long. I never thought we would be a top team and we have to make sure that we stay away from the relegation zone.”

Hapoel Beer Sheva defeated Hapoel Jerusalem 3-1 at Turner Stadium in the desert capital as Roni Levy’s squad continued their fine play in dominant fashion. Nikita Rukavytsya scored his first goal of the season with his new club when he nodded home an early strike to give the hosts a quick1-0 lead in the 6th minute. Ramzi Safuri took care of a Rukavytsya pass 25 minutes later to bump up the lead to 2-0 while Tomer Yosefi added the third goal midway in the second half to take a commanding lead. Idan Shemesh pulled a late goal back for Ziv Arie’s side but it was too little, too late as Beer Sheva pocketed the 3-points.

“We always strive to be better but we have a lot of new players and it takes time,” Levy said. “We want to get good results and I believe as the time goes by we will be even better. Nikita is a very important player for us and it’s great to see all of our forwards scoring.”

“The league has a long way to go,” Arie explained. “We have only played 7 games and other than this game and a pair of other matches we have been able to play well against our opposition. We are a young team and this is Hapoel Jerusalem’s way.”

Beitar Jerusalem slipped by Hapoel Haifa 2-1 as Tamir Adi’s second strike stood up for Erwin Koeman’s team to take the victory. Yarden Shua and Alon Turgeman traded goals in the first half with the latter coming in first half stoppage time. But Haifa’s Itay Boganim was sent off with a second yellow card in the 55th minute reducing the Carmel Reds to 10 men which handed the advantage to Beitar for the balance of the half. Tamir Adi quickly took matters into his own hands and three minutes later scored to take the home win and the 3-points.

“I believe that this win really took some pressure off is us as well as the fans,” Koeman said following the victory. “These were 3 very important points. There were both good and bad things in this game but we were patient, controlled the ball and created chances when we had the numerical advantage.”

“I think that we were worthy of a point,” Haifa coach Elisha Levy said after the defeat. “Even though it wasn’t one of our best games we had chances but the second yellow killed us. We tried to save the game but with ten men we had to go backwards and it wasn’t simple to find an equalizer.”

Maccabi Petah Tikva demolished Hapoel Nof HaGalil 4-0 at the Moshava Stadium as Muhammed Awaad scored a pair of second half penalties to help the hosts to the victory. Lameck Banda scored a terrific goal off a throw-in play in the 16th minute to give Guy Luzon’s squad a 1-0lead which was duplicated early on in the second half when James Adeniyi doubled the score. Awaad then took care of two late spot kicks to polish off a4-0 win to grab the 3-points.

“I said after the past few games that we played well and if we would keep doing that, the results would tilt our way,” Luzon began. “I’m very happy that we were able to create numerous chances and we can’t take for granted the fact that we scored 4 goals. We have to continue to stay modest, work hard and improve as we have plenty to work on.”

“It’s not pleasant to lose this way,” Nof HaGalil coach Yaron Hochenboim stated. “We have some problems in our defensive play and I don’t have much else to tell the players. We are working hard but we paid the price after central defender Guti Tomelin went out with an injury.”

Kiryat Shemona smashed Bnei Sakhnin 3-0 as Amir Nussbaum’s squad picked up the superb away win. Morgan Ferrier headed home the first goal in the 29th minute while Itamar Shviro added a second strike just 11 seconds into the second half after Yadin Lugasi stole the ball to send the Israeli striker on his way. Lugasi then found the back of the goal himself to give the northern squad a tidy 3-0 victory.

“This was a continuation from last week’s game with Hadera and I told the players how proud I am of them,” an excited Nussbaum said following the match. “We showed responsibility from the first minute and both our attacking and defensive game looked good working together.”

“We deserved to lose,” an embattled Sakhnin coach Sharon Mimer began. “There is something more here than soccer and it’s Karma. When the Karma is not good it’s impossible to win. There is bad energy around and Sakhnin will only succeed when there is calm and quiet to operate even when the times are tough.”