Beitar Jerusalem 2:0 Kiryat Shemona

After a goalless first half, Beitar scored a pair of goals in half number two to pick up the three points and finish the first round of matches in third place. Lidor Cohen scored Beitar’s first goal and Omer Atzili added a penalty in the victory.

Kiryat Shemona captain and keeper Guy Haimov was injured early on in the first half and was replaced after the break by youngster Fadhi Zoabi in goal. The home side seeing an opportunity to expose teh. If there club did exactly that after a quick post foul pass from Dan Einbinder to Dusan Matovic in the box. The central defender then swiftly crossed the ball to an oncoming Cohen who put it behind Zoabi for a 1:0 lead. Beitar would double the score soon thereafter when Zoabi tripped up Nikita Rukavytsya in the box giving Atzili the penalty kick and goal to wrap up the win 2:0.

Hapoel Kfar Saba 0:0 Maccabi Tel Aviv

Maccabi Tel Aviv may have controlled every facet of the match at Levita Stadium but could put find the winner against a packed in Kfar Saba defense and astounding goalkeeping by 40-year old Ohad Cohen. Time after time Cohen was in the right place at the right time to keep the match scoreless as the two sides split the points allowing Hapoel Beer Sheva to move into a first place tie with Maccabi Tel Aviv each with 29 points.

Bnei Sakhnin 0:1 Hapoel Beer Sheva

Beer Sheva sporting their blue away kits visited Bnei Sakhnin with 250 fans in tow and took the three points in a hard fought battle. Ma’aran Radi scored the game’s lone goal in the 44th minute from Maor Melikson’s 8th assist of the year. Melikson has flourished under new coach Barak Bachar who just had his contract renewed for the 2016-17 season.

Bnei Yehuda 1:3 Hapoel Raanana

Haim Silvas and his Raanana side picked up the three points away at Bloomfield Stadium defeating Bnei Yehuda. Yuval Shabtai opened the scoring in the 10th minute for the visitors as Pedro Galvan’s penalty chance to tie it up minutes later went awry to keep the Raanana lead intact. Evans Kangawa scored a brace to give Raanana a 3:0 lead but in the 49th minute as a result of a Galvan free kick, Jude Nworuh picked up a loose ball and slammed it home to cut the lead to 3:1 but it would not be enough for the home side.

Hapoel Tel Aviv 0:1 Maccabi Petach Tikva

The Reds were called for a penalty on a questionable call by referee Alon Yefet to fall at home 1:0. In the 54th minute, last week’s hero for Hapoel Adi Gutlieb gave a light pull on Idan Shemesh in the box that was immediately whistled for a penalty by international referee Yefet. Petach Tikva captain Joachim Mununga scored from 11 meters out beating keeper Tzlil Hatucha for the lone goal of the game and the three points.

Maccabi Netanya 0:0 Hapoel Akko

A goalless draw met the over 7,500 Netanya fans who came out forSaturday night football with ticket prices at just 10NIS. Netanya had the majority of chances and controlled the flow of the match throughout the 90 minutes as Yuval Abidor and Barry Hamza missed wonderful opportunities as the match ended 0:0.