Beitar Jerusalem crushed Hapoel Haifa 4-1 at Sammy Ofer Stadium as a quartet of players scored for the Yellow & Black in the victory. Shlomi Azulay began the onslaught in the 6th minute when he took a keeper pass from Itamar Nitzan and beat Jasmin Buric for a 1-0 lead. Gadi Kinda then found the back of the goal thanks to a through ball by Azulay in the 19th minute while two minutes later Gaetan Varenne scored to give Roni Levy’s crew a 3-0 advantage. Gal Arel pulled a goal bakc early in the second half via a penalty but Freddy Plumain cancelled that marker out later in the half as Beitar took all three points.

Maccabi Tel Aviv thumped Hapoel Kfar Saba 4-0 in driving rain at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv. Itay Shechter opened the scoring for the yellow-and-blue with a 19th minute goal as Omer Atzily continued his fine play after returning from injury to assist on the first marker of the game. Vladimir Ivic’s squad doubled their lead ten minutes into the second half as a red hot Yonatan Cohen fed Atzily the ball as the latter beat Kfar Saba Igal Becker for his first strike of the contest. Mahmoud Yousef was issued a red card for a reckless tackle on Dan Glazer in the 60th minute which left the visitors with ten men for the balance of the match. Cohen then added a goal to his second half assist in the 68th minute to give the defending champions a three goal lead while Chico Ofoedu who came on as a substitute found the back of the goal to complete the 4-0 win.

Maccabi Haifa dropped Kiryat Shemona 2-1 at the northern capital as the Greens are 3-points behind first place Maccabi Tel Aviv ahead of their showdown at Sammy Ofer Stadium next week. Yuval Ashkenazi gave Marko Balbul’s side a 1-0 lead as he headed home Haifa’s first goal off an Ernest Mabouka cross in the 26th minute. Nikita Rukavytsya continued his scoring spree with a 92nd minute insurance strike as the hosts pulled a goal by Abdallah Hachliel two minutes later which was too little too late for Kobi Refuah’s team.

Hapoel Beer Sheva stormed back to score two late goals to defeat Ashdod 2-1 and take all of the points at Toto Turner Stadium. Hamoudi Kna’an gave the visitors a 1-0 advantage in the 14th minute as Shlomi Azulay assisted on the opening strike. However, Roy Zrihen put the ball behind Ashdod keeper Roei Mishpati in the 79th minute while an own goal nine minutes later by Gil Cohen gave Beer Sheva the lead and the win.

Hapoel Raanana and Hapoel Hadera drew 1-1 at the Moshava Stadium as the sides split the points. Yoav Tomer nodded in a Yarden Cohen cross in the 7th minute to give the hosts a quick lead but Mohammed Abu Fani beat Rannana keeper Asaf Tzur in the 46th minute as two teams each earned a point for their efforts.

Bnei Yehuda blasted Maccabi Netanya 3-0 at the Netanya Stadium as Yossi Abuksis’s squad got back onto the winning track in fashion. Dan Mori opened the scoring with a header to give the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute while Ariel Lazmi doubled the advantage right before the break via an Amit Zenati assist. Zenati himself also found the back of the goal in the 86th minute thanks to an Avishay Cohen helper to wrap up the victory and take home the 3-points. 

Hapoel Tel Aviv slipped by Sektzia Nes Tziona 1-0 as Eyad Abu Abaid scored the lone goal of the contest in the 33rd minute as Reds keeper Arik Yanko recorded a clean sheet to give Nir Klinger’s squad the 3-points and the win.