Up in the Galilee, Maccabi Tel Aviv slipped by Bnei Sakhnin 1-0 on a late Maor Kandil goal to hand the yellow-and-blue the 3-points on the road to remain in first place. The hosts had two goals that were called off after having been reviewed by the VAR (Virtual Assistant Referee) which left the door open for Vladen Ivic’s squad to steal the points which they promptly did when Kandil slammed home a rebound off of a Djorde Jovanovic shot in the box in the 87th minute to snatch the victory.

“I can be happy with the result,” Ivic explained. “But not how we played for the majority of the game. We started off well and we created chances but then we lost our confidence and they had more creativity than us. We had to win and that’s what we did. This is possibly the first game of the season that we won and didn’t deserve to do so.”

“I’m leaving this game with a very bad feeling,” Sakhnin coach Haim Silvas said. “We were better for the majority of the game, we played well and scored goals. For the most part I don’t complain but I felt that any time they could get an advantage that went to them.”

Goal scorer Maor Kandil also spoke about the win, “We started the game off well and then things just didn’t go our way. It’s a tough pitch to play on and many teams have lost points here but we shoed character and that is what’s important. Last season we didn’t beat Sakhnin in four games that we played them so it was also good that we broke that streak.”

Beitar Jerusalem blanked Kiryat Shemona 2-0 as the hosts found a pair of late goals to take the win. After a goalless first half, Danilo Asprilla took care of a Yarden Shua cross to take a 1-0 lead in the 72nd minute while Ion Nicolaescu added an insurance marker just minutes later to wrap up the two goal victory.

“It was difficult which has been the story of the season,” Beitar coach Yossi Abuksis said. It’s great that we won the game after a tough period of time. This team battles for every ball right from the start of the game and that is our base. This wasn’t a big game but we had fight anf really wanted to win this game.”

“Too many players didn’t show up to this game,” Kiryat Shemona coach Menchem Koretzky said. “It’s too bad because we had a chance to take advantage of Beitar during the tough period of time for them. We gave them too much respect and we went backwards. For sure we could have gotten more out of this.”

Ashdod stunned 10-man Hapoel Haifa 4-0 as the port city side scored a pair of goals in each half to dominate the game and send the fans home happy with the victory. Liran Sardel picked up a two yellow cards in the first half for reckless tackles which left the Carmel Reds down a man for the balance of the game that the hosts took full advantage of the situation immediately.

Mohammed K’naan scored from the penalty spot in the 38th minute while Abdul Zakaria Mugees added a marker right at the strike of halftime for a 2-0 lead. Ebenezer Mamatah took care of a poor Ohad Levita clearance while Samuel Alabi joined the party in the 80th minute to finish off the blowout victory.

“It’s a great feeling,” an excited Ashdod bench boss Ran Ben Shimon commented. “We needed and we wanted to win after last week when the victory slipped right through our fingers. We have been playing well lately and it was not great that even though we were playing well we weren’t winning. That is why this victory was very important for us.”

“This was a failure of a match for us from the first minute,” Haifa coach Nir Klinger said. “We had no motivation and the read card was a result of a late tackle. We planned one thing but what occurred in reality was totally different. This was a big hit for us but we have to recover and move on.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv downed Bnei Reineh 2-0 as the Reds scored a pair of second half goals to take the win and the 3-points at Bloomfield Stadium. After a scoreless first half, Dan Einbinder broke the ice in the 62nd minute while Alen Ozbolt scored the Reds second less than five minutes later to close out the win.

“The win is most important above all,” Hapoel coach Slobodan Drapic said following the game. “This team hadn’t won in a while and we needed this result. We had been supporting one another and I hope that this win will give us a breath of fresh air. Every point is important and to take 3 and not concede that is an added bonus.”

“This was a poorest game since I’ve been here,” Reineh coach Sharon Mimer commented. “We weren’t good both on offense and defense and the team that wanted to win more rightfully did. Everything we did unfortunately didn’t work out. We will learn from this and continue on.”