Maccabi Haifa blanked Hapoel Beer Sheva 2-0 in a hotly contested battle as the Greens opened up a 7-point gap atop the table by the Carmel Mountain. In a controversial officiating decision, Israeli international referee Orel Grinfeld issued a second yellow card to Danilo Asprilla in the closing minutes of the first half on a slight head butt from behind on Jose Rodriguez. The red card left the southern Reds down a man for the entire second half which the Greens took full advantage of following a goalless opening 45 minutes of play.

Mohammed Abu Fani sent a screamer into the far corner of the goal from the top left of the box to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 61st minute to send the sold out crowd into a frenzy. Barak Bachar’s squad doubled the advantage soon thereafter when Sun Menachem also found the far corner of Omri Glazer’s goal to put the final touches on the win and take the 3-points.

“This was an important win in what was a very aggressive game,” Bachar said following the game. “We controlled the first half but it was a tough matchup that had a lot of start and go situations. In the second half we knew how to take advantage of the extra man but this is a very tough playoff and while this was an important step towards the championship there are still 24 points left and we need to hold off on any type of celebrations.”

“This was a very tough game and I am very disappointed,” Beer Sheva’s coach Elyaniv Barda said. “We didn’t play well in the first half especially on the attack. The red card decided the game but now we have Hapoel Tel Aviv coning up and we will learn from our mistakes and make sure that we are ready.”