Maccabi Haifa blanked Bnei Sakhnin 1-0 as Silva Kani put the ball in off Cedric Don’s shot that had hit the post to give the Greens the Toto Cup victory.

“This was a better game, it wasn’t great, but it was definitely one that was more aggressive,” Haifa Head Coach Barak Bachar began after the win. “We didn’t concede and they didn’t create chances as easily as they have in recent games. We’re working and putting the pieces together. We’re trying to establish a core of players who can play together and we’re working and will continue to work. I saw improvement and I expect to see further improvement going forward.”

Yossi Abukasis summed up loss, “We’re playing without a natural striker at all; everyone is a midfielder. The only striker in the squad is suspended after receiving a red card and we’re waiting for a foreign striker to arrive. Our attacking play isn’t good because we don’t have a natural striker. We haven’t been worse than our opponents in these games.”

Kiryat Shemona defeated Hapoel Haifa 3-1 as the northerners turned around an early deficit with a trio of second half goals to finish atop of Group A in Toto Cup play with four wins and a spot in the semifinals. Liran Rotman gave the Carmel Reds a lead off a poor clearance by keeper Daniel Tennebaum but from that point on it was all Shai Barda’s squad. Adrian Ugarriza drew Kiryat Shemona even from the penalty spot in the 64th minute while two minutes later Ariel Sheratzky sent a left footed scorcher into the top corner of the goal to snatch a 2-1 lead. Shai Sabag polished off the victory during second half injury time as he scored into a wide open goal to secure the win and a place in the semifinals.

Goal scorer Ariel Sheratzky spoke about the match, “We really wanted to reach the semifinals. We wanted it badly and we appreciate the situation we’re in. We need to continue working hard so that we can be even more prepared for the league, because that’s the real money time. We’ll try to be as prepared as possible and win the next game but for now the entire team looks good and is giving everything, so I’m happy about that.”

Hapoel Haifa Head Coach Haim Silvas summed up the loss, “First of all, credit goes to Kiryat Shmona, who reached the semifinals after recording four wins. We had an excellent first half and we gave Kiryat Shemona no chances. But the second half is something that has characterized us somewhat so far. Our response to the penalty wasn’t good enough and we’ll have to learn from that, it’s an excellent lesson. The fact that we conceded a goal immediately after the penalty is something I don’t like. We got ourselves into trouble with the ball in the second half.”