Maccabi Haifa crushed Maccabi Bnei Reineh 4-0 as a quartet of different goal scorers found the back of the net at Sammy Ofer Stadium. The Greens had the upper hand from the get go and took the lead in the 28th minute when Djorde Jovanovic headed home an Eitan Azulay free kick as the hosts went into the break nursing a 1-0 advantage.

Azulay was yanked down in the box early on the second half as Dolev Haziza scored the ensuing penalty to double the Haifa advantage while the same Azulay gave Trivante Stewart a perfect pass to add yet another goal for a 3-0 lead in the 69th minute. Less than 10 minutes later, Diego Flores’s team added a fourth marker when Matias Nahuel scored to take the 3-points in the opening match of the season.

“I feel amazing and from they first minute we dominated the match,” Haifa bench boss Diego Flores said. “It was very important for us to score early in the second half and it was great from there on in. We may have played Bnei Reineh last week in the Toto Cup but the lineup we had in this win was primarily players who had played in our European campaign which we did not do last game.”

“I was very upset with the players and we gave Haifa way too much credit,” Bnei Reineh Head Coach Slobodan Drapic said. “We saw that we didn’t take advantage of Haifa being under pressure in the first half which was too bad as we did not do a good job whatsoever in the second half.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Kiryat Shemona 2-1 as the Reds made a triumphant comeback to the Premier League at Bloomfield Stadium. After a goalless first half, Muhammed Abu Romi stunned the hosts to give Kiryat Shemona a 1-0 lead in the 48th minute. However, less than ten minutes later what seemed to be a phantom foul in the box handed the reds a spot kick from 11 meters that starlet Daniel Dappa slotted home to draw the hosts even at 1-1. Stav Turiel who came off the bench in the 60th minute immediately was active hunting for a go ahead goal which he found when he scored a tremendous marker to give Elyaniv Barda’s side the lead and the win.

“Kiryat Shemona was better than us in the first half,” Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Elyaniv Barda said. “But we started playing better in the second half. We saw what type of game was waiting for us in the top league and we have plenty of work to do going forward. The players could feel the fas as they cheered them on and they deserved the win.”

“There was no penalty,” a livid Kiryat Shemona Head Coach Shay Barda began. “I watched it on replay numerous times. We had great momentum in this game and I am not a person who complains about these things but there was pressure on the officials with so many people in th stands. If this call was a penalty, then there should have been ten penalties called in this game.”

Ashdod slipped by Hapoel Jerusalem 2-1 thanks to a pair of second half goals to take the victory and pocket 3-points. Andrew Idoko gave the capital city reds a 1-0 lead that they took into the break, but Eugene Ansah and Ilay Tamam scored to snatch the win and the 3-points.

“I don’t know how we lost,” Hapoel Jerusalem Head Coach Ziv Arie began. “We felt like we really wanted it, but we were too stressed. We were soft at the beginning, but we actually took the lead first. We were quiet with the ball afterwards and I don’t know how to analyze the goals we conceded. We’re not Maccabi Haifa or Tel Aviv. Everyone will have to raise the bar and help.”

“In the second half we took control, played as we had to and deservedly won,” Ashdod Head Coach Haim Silvas said. “It was precisely after the Toto Cup period that we wanted to improve. Everyone here is working day and night to prepare the team in the best possible way. I’m glad we showed character and now we can head into next week.”

Ironi Tiberias blanked Hapoel Haifa 1-0 as Peter Michael’s second half goal handed the team by the Kineret the 3-points and the win.