Maccabi Netanya blanked Maccabi Haifa 4-0 as the diamond city side scored all of their goals in the second half which led Greens Head Coach Barak Bachar to tender his resignation following the defeat. After a goalless first half, an Andrija Novakovich own goal gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 48th minute while Oz Bilu then doubled the advantage with a left footed curler past Omri Glazer for a 2-0 lead. Nadav Nidam then sent a right footed stunner from the top of the box into the back of the goal in the 87th minute while two minutes later, Eylon Almog slotted home the fourth marker to polish off the victory.

Barak Bachar spoke about his resignation, “This is an extremely difficult moment for me. I’m saying this with tears in my eyes. I feel that the team needs a change. I worked very hard to turn this team around, but it didn’t work. My heart aches for the fans. I have just informed Ya’ankele (owner Yakov Shachar) that I am resigning. It hurts deeply, but I believe this team needs a change. I tried, but it didn’t work.”

Netanya Head Coach Roni Levy spoke about the win, “In the first half, we lacked composure. That’s natural for a team that isn’t confident enough, but once that changed, we saw a strong team. I see that every week in training, so it doesn’t surprise me. We’re trying to find our way and do the best we can. We’re working constantly, with the entire squad and now we’re able to pick up the points and give it our all. We’ll keep moving forward and hopefully we’ll continue to perform at our best.”

Beitar Jerusalem and Ironi Tiberias played to an entertaining 1-1 draw up in the the Galilee as the teams split the points. Mansour Badjie broke the ice early in the second half when he latched onto a Niv Gotlieb through ball and went in all alone on Beitar keeper Miguel Silva whom he beat with ease to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 47th minute. However, less than a quarter hour later, Nana Antwi blasted home a Eugene Ansah ball to draw Beitar even as they continued to look for the winner, but came up short as the match ended in a draw.

Beitar Assistant Coach Moshe Ohayon summed things up, “We did a lot of good things, but this is the result. Something hasn’t been clicking in the final third lately. We controlled the game, but ultimately, a 1-1 draw is extremely disappointing. It’s a shame we only started playing after scoring, we need to be putting teams away. They sit deep against us and drop back and that can leave us exposed on the counter, as happened with their goal. We need to know how to turn our possession and control into chances and goals.”

Tiberias Head Coach Alon Ziv shared his thoughts on the draw, “We came very well prepared and started the game strong. At the end of the day, it’s a hard-earned point and we could have gotten more, but we’re not going to be greedy. We really appreciate the players, who put in an incredible effort and showed tremendous commitment.”

Hapoel Jerusalem and Bnei Sakhnin played to a 1-1 draw as Modestas Vorobjovas opened the scoring in the first half while Vitalie Damascan found the equalizer early in the second half as Evan side took a point for their efforts. Bnei Sakhnin grabbed a 1-0 lead via Modestas Vorobjovas as the Lithuanian blasted the ball past a helpless Nadav Zamir in the 18th minute while Vitalie Damascan scored from in close early on in the second half to draw Hapoel Jerusalem even. The capital city reds pressed for a winner but came up empty as the sides split the points.

Jerusalem Head Coach Lior Zada looked back at the draw, “We should have won this game and we knew that a win would have given us some breathing space, a draw isn’t awful but we could have gotten more out of this game. We see what is happening in the league this season, there are a number of teams at the top and then at the bottom so we need to keep moving up the table.”

Sakhnin Head Coach Yossi Abukasis spoke about the draw, “We aren’t a team that are playing for the championship and if we were I’d be upset with the result. We had scored a nice goal and we were in control but then after the goal we conceded things started going the other way. All in all a draw on the road isn’t a bad result for us.”

Kiryat Shemona downed Hapoel Haifa 2-0 as the northerners took advantage of a red card to Dario Župarić at the end of the first half as Shay Ben David and Bilal Shahin scored to help Sha Barda’s team to the win and the 3-points.

Shai Barda summed up the win, “I’m very happy for the team as they worked extremely hard. Sometimes things even themselves out and I’m very pleased. They deserve this. Now we need to make proper use of the international break. Other teams need to learn from this: stick to your philosophy and give young players opportunities. Our football needs more of that.”

Haim Silvas commented on the defeat and singled out the referee, “It’s extremely painful. The players come here and we put on a completely dominant first-half performance. We controlled the game and it was only a matter of time before we won. Then Nael Odeh came along and I don’t know what he wanted. Suddenly, he made some kind of decision. He always has these little antics, trying to be clever. He decided to make it all about himself so he could be the star of the evening. Well, there you go. He’s the star of the evening.”

Hapoel Petach Tikva slipped by Hapoel Ramat Gan 2-1 as Boni Amian and Roi Levy scored two minutes apart in the first half while Moshe Semal pulled a goal back in the second half. But that would be as close as the newly promoted club would get as Petach Tikva took the 3-points.