Maccabi just slipped by Hapoel 3-2 in a heated Tel Aviv Derby as Djordje Jovanovic scored the winner in second half injury time to snatch the 3-points.

The yellow-and-blue opened the scoring very early on as Dan Bitton fed striker Stipe Perica as he went in all alone on Reds keeper Ernestas Setkus and beat him easily to give Maccabi a 1-0 lead in the 3rd minute. But roughly 20 minutes later Ben Bitton received the ball in the box and turned Mladen Krstajic’s defender Enric Saborit around as the slotted into the far side of Daniel Peretz’s goal to draw Kobi Refuah’s team even at 1-1.

Dan Bitton was at it again for Maccabi as he gave Gaby Kanichowsky a tremendous pass in the area as the midfielder blasted the ball into a wide open goal to give the yellow-and-blue a 2-1 advantage in the 50th minute. However, Osher Davida pounced on a rebound twenty minutes later as Hapoel found the equalizer once again.

However, just as the game looked to be headed towards a draw, Maccabi newcomer Djordje Jovanovic stabbed home the ball in the box past Setkus as the striker scored the winning goal for the second time in as many games since joining the yellow-and-blue to help them to the 3-points.

“It’s a big Derby and we expected a game like the one we had,” Maccabi coach Mladen Krstajic. “The first half we needed to score more goals and we controlled everything. We scored but then we gave up an easy goal. Everyone was under a lot of stress but we can’t concede goals like this in the future. Jovanovic scored two goals in two games and that is why we brought him to the club.”

“All of the goals that we gave up were gifts,” Refuah said following the match. “I am very disappointed from the way we played and the result. We will have to regroup before our next game but it’s going to take a couple of days to get over this. I would have been upset with a draw and I am really disappointed that we lost.”

Kiryat Shmona stunned Maccabi Haifa 2-1 to take the surprise points in front of their home crowd. Itamar Shviro spend the scoring form in close in the 17th minute to give the hosts a 1-0 lead but a quarter hour later the league’s leading goal scorer Omer Atzily added another tally to his total to draw his side even ahead of the break. However, Bogdan Planic misdirected a clearance right into his own goal in the second half to give Kiryat Shmona the lead for good as Slobodan Drapic’s squad snatched the points.

“We are the youngest team in the league and we are trying to do the maximum with the squad that we have,” Drapic said. “The goal was to keep this team in the league and avoid relegation but now we are hungry for more and we have a big game coming up against Hapoel Beer Sheva that we have to prepare for.”

“We gave up way too easy goals and it’s a tough feeling,” Haifa coach Barak Bachar said. “Despite giving up a goal we came back but after the second goal we couldn’t do what we wanted to. We paid the price for our mistakes and we lost.”

Maccabi Netanya blanked hapoel Jerusalem 2-0 on a brace by Igor Zlatanovic as the diamond city squad are unbeaten in ten straight games. Zlatanovic scored from the penalty spot at the stroke of halftime to give the hosts a 1-0 lead while the Serbian striker found the back of the goal in the 91st minute to seal the deal and hand Benny Lam’s team the 3-points.

“I’m upset about this game today as it ate my heart away to have to wait until the 90th minute for the second goal,” an animated Lam said following his team’s win. “We are a strong and powerful club with an excellent staff of many former Netanya players and it was the home town fans that helped us take the points today.”

“We played against a very good team which had a lot of momentum going for them,” explained Jerusalem coach Ziv Arie. “Our pressing worked very well at the start of the game and Netanya couldn’t create any chances. But I don’t know how many goals we have given up in first half injury time this season.”

Ashdod hosted Hapoel Beer Sheva to a 1-1 draw as the visitors lost a man to a red card in the first half and needed a late goal to earn a split of the points. Mariano Bareiro was issued a red card in the 18th minute after a reckless foul on Gal Katabi who handed Ran Ben Shimon’s side a 1-0 lead in the 44th minute after punching on a rebound just before the break. However, Sagiv Yehezkel sent a screamer into the Ashdod goal in the 71st minute to draw Roni Levy’s team even as each squad took a point a piece.

“I can come out of this game knowing that I can trust and rely on my players right until the last moments with a man down to give their heart and soul,” Levi said following the draw. “On one hand I am satisfied that we came back to draw 1-1 on the other hand I am disappointed that we lost a man in a game that I felt that we could have and had to win.”

“I am disappointed with the result because we were really playing well against ten men,” Ben Shimon lamented. “Beer Sheva took chances an we had opportunities that we should have scored on. But we had a rough week after the big loss to Haifa and I had to encourage the players which took a lot of energy from everyone.”

Hapoel Nof HaGalil and Hapoel Hadera drew 1-1 in an entertaining game up in the Galilee. Omer Fadida headed home a Bar Cohen ball in the 45th minute to give the hosts a 1-0 lead at halftime but Shoval Gozlan matched the Nof HaGalil goal scorer in the 53rd minute to help Hadera to the 1-1 draw and the split of the points.

“We fought and battled on a tough pitch,” Hadera coach Menachem Koretzky said. “We are going through good period of time right now and we are happy to earn any type of point in every game. We want to win and also play quality soccer for our fans.”

“I don’t think we deserved anything more than one point in this game,” Shay Barda explained. “We didn’t play well but we scored in the first half. I am happy that we took a point but not much more than that. We weren’t focussed enough and weren’t able to come up with any positive ideas on the field to create chances.”

Beitar Jerusalem downed Maccabi Petah Tikva 2-1 as Richmond Boakye’s second half winner helped Yossi Abuksis’s ten man side take the critical 3-points. Ion Nicolaescu gave Nir Klinger’s squad a 1-0 lead at the break but Adi Tamir took care of a Liran Roman ball to draw the hosts even at the 69th minute. However, five minutes later Yarden Shua was sent off with his second yellow card reducing the Beitar to ten players, but soon thereafter Boakye found the back of the Petah Tikva goal to secure the win for the capital city squad.

“Last game we played without fans but today with the crowd they were able to push us as they played a totally different game than last week,” Abuksis explained. “We controlled the pace of play and came back from two goals down. I have to really hand it to the guys for the win.”

“Every loss and every loss of points is not good for us,” a disappointed Klinger said. “We are handing out presents. We were winning 1-0 but we couldn’t hold on. As I was about to make a substitute to go for a goal after the player was sent off we gave out a Mishloach Manot for Purim and conceded an easy goal”

Hapoel Haifa and Bnei Sakhnin played to a 1-1 draw as the sides split the points at Sammy Ofer Stadium. Hanan Maman gave the hosts a 1-0 lead on an unbelievable screamer from 20 meters out in the first half but Ibrahima Conte scored the second half equalizer as each team took home a point.

“This was a very important game for us and the players gave it their all as they left everything on the pitch,” Haifa coach Elisha Levy said following the draw. “We had some chances to score a second goal but we just weren’t able to. We did the maximum and now we will prepare for the next game.”

“I’m not happy with the draw as we wanted to win this game,” Sakhin bench boss Haim Silvas said. “We started off well and Haifa’s goal was on their first attempt which was a terrific goal. This is why one comes to watch soccer, it’s just too bad it was for the other team.”