Maccabi Petach Tikva shocked Maccabi Haifa 3-2 as the newly promoted side scored the dramatic win over last year’s league champions. After a scoreless opened half hour the Green’s new central defender Lorenco Simic coughed up the ball to Maor Levi who fed it to winger Tal Ben Chaim who out it past Itamar Nitzan as the hosts took a 1-0 lead. However, Lior Refaelov took advantage of a Dia Saba ball to find the equalizer in first half stoppage time and head into the break all knotted up at 1-1.

Simic was once again the center of attention as the central defender was tripped up in the box and Anas Mahamid scored to give Benny Lam’s squad a 2-1 lead in the 81st minute but Saba quickly evened up the contest five minutes later at 2-2 off corner kick setting up the climatic finish. As second half stoppage time wound down, Simic tried to clear the ball from the area but put in on the foot of Mahamid who crossed it to Idan Gorno as the latter tapped it into the goal to send the traveling Haifa fans home empty handed.

“I told the players that anything is possible in the game of soccer,” Lam began. “We came in from the first minute watching to win this contest. Both teams had some quality moments but we have a squad that pressed hard and was not afraid to go toe to toe. I have to take my hat off to the guys.”

“We didn’t begin the game the way we wanted to,” Haifa bench boss Messay Dego said. “I think that we were in control of this game and we certainly didn’t want to lose the way we did but we have to move forward. Simic is a great guy and I am sure that he didn’t make the mistakes he did on purpose, it was just bad luck and there is nothing to do because that;s soccer.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Bnei Reineh played to a surprising 1-1 draw to split the points at Bloomfield Stadium. The yellow-and-blue had all kinds of issues finding the back of the goal in a busy first half but deep into injury time Milson finally put the hosts in the drivers seat to head into the half with a 1-0 advantage. However, Shlomi Azulay sent a stunner behind Roie Mishpati early on in the second half as the visitors not only drew even but were also able to stymie Robbie Keane’s squad for the balance of the match to earn a point for their heroes efforts.

“It was a bit sloppy and we gave too many balls away,” Keane said following the game. “We tried to do too much and we should have won the game with the chances we had. If you don’t take your chances you won’t win the game. Teams that play against us will try to frustrate us and we have to be patient.”

“We took a point which is very important for us,” a pleased Bnei Reineh coach Sharon Mimer said. “But we do have a very good team here and we played an excellent club which has plenty of resources and much better conditions than us. We have shown that we have quality from the beginning of the season and we have been able to create chances. However, this result is something that I will never take for granted.”

Bnei Sakhnin picked up their first win of the season as they slipped by Hapoel Jerusalem 2-1. Sahar Tagi played a role in both Sakhnin goals as he assisted on Aviv Solomon’s 11th minute strike while also finding the back of the goal himself early on in the second half. Jerusalem’s new recruit Jelle Duin pulled a goal back in the 72nd minute but that would be as close the capital city side would get as Slobodan Drapic’s squad snatched the 3-points.

“We really needed this win,” Drapic began. “We had issues getting through the budget committee and then we lost Beram Kayal to a tough injury. But we knew that we needed to take the 3-points and that’s what we did. I am very happy as to the game that we played.”

“We didn’t deserve to win this game and we didn’t even deserve to get a draw. We are very soft both defensively and offensively and we can’t win games like that,” the losing coach Ziv Arie said.

Maccabi Netanya drubbed Hapoel Petach Tikva 4-1 as four different players found the back of the goal in the win in the diamond city. Eitan Azoulay’s 25 meter blast gave the hosts a 1-0 lead while Igor Zlatanovic doubled the advantage ahead of halftime. Stanislav Bilenkyi jumped all over a rebound to add another goal to Ron Kozuk’s team lead but the visitors finally found the back of the goal in the 86th minute to cut the advantage to 3-1. However, Liran Rotman scored a second half injury time penalty to wrap up the victory.

“We are struggling with our nativity as a new team in the league, “Hapoel Petach Tikva coach Ofer Tesselpepe said. “We have to fix things up and be quick learners. We need to strengthen the squad and management knows what we want to do.”

“It was important for us to come back home and who our fans that we are a good team,” Netanya coach Ron Kozuk said. “We spoke about how crucial a win would be here throughout the week and I am happy that the guys did exactly that.”

Hapoel Haifa blanked Ashdod 2-0 thanks to a pair of second half markers to take the points at Sammy Ofer Stadium. Following a goalless first half, Roni Levy’s troops scored a quick pair of goals as Felipe Santos scored in the 65th minute and Guy Melamed added his strike three minutes later to give the Carmel Reds the win.

“We had a good start to the Jewish New Year,” Levy said after the win. “We didn’t have a great start to the game but in the second half we took advantage of our chances, however, there is still much to improve and fix up.”

“It’s not great to have begun the season the way we have 0-3, but we believe,” Ashdod coach Eli Levy said. “The game was even until we gave up the goals but we will do what we need to strengthen the team during this tough situation.”