Maccabi Tel Aviv slipped by Hapoel Beer Sheva 1-0 as Milson scored the lone goal of the game in the 41st minute to hand the yellow-and-blue the 3-points and the win.

“We should have scored a second goal,” Maccabi heard coach Robbie Keane said. “That’s soccer and nothing comes easy. We had a number of chances to make it 2-0 and they had a very good opportunity near the end of the game. I don’t think they really gave us too much trouble but Beer Sheva is a good team, organized and I enjoyed this battle.”

“This was a game that we just didn’t deserve to lose,” Beer Sheva coach Elyaniv Barda said. “The first half was fairly even until the goal and in get second half we were much better than Maccabi Tel Aviv whose keeper kept wasting time, at least five minutes worth. I’m very happy with our second half and if we could have scored we would have won.”

Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabi Netanya played to a goalless draw as the teams split the points in Barak Itzhaki’s debut as the capital city squad’s new head coach.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to come to coach Beitar,” Itzahki said following the game. “It was a tough and dangerous decision to make but I am connected to this place. Beitar Jerusalem is a club with a lot of pressure especially in the current situation. The goal is to collect as many points as possible in the regular season up until the playoffs. The club is in a situation where it can be relegated and we will do as much as we can to maker sure that does not occur.”

“You can split this game up into three parts,” Netanya coach Guy Tzarfati said. “The first half we were great and we surprised Beitar. We didn’t start off the second half well but once we made substitutions we could have scored and finally the last few minutes the balls were whistling by our goal and the box as we looked to hold on.”

Maccabi Petach Tikva trounced Hapoel Tel Aviv 3-0 as Ben Sahar bagged a brace in the win. Luka Stor gave the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute as he found the left hand corner of teh Reds goal. The situation for Yossi Abuksis’s side went from bad to worse when El Yam Kancepolski was handed a straight red card for a reckless foul in the midfield just before halftime leaving his squad with ten men. Sahar then scored his first of the game in first half injury time to double the advantage and polished off the victory with his second in the 65th minute to wrap up the win.

“The direction here has changed and that is what has made the big difference over the last few weeks,” Petach Tikva coach Ron Kozuk said. “I believe in an offensive style of game with high pressure and it was crucial for me to being my philosophy to the club when I came on board. Ben Sahar has worked very hard and we can see that he has contributed but most importantly on the defensive side as well.”

“Nothing worked for us,” Abuksis said after the game. “We didn’t get into the game and we made all kinds of mistakes. We then got a red card which killed the game for us. I believe that every player is giving 100% and we spoke about making sure that we would control the ball. This is going to be a tough relegation battle and we will have to deal both it together as a team.”

Bnei Sakhnin downed Hapoel Haifa 2-1 to take the 3-points and the win. The visitors grabbed a quick 2-0 lead as Claudio Spinelli and Stephane Omeonga scored in the 8th and 18th minute while the Carmel Reds saw Hatem Abd Elhamed draw to within a lone marker in the 65th minute. But that was as close as the hosts would get as Sakhin took the points and the victory.

“When we want to we can play better” Sakhnin head coach Slobodan Drapic said. “We scored our goals just at the right time. We have had some good games and good halves but we couldn’t kill off the game as we are a young team and not that experienced. We are building something here and we want to go as far as we can.”

We didn’t get into this game properly,” Haifa coach Roni Levi began. “I needed to substitute everyone and we paid the price in the second half for the poor first half that we had. Maybe if we had a striker we could have done a bit more.”

Hapoel Hadera and Hapoel Jerusalem drew 1-1 as the two squads split the points. Godsway Donio gave Hadera a quick 1-0 lead in the 2nd minute but 5 minutes later Matan Hozez slotted home a penalty to even up the score as each side earned a point for their efforts.

“We wanted to win the game and opened up very well both offensively and defensively,” Hadera coach Haim Silvas said. “We were able to stop Hapoel Jerusalem and kept them at bay for the most part but in the second half we were more so-so and ultimately the draw is fine. I am happy with how the guys really battled.”

“The first half we had a lot of luck and the pitch was not very good,” Jerusalem bench boss Ziv Arie said. “We were lucky to draw even and the play was not that great but it was what it was and we took a point.”