Maccabi Tel Aviv slipped by Bnei Herzliya 2-0 in dramatic fashion as Dor Peretz scored the late winner to rescue the 3-points for the first place yellow-and-blue. Robbie Keane’s squad had a tough time breaking down Slobodan Drapic’s side’s defense all game long until Milton sent Peretz a tremendous pass that the midfielder blasted past a helpless Mohammed Abu Nil to the delighted crowd in the 89th minute. Ten minutes later, deep into second half stoppage time, Eran Zahavi slotted home a penalty to wrap up the victory.

“We made this game difficult for ourselves,” Keane said following the game. “At the half we should have scored 3-4 goals. The players showed incredible character and that is what I like about this team as the substitutes made the difference. Football is played for 90 minutes and it doesn’t end unto the final .”

“We didn’t play well in the first half,” Drapic commented. “We were slow coming out of the international break and we just have to play better. I don’t want to just be here in the championship playoffs, we want to play well and already prepare ourselves for next season as well.”

Hapoel Beer Sheva defeated Hapoel Haifa 2-1 despite playing with only ten men for almost the entire match as the southern reds snatched the points and the stunning win. Antonio Sefer was sent off just 6 minutes into the game after a reckless tackles that left head coach Elyaniv Barda in Torino’s so early on in the contest.

However, that didn’t stop Alon Turgeman from finding the back of the goal as he went in on a one-on-one situation and sent the ball by Yoav Gerafinfor a 1-0 lead on the 22nd minute. Guy Melamed drew the visitors even in the 55th minute as he scored from in close but twenty minutes later, Arthur Shushenachev headed home the winner to give Beet Sheva the 3-points on the win.

“We have to take it one win at a time and this wasn’t just a win but a heroic one,” Beer Sheva bench boos Elyaniv Barda said. “In terms of how we battled, fought and focussed everybody played for one another. It wasn’t easy to play Hapoel Haifa with ten men and we kept them to very few chances. I’m very happy with the win which was an exceptional one.”

“We knew that Hapoel Beer Sheva had the ability to deal with a man down as they are mentally a strong team,” Haifa coach Roni Levy said. “They know how to handle these situations and unfortunately we weren’t smart enough in the first half and we gave up a goal that we shouldn’t have.”

Ashdod blanked Maccabi Petach Tikva 1-0 as Jordan Botaka scored the lone marker of the game to give the port city squad the 3-points and the victory.

“The mission of our lives to defeat Maccabi Petach Tikva and everyone put the team above all and that’s what we saw,” Ashdod head coach Eli Levi said. “We played well and we saw real men playing that knew when to foul. These were 3 very important points and if we keep doing what we need to things will be fine.”

“Losing at home and playing poorly means we are going right back into the relegation battle,” Petach Tikva coach Ron Kozuk said. “We weren’t in the game right from the get go and the players just weren’t up to par. There was an issue with exhaustion for those who has been with their respective national teams.”

Hapoel Hadera and Hapoel Petach Tikva played to a 1-1 draw that saw both goals come in second half injury time as the two sides split the points. After 90 minutes of dry play, the action heated up as the clock hit injury time in the second half, as Godsway Donio gave Hadera the lead in the 92nd minute, but Fortune Bassey’s 97th minute penalty gave the squads a point a piece.

“I saw us winning the game because it should have been 4-0,” Hapoel Petach Tikva coach Benny Lam explained. “Everything has been going against us. We play hard and come to plenty of chances. We will be battling all the way to the end of the season and we will give it our all as we prepare as best as we can the rest of the way.”

“I believe that we played very poorly,” Hadera coach Haim Silvas said. “This was our weakest performance as we were nowhere to be found in the first half and while we were better in the second half we thought that we were going to win and felt that we had the three points in the bag, ultimately they did deserve to lose.”