Maccabi Tel Aviv blanked Hapoel Haifa 2-0 as a pair of Dor’s, Turgeman and Peretz found the back of the goal to hand the yellow-and-blue the 3-points and the win. Just ahead of the break, Turgeman scored from the penalty spot while Peretz added a 75th minute scorcher from inside the box to sew up the victory.

“All the credit goes to the players,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Zarko Lazetic said. “In the first half we didn’t play with the intensity we wanted and we suffered a bit because we were playing against a good team, which has nothing to lose. But we dominated the pace of play and the opponent didn’t have any big opportunities which is important to us. After the first half it was easier because we scored just before halftime.”

“I expected more from the guys, we came into this game in very good shape,” Haifa bench boss Roni Levy began. “We are having a great season and reaching the championship playoffs is a great achievement. We tried to play positively, but we were naive and conceded two goals just like that. Maccabi Tel Aviv is very strong and dangerous. We are disappointed, but we are now looking forward.”

Hapoel Jerusalem downed Bnei Sakhnin 2-0 as Matan Hozez scored a brace with goals coming in both halves to give the capital city reds the points and the victory.

“We knew it was a difficult pitch to play on,” Jerusalem Head Coach Ziv Arie said. “Playing against a team that is under pressure meant that there would be a lot of long balls, chaos and mistakes that could occur. We started well but went back to being soft. We could have ended the game in a much easier fashion, but we haven’t won much this season so we’ll take the victory and not complain.”

Salach Hasarma, who was appointed as Sakhnin’s head coach last week, summed up a disappointing debut, “We played a good game with good energy, the players ran a lot and we had a lot of chances but we didn’t score. We conceded a goal from one attack in the entire half so it’s a bit of a letdown, but I saw players who really put in an effort.”

Hapoel Hadera slipped by Maccabi Bnei Reineh 2-1 as James Adeniyi scored in second half injury time to snatch the win and the points. Jose Cortes gave Hadera a 1-0 lead in the 7th minute as things went from bad to worse for Bnei Reineh when they were reduced to 10-men after Roie Shukrani was issued a second yellow card. However, Guy Hadida found the equalizer in the 57th minute, but with Hadera pressing for a winner, Adeniyi took a pass from captain Menashe Zalka and slotted the ball home to grab the points.

Hadera head coach, Nimrod Kostika spoke about the win, “I’m not surprised. It’s time for luck to be in our favor. We brought in fresh players and I’m happy, our faith won the game. We proved it against the big teams and against the small teams, we know we have had a hard time but I’m happy that we changed that in this game.”

“This game was the story of our second round, losing matches that we deserved to take points in,” Reineh Coach Sharon Mimer said. “We missed a huge amount of chances and then we conceded. Many good things can be taken from this game, but both goals came from our lack of concentration.“

Maccabi Netanya and Ironi Tiberias played to a 1-1 draw as the two sides split the points for their efforts. After a goalless first half, Yuval Sadeh scored from outside the box to give the diamond city squad a 1-0 lead in the 64th minute but less than ten minutes later, Jordan Botaka scored from the penalty spot to draw even as both squads took home a point a piece.

“It was one of those days where the ball just didn’t go in the goal,” Netanya coach Yossi Abuksis said. “We didn’t create many chances, it was unfortunate what happened in the final minutes. We didn’t deserve to win, we weren’t good and that’s the truth. It’s a shame that after taking the lead we conceded a quick draw, if we had managed to score we would have taken the opponent out of the game.”

Eliran Hodeida reflected on the game, “I think this point is very important for us to continue on our way. In the first half we played well and we could have gotten more out of it. In the second half, in the last 5-10 minutes, Netanya took control so, I’m happy with the point.”