Sektzia Nes Ziona was officially relegated to the Leumit League after falling to Beitar Jerusalem 3-1. Following a goalless first half, Amit Cohen broke the deadlock in the 69th minute to give the yellow-and-black at the lead while just three minutes Bar Cohen doubled the advantage to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Almog Buzaglo cut the lead in the 76th minute but Danilo Asprilla found the back of the goal to polish off a 3-1 win for Yossi Abuksis’s squad.

“We didn’t play well in the first half but in the second we took advantage of out chances,” Shlomi Dura explained. “The bottom line is that we wanted to go into the State Cup semifinals on Wednesday in the best condition possible, healthy and no one getting a red card.”

“This game really reflected our season with a lot of decent minutes but then a goal that breaks us,” Nes Ziona coach Shlomi Dura said. “We tried to come back many times but in most cases we had issues doing that. It’s too bad because we weren’t any worse than any of the teams that were battling against relegation.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Jerusalem 2-1 to take the 3-points for Aitor Karaoke’s squad. Don Cedric took advantage of an early error by Maccabi defender Enric Saborit to give the capital city side a quick 1-0 lead in the second minute. But Parfait Guiagon found the equalizer in the 21st minute while Eran Zahavi slotted home a penalty at the stroke of halftime to give the yellow-and-blue the win.

“This was a tough game and we allowed an early goal,” Karanka began. “Perhaps it was due to the weather, the atmosphere, the important Cup game we have on Wednesday but we didn’t come into the game the way we wanted to. In the second half I began looking ahead to the Cup game but all in all I am happy because it was a tough game to win.”

“The early goal didn’t work for us,” Hapoel coach Ziv Arie said. “Instead of giving us some quiet and confidence the rest of the half was awful. We could have gone down 6-1 and I was just praying that it wield end with us in the leas or 1-1. But once again a questionable penalty did us in.”

Maccabi Netanya blanked Ashdod 2-0 as Igor Zlatahovic bagged a brace in the win, the club’s first game since February.

“We ended up winning a game that we did not play well in,” Netanya head coach Ron Kozuk began. “We wanted to split the time up amongst the players ahead of the State Cup semifinal this week, so we will take the points after showing a lot of character.”

“The guys tried as best as they could and that was important for me to see some players who haven’t played much give a solid effort,” Ashdod bench boss Ran Ben Shimon said. “We lost some steam as the game went on but we will continue trying to do our best.”

Kiryat Shemona downed Maccabi Bnei Reineh 3-1 to keep their chances alive to survive their relegation battle. After a goalless first half, an Arik Yanko own goal, gave the northerners the lead in the 53rd minute but Shlomi Azulay quickly drew Reineh even at 1-1 juts three minutes later. However, Eyad Habshi slotted home a penalty and Itamar Shviro added a late insurance marker to give Slobodan Drapic’s squad the 3-points.

“We need two more wins,”Drapic began. “We cut the gap and we have to see what will happen with the the other results. “We will try our best all the way until the end. We have a bit of confidence and we will continue doing our best.”

“I felt that the referee looked at us as a small team and the whistles went Kiryat Shemona’s way,” Reineh coach Sharon Mimer said. “Two penalties for us were ignored and it’s just too bad that we did not get the respect that our opponent did. I was under pressure before the game began and that will remain until we ensure our survival and avoid relegation.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv slipped by Bnei Sakhnin 1-0 thanks to Hisham Layous’s 18th minute goal as he latched onto a Dan Einbinder through ball to secure the 3-points for the reds. 

“There was a lot of pressure,” Hapoel coach Haim Silvas said. “We had a very good first half but in the second half we shifted into the mindset of that’s we can’t concede but we had planets of chances. We were able to do what we needed to but it was not easy in a typical relegation battle.”

“For the first time as a coach I feel embarrassed about what I see and I don’t have much to say about our performance,” Sakhnin coach Kobi Refuah said. “We can lose and that’s fine but not the way that we looked. We have two more games and we will continue on.”

Hapoel Haifa defeated Hapoel Hadera 2-1 as Tomer Yosefi scored the winner from the penalty spot late in the game to give the Carmel reds the 3-points. Constantinos Soteriou gave Haifa a quick 1-0 lead via a header into the right hand corner but Steven Alfred drew Hadera even just ahead of the break. However, following a handball in the box, Yossi stepped up and slammed home the winner to give the visitors the 3-points. Following the game, Hadera head coach Menachem Koretzky was relieved of his duties with just two matches remaining in the season with Niso Avitan replacing him.

Hadera captain Menashe Zalka spoke about his team’s precarious situation near the bottom of the table, “We have to lost ourselves up and try to take points against Sakhnin at Doha Stadium next week because that all we can do. This is part of the game of soccer and it’s the tough part about the sport. We looked to have secured our spot in the top league for next season and everything was going well but all of a sudden we are in troubling spot that we have to get out of.”