Beitar Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Petach Tikva 5-2 as Timoti Muzi scored a hat trick for a ten-man capital city squad in the victory. Prior to the game a special ceremony was held for all of the victims of the October 7th attack on Israel, from the soldiers to the hostages and their families who paid the ultimate price while protecting the land.

Petach Tikva opened the scoring as Shavit Mazal gave the visitors an early 1-0 lead as Omer Perez’s team soon thereafter went up a man to the good when Yarden Shua was issued a yellow card and then was handed a red for dissent at the referee. However, the yellow-and-black didn’t let up as the hosts had a chance to draw even just before the break, but Omer Atzily’s penalty was saved by Omer Peretz as Petach Tikva went into halftime holding a 1-0 advantage.

To begin the second half, Beitar bench boss Barak Itzhaki made wholesale substitutions which paid off handsomely for his squad. Muzi slammed home his first goal of the match to draw the hosts even but Chipyoka Songa quickly helped the visitors retake the lead, however, Atzily scored a brilliant free kick to knot the game up at 2-2 in the 60th minute. With Beitar pushing to take the lead, Muzi did just that and added his second strike of the match when he took care of a corner kick while Johnbosco Kalu then made it 4-2 thanks to a Muzi helper. But the winger wasn’t done just yet as he slotted home a 94th minute spot kick to polish off the 5-2 victory.

“The truth is that I always let my players relax for 2-3 minutes at halftime,” Itzhaki said. “I came into the dressing room and calmly said to the guys, ‘Is there anyone here who doesn’t believe that can do this?’ In the second half, things came together for us and even though after we scored we also conceded, it pushed us even more.”

“This was a game that we could have easily taken advantage of,” Petach Tikva Head Coach Omer Peretz said. “Beitar with ten men in Teddy, after we were in the lead twice it just got away from us. We were in disbelief about the situation that we were in and how we could take advantage of that situation, but out of nowhere Beitar in Teddy can score goals and that’s what happened.”

Hapoel Beer Sheva slipped by Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-1 as Dan Bitton’s second half penalty handed the southern reds the 3-points and the win. Ofir Davidzada opened the scoring off of the left wing but Stav Turiel quickly drew even with a brilliant free kick. However, Dan Bitton scored a second half penalty to decide the game and hand the hosts the 3-points.

“I’ll start with what didn’t work,” Beer Sheva bench boss Ron Kozuk began. “We started great and after that, because we didn’t execute tactically, Hapoel came back within a second. I needed the break to talk to the players about what we wanted to do and I’m glad they did what we needed to in the second half.”

“This was a disappointing game,” Hapoel Tel Aviv head coach Elyaniv Barda began. “We had a good first half and we had our chances to take the lead, but in the second half we went backwards. We want to be aggressive and we are probably getting whistled down a bit too easily.”

Hapoel Haifa and Kiryat Shemona played to a an entertaining goalless draw that saw Carmel Reds keeper Niv Antman save a pair of penalties including one in the 94th minute off of Anthony Limbombe’s spot kick to preserve a point.

Haifa bench los Gal Arel spoke about the draw, “I’m disappointed with the point but not with the ability that the players showed. We’ll have to forget this game very quickly but one that gave me a lot to think about, except for the point. As for Antman’s penalty saves, kudos to him, penalties are part of the game and everything balances out in the end.”

Kiryat Shemona Head Coach Shai Barda concluded, “We were in complete control of the game and I’m proud of the guys. We need more precision and we have to continue like this. Kiryat Shemona is a good team that plays solid football. We have a good future ahead.”

Ironi Tiberias blanked Hapoel Jerusalem 1-0 as Stanislav Bilenkyi scored the lone goal of the match to give the Kineret based squad the points and the win.

Tiberias Head Coach Eliran Hodeida summed up the victory, “We needed maturity win this game and I think we showed it today. I am proud of the players as we talked about the approach we were going to take after we had been very soft at the beginning of the season. We played tactically well.”

Jerusalem bench boss Ziv Arie spoke about the defeat, “We have a good, strong team, this is our best game this year. The first half was balanced, the second half we were in complete control. We shouldn’t have lost a single game except against Beer Sheva. Today, we definitely didn’t deserve to lose. We will continue to work and I believe in the club.”

Ashdod sunk Maccabi Bnei Reineh 2-0 as the hosts scored a pair of stellar second half goals to take the 3-points. After a goalless first half, Jean Florent Batoum polished off a terrific passing play thanks to an assist by Eugene Ansah while youngster Ori Azo went coast to coast across the entire pitch to score the insurance marker for the port city side.