Maccabi Netanya and Ashdod played to an entertaining 2-2 draw as each side picked up a point for their efforts. Igor Zalatanovic opened the scoring when he latched on top a through ball and put it by keeper Ariel Harush to give the diamond city side a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute and doubled the advantage right before the break via Sagar Tagi thanks to a Freddy Vargas cross. However, Ashdod scored a pair of goals in roughly a minute with Adir Levy and Stav Nachmani both finding the back of the net in the 54th minute to draw even and split the points.

“We had a good first half and closed it really well,” Netanya Head Coach Yossi Abuksis said. “We lost two balls in the penalty area and then conceded two goals, that’s the summary of the game. At the beginning, we closed them up exceptionally well but we paid the price for the two balls that we turned over in the second half and that’s how we lost all our confidence.”

“When you’re down by two goals at halftime and make it 2-2 in the second half, you want the all of the points,” Ashdod bench boss Eli Levy said. “But in a game like this, which in theory was for 6 points due to our positioning on the table, to come out of a 2-0 hole, you have to be satisfied. We’ll have to pay attention to the first half, we’ll have to work hard to play a complete game like we did in the second half.”

Hapoel Haifa blanked Bnei Sakhnin 2-0 as Guy Melamed’s second half brace handed the Carmel Reds the victory and the 3-points assistant coach Gal Arel on the sidelines due to the passing of Head Coach Roni Levy’s mother. After a goalless first half, Melamed broke open the scoring in the 72nd minute with a goal that needed to be confirmed by the VAR after having been originally called off due to being offside. The striker completed his brace in injury time via the penalty spot to close out the victory.

“I was very excited before the game and I am happy that we are ended it with a win,” Arel said. “Everything was done in consultation with Roni and I have to give him credit. The score was 0-0 at the break but we had some good chances that we capitalized on in the second half.”

“We shouldn’t have lost as the game was heading for a draw,” Sakhnin bench boss Slobodan Drapic said. “This was a very weak game from us and it’s a shame we lost it. We need to be calm and not get stressed out and check to see what’s going wrong. The players lacked energy and they weren’t in the game, but when you have Guy Melamed, it makes a difference.”