Hapoel Beer Sheva shocked Maccabi Haifa 2-1 in absolutely stunning fashion as the referee issued three red cards along with three penalties in one of the most memorable games this season. The Greens took it right to the southern reds from the get go as they dominated play early and scored via a Dolev Haziza penalty kick after Omer Atzily had been pulled down in the box.

Things went from bad to worse for Roni Levy’s team when Roie Gordana was sent off for a reckless tackle in the 19th minute and keeper Ariel Harush injured his shoulder and had to leave the game. However, Beer Sheva made substitutes to compensate and Barak Bachar’s side couldn’t take advantage of the extra man.

In the 83rd minute, Omer Atzily cleared the ball from the Haifa goal line with his hand and was sent off as Eyad Avi Abid scored from the spit to draw even at 1-1. Ten minutes later and into injury time, Itay Shechter was yanked down from behind by Ofri Arad who was handed a red card as Abu Abid once again stepped up to the penalty spot and gave Beer Sheva the 2-1 win.

“This was a very tough game that didn’t begin well with the penalty and red card,” winning coach Roni Levy said. ”But the players gave their heart and soul and together with the fans we were able to make this incredible comeback.”

“The game was in our hands and then we made some mistakes,” Haifa coach Barak Bachar said following the game. “We had to push to get a second goal and we shouldn’t have allowed these crazy situations to occur, but they did. We played an excellent first ten minutes and then they got a red card and we let our guard down and were too comfortable. Something like this can’t happen.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv just got by Hapoel Jerusalem 1-0 as the yellow-and-blue needed an 85th minute goal from Eduardo Guerrero to break the scoreless deadlock and give the hosts the points. The capital city reds remaining goalless on the season as Ziv Arie’s squad has yet to find the back of the goal after five games this campaign.

“We have to be ready and stay clam for these types of games,” Maccabi coach Patrick van Leeuwen said. “We need to make sure that we make the right decisions early on as teams like Jerusalem come to defend and not give up a goal. We have to score first and score as soon as possible.”

“We battled and played well defensively but we weren’t able to control the ball,” Jerusalem bench boss Ziv Arie stated. “We came close to a draw but we gave up a goal after a corner. We haven’t created enough chances in any of our games but we will keep working hard until we score and everyone can stop talking about it.”

Maccabi Netanya downed Bnei Sakhnin 3-1 as the diamond city squad won their first contest of the season up in the Galilee. The visitors who had parted ways earlier in the week with coach Raymond Atteveld came out flying and scored a pair of quick goals as Parfait Guiagon on loan from Maccabi Tel Aviv scored from 18 meters out and Zlatan Šehović added a second goal just three minutes later to grab a 2-0 lead by the 11th minute. Guy Melamed pulled a goal back for the hosts ten minutes later but couldn’t find the equalizer as Igor Zlatanović scored in second half injury time to secure the win.

“It’s too bad we gave Netanya a victory as a gift,” Sakhnin coach Sharon Mimer began. “I told the players that after a team changes a coach they will come in with energy and will play at a faster pace. Unfortunately we fell into this trap and perhaps we thought that we were above the league which we are not.”

“I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge the contribution that Raymond Atteveld made to the team,” interim coach Ran Cozack said. “Our game plan was to begin the game by pressuring Sakhnin and show them that we are a winning team and more than that, that the DNA of Maccabi Netanya is to win.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Nof HaGalil played to a wild 2-2 draw up north to open up the Israeli soccer weekend as a 95th minute own goal by the Galilee hosts split the points. Luwagga Kizito opened the scoring for Nof HaGalil as he took a Kevaughn Frater through ball and beat Reds keeper Ernestas Setkus to take a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute.

Tel Aviv was rescued to 10-men 15 minutes into the second half when Shay Elias was sent off with his second yellow card of the game but that didn’t stop Osher Davida from scoring the equalizer in the 82nd minute. Dan Einbinder then gave the Reds a 2-1 lead via an 89th minute penalty but deep into injury time, Stav Nachmani’s attempt caromed off of the post and went off of Setkus and into the goal for a deserved 2-2 draw.

“We’re a bit disappointed how the game ended and we gave up an unlucky goal,” Tel Aviv assistant coach Saleem Tuama said. “It’s too bad the ball went off the post and in but that’s soccer. We weren’t good enough today and didn’t begin well, nit being aggressive enough. We improved in the second half, began to play and scored. It’s just too bad as to what happened at the end.”

“I feel pretty good despite not winning the game as we had so many chances to do so,” Nof HaGalil coach Yaron Hochenboim stated following the match. “When we were promoted a league everyone laughed when I said that I wanted to have an attacking team. But we saw a team that pressed and created many chances so all in all I am satisfied.”

Beitar Jerusalem and Kiryat Shemona played to a dramatic 1-1 draw at Teddy Stadium as each squad picked up a point in the capital city. After a goalless first half Niv Zrihen and Yarden Shua teamed up on a slick give and go in the box as the former was just able to get a foot on the ball and slip it by Džiugas Bartkus in the 63rd minute.

But just as it looked as if Beitar had salted away the victory, a handball in the area by David Houja in stoppage time gave the northerners a penalty which Eyad Habshi promptly slotted behind Itamar Nitzan as the teams split the points.

“I believe we played well,” Erwin Koeman, the Beitar coach said. “In the second half we had chances to score, but at the end of the day we can all see the final result and that we gave up the tying goal from a penalty. If you win 1-0 everyone is happy but when you give up a goal in the 90th minute everyone is upset. That’s our world.”

“We gave a good performance,” Kiryat Shemona coach Omer Nussbaum said. “There were times during the game where Beitar controlled the play but we were always in the game and I felt that we could score. I’m proud of the guys. We believed, we pressed and we wanted to win all the way to the 90th minute.”

Maccabi Petah Tikva blanked table leaders Hapoel Haifa 2-0 thanks to a pair of second half goals at the Moshava Stadium. Yarden Cohen broke the deadlock with a 72nd minute goal while five minutes later Daniel Shimon added an insurance goal as Guy Luzon’s squad took the points.

“Our first win of the season is the most important one for us,” Petah Tikva coach Guy Luzon reflected. “We controlled the pace of play and moved the ball well while Haifa were only able to go on counter attacks. Without a shadow of a doubt we dominated.”

“Were disappointed anytime we lose,” Elisha Levy stated. “The game was played at a god pace with two teams who wanted to win while each side had chances to score, but we weren’t able to. We will try to fix up the parts of our game that need to be worked on for next game.”

Hapoel Hadera remained unbeaten as they took out Ashdod 2-1 by the Port City. Mohamed Ghadir and Matheusinho traded goals in the first half but it was Dia Lababidi who found the winner in the 64th minute as he sent a scorcher into the Ashdod goal from 17 meters out to hand Menachem Koretzky’s squad the win.

“This was a tough away game,” Koretzky began. “The players put on a good performance win terms as to how they battled, their desire and how they finished their scoring chances. We are very happy but we have to remain modest as this is just the start of the season.”

“There’s no question that we were the better team and that has been the case in most of our games this season,” Ashdod coach Ran Ben Shimon explained. “Their goals came on our turnovers and we shouldn’t have erred the way we did. Gifts like counterattacks and set pieces are the only way to score against us.”