Israel round-up: Haifa made to work

Bilic off 
Haifa, without a win in their last two matches, had several chances in the first half but were unable to make the breakthrough. Their task was made easier just before the break, however, when visiting defender Yosko Bilic was sent off for a foul on Walid Badier.

Clever Levy 
Despite the man advantage, the home side laboured until the 68th minute when Badier connected with Yaniv Katan's cross, after a clever dummy by youngster Eran Levy, to score the only goal in a 1-0 triumph. Haifa remain in second place as they are level on 37 points with Hapoel but have an inferior goal difference.

Kashtan warning
Hapoel had gone three points clear on Saturday with a 3-0 home defeat of city rivals Bnei Yehuda. Two goals from Sergei Kleschenko and another from Salim Tuamah were enough to clinch the points at Bloomfield stadium. However, Hapoel coach Dror Kashtan warned his players afterwards that title race was "far from over".

Penalty needed
Third-placed Maccabi Tel-Aviv were convincing 3-0 winners at Hapoel Kfar-Saba, with Rodrigo Goldberg, Andreas Prochenenkovs and Amir Turgeman all scoring. Hapoel Beer-Sheva, who are fourth, came from behind to beat Maccabi Netanya 2-1 thanks to an 88th-minute penalty from Rami Eliyahu.
Asulin hat-trick
Maccabi Petach-Tikva climbed into fifth place, eight points behind Beer-Sheva, with a convincing 5-1 home victory over Beitar Jerusalem. Lior Asulin's goal on 72 seconds set the tone for the evening, and the striker went on to claim a hat-trick while further strikes from Kobi Ganon and Kobi Refuah completed the visitors' misery.

Basement battle
Elsewhere, the basement battle between Hapoel Ironi Rishon and Hapoel Petach-Tikva ended in triumph for the away team from Petach-Tikva. The visitors went level on points with their hosts through goals from Shlomi Edri, Stanislav Dobrovin and Manor Hasan.