Unstoppable Maccabi Haifa march on

At the bottom
At the other end of the table, Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin FC remain bottom even though they ended a run of six straight defeats with a 2-2 draw at Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC, also on Saturday. Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv FC, who had won 3-0 at Bnei Sakhnin's newly inaugurated Doha Stadium in their previous outing, are now second after beating Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC 3-1 at home on Sunday.

Bnei Yehuda impress
It was a fourth successive victory for Nitzan Shirazi's team, and took them five points behind Maccabi Haifa. Eli Biton scored his fifth goal in four games to consign Maccabi Tel-Aviv, the club that released him six weeks ago, to third position.

Inconsistency
Maccabi Tel-Aviv are consistently inconsistent, their 1-0 reverse against Hapoel Kfar-Saba FC on 24 September prefacing a goalless draw against Hapoel Nazareth FC and back-to-back successes against FC Ashdod and Maccabi Petach-Tikva FC.

Beitar caretaker
Beitar Jerusalem FC, in fourth spot, recovered from losing 2-0 at home to Hapoel Tel-Aviv by triumphing by the same margin at promoted Kfar-Saba. Beitar's new owner, Arkady Gaidamak, has yet to appoint a coach following Eli Ohana's resignation, and caretaker Guy Azuri holds the reins. Azuri is being assisted by Dutchman Ton Kanin who, unlike the caretaker, has the necessary coaching certificates.

Ups and downs
Hapoel Tel-Aviv are down to fifth after their draw with Bnei Sakhnin, while Maccabi Netanya FC lie sixth following victories over Hapoel Nazareth and Hapoel Petach-Tikva FC as part of a three-match unbeaten sequence. Meanwhile, Israel's sole survivors in UEFA competition, Maccabi Petach-Tikva, seem to be feeling the strain of challenging on two fronts. Friday's 2-0 defeat by Hapoel Nazareth left them in eighth place.

Strugglers
Finally, second-from-bottom Hapoel Petach-Tikva have won just once all season, against Bnei Sakhnin, and are level on points with Kfar-Saba, four above Bnei Sakhnin.