Maccabi Netanya beat Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1-0 and ended a run of four games without a win

Maccabi Netanya beat Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1-0 on Saturday evening in the Israeli Premier League (Ligat Ha'al). The first half ended with no goals, and the only goal was scored around the 74th minute, from a penalty kick taken from 11 meters by Matheus Dabo, after a handball in the box by a Kiryat Shmona player. On the touchlines were Roni Levy for Netanya and Shai Brada for Kiryat Shmona.

The win ended a run of four games without a victory for Netanya. Thanks to it, the team moved up to sixth place in the table, at least temporarily. Kiryat Shmona, on the other hand, recorded its fifth defeat in a row. The three points were Netanya's first since the start of the run.

It was also the first game since the opening round of the season in which Netanya did not concede a goal. The team praised goalkeeper Samuel Silva and defender Olivier Verdon, as well as Romanian midfielder Gabriel Simion, who started for the first time since signing. Midfielder Dolev Haziza was not included in the squad because of renewed pain in a leg that was injured in the past.

In Netanya they described the win as an event that released much of the pressure on the team, and compared it to the splitting of the Red Sea. The win came in a week in which the team was under pressure to get results, after going four rounds without a win.

Netanya's next game is away against Ironi Tiberias, who are in last place in the table. Another win there would be the first time this season that Maccabi Netanya wins two games in a row.