Mac TA makes it 8 straight to increase gap

Maccabi Tel Aviv continued to stride towards a first Premier League championship since 2003 on Saturday night, beating Hapoel Ramat Hasharon 1-0 at Bloomfield Stadium for its eighth straight win to extend its lead at the top to 13 points.

Rade Prica scored his sixth league goal in six matches in the 72nd minute on Saturday to ensure the yellow-and-blue will continue to hold a double-digit over second-placed Maccabi Haifa, even should the Greens beat Bnei Yehuda at Kiryat Eliezer Stadium on Sunday.

Hapoel Tel Aviv returned to third place on Saturday, leapfrogging Ironi Kiryat Shmona with a 1-0 road win over the Northerners despite ending the match with nine men.

Eden Shrem scored Hapoel’s winner in the 57th minute, netting Tel Aviv’s first goal in open play after 787 barren minutes.

A superb display by Hapoel ‘keeper Apoula Edel combined with some good fortune ensured the Reds held on for all three points despite Mor Shushan’s sending off in the 70th minute and Almog Cohen’s red card one minute from time.

Beitar Jerusalem (33 points) hosts rockbottom Hapoel Ramat Gan (25) on Sunday, holding just a six-point gap from the relegation zone following Saturday’s results.

Hapoel Acre (27) climbed off the bottom with its third win in five matches, beating Ashdod SC (35) 2-1 on the road.

Ohad Kadusi (45) and Tamir Kahlon (70) scored for Acre, with Dimitar Makriev (80) netting a consolation goal for the sorry Ashdod.

Hapoel Beersheba (30) is just three points ahead of the relegation zone after dropping to its fifth straight loss on Saturday, falling 2-1 to Bnei Sakhnin (29).

Mohammed Kalibat gave Sakhnin the lead in the fifth minute and netted the winner three minutes from time after Nicolas Falczuk leveled the score (38).

Hapoel Haifa (31) took another significant step towards securing its top flight status on Saturday, thrashing Maccabi Netanya (27) 3-0 for its fourth win in its past five matches.

Maharan Lala (8) and Yuval Avidor (26, 39) clinched Haifa’s win by the break and extended the team’s unbeaten streak to six games.

On Friday, Israel coach Eli Gutman announced a 25-man squad for Friday’s 2014 World Cup qualifier versus Portugal and next Tuesday’s game at Northern Ireland.

League-leader Maccabi Tel Aviv had six players named in the squad, while captain Yossi Benayoun was also called up despite not having played for the blueand- white since the 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Russia in September.