Bourj wins 2-1 over Mabarrah in the Lebanese Second Division

On Saturday afternoon, the 16th of February, Mabarrah and Bourj met in a southern Beirut derby on an unusual rainy weather at Safa Stadium in Beirut. Mabarrah, though technically playing "at home", was not at all at ease with lots of Bourj fans crowding the stadium.

Still, Mabarrah broke the deadlock quite fast, by James in the 5th minute of the game: 1-0. Bourj had to search for an equalizer until the final seconds of the added time to the first half, when Ali Harb succeeded to score past the goalkeeper with a header from the middle of the box: 1-1.

 Bourj starting line-up against Mabarrah. Source: Facebook official club page

The winning goal for Bourj came in the 75th minute, when a ball shot from outside the box by Yannis Bessaa was headed from close range by Wassem Abdelhady into the net: 1-2. Mabarrah players claimed it was offside but TV replays showed that the Bourj striker was on the line with the last Mabarrah defender: no offside, and the goal was allowed.

It was the fourth consecutive win in four matches for Bourj FC in 2019, but this was the most difficult game so far this year. They maintain a 4-point gap to Shabab El Bourj, the second classified, and a 5-point gap to third classified, Ahly Sidon.

Results, tabel and fixtures:

Round 15 (15-17 February 2019)

Naser Barelias – Shabab Al Arabi 2-0

Mabarrah – Bourj 1-2

Ahly Sidon – Homenetmen 3-1

Al Islah Al Bourj Al Shimaly – Egtmaaey Tripoli 0-1

Nahda Barelias – Hikma / La Sagesse 3-3

Shabab El Bourj – Ahly Nabatieh 4-1

Table

1	Bourj	15	11	3	1	29-5	36	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Shabab El Bourj	15	10	2	3	30-15	32	Promotion to the Premier League
3	Ahly Sidon	15	10	1	4	31-20	31
4	Nahda Barelias	15	5	7	3	18-16	22
5	Egtmaaey Tripoli	15	6	3	6	29-22	21
6	Ahly Nabatieh	15	5	6	4	29-32	21
7	Hikma / La Sagesse	15	4	6	5	21-23	18
8	Shabab Al Arabi	15	5	3	6	16-19	18
9	Mabarrah	15	3	6	6	11-15	15
10	Al Islah Al Bourj Al Sh.	15	4	2	9	16-31	14
11	Naser Barelias	15	4	0	11	10-27	12	Relegation to the Third Division
12	Homenetmen	15	3	1	11	22-37	10	Relegation to the Third Division

Round 16 (22-24 February 2019)

Naser Barelias – Ahly Sidon

Mabarrah – Egtmaaey Tripoli

Al Islah Al Bourj Al Shimaly – Shabab Al Arabi

Hikma / La Sagesse – Shabab El Bourj

Bourj – Ahly Nabatieh

Nahda Barelias – Homenetmen