The eighth edition of the Haret Hreik Municipality Cup started, very much welcomed by football fans across Lebanon, waiting for the game of football to return, after a long break due to political and economic issues. Most clubs have not played a single game in more than two months, so this competition is an opportunity to test the players in real matches, not just on training grounds.
The competition is organized by Haret Hreik Municipality and Al Ahed, the Lebanese champions. All matches are to be played on Al Ahed Stadium in Bourj el-Barajneh.
The six participating teams were divided in two groups. Al Ahed, Bourj and Racing are in the first group, while Al Ansar, Shabab Sahel and Shabab Al-Ghazieh are in the second group. The top two classified in each group qualify to the semifinals, and the winners of the semifinals will play the final, to be played on the 7th of January 2020.
In the first match, on Tuesday, the 24th of December, at 14:30 local time (12:30 UTC), Bourj FC succeeded to win 2-0 over organizers and current champions Al Ahed. Thiago Amaral broke the deadlock with a left-foot shot to the near post after a defensive error: 1-0 (10'). In the second half, Mohamed Jaafar doubled the advantage with a shot from inside the area: 2-0 (57').
Mohamed Jaafar (Bourj FC, in yellow) scores the second goal of the game. Source: Bourj FC official Facebook page
In the next game of the group, Al Ahed will play against Racing on the 27th of December, while Bourj FC will play against Racing on the 30th of December 2019.
In the meantime, there will be a general meeting at the Lebanese Football Federation on Friday, the 27th of December. It is hoped that a solution will be found so that the Lebanese Premier League resume shortly. The main problems seem to be related to relegation and the status of foreign players.
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