Bourj FC won 2-0 over Hikma / Sagesse and climbed into second place

Bourj FC - Hikma / La Sagesse 2-0 (0-0)

Ahmad Al Khatib 74', Youssef Atriss 90'+2'.

Sunday, 16 January 2022, 2:15 pm local time (12:15 pm UTC), Amin Abdelnour Stadium, Bhamdoun, Aley, Lebanon, 10th round of the Lebanese Premier League.

Bourj FC needed to win this match to be mathematically qualified in the play-off the Lebanese Premier League, comprising the top 6 clubs after 11 rounds. More than that, they climbed in to second place, given that Shabab Sahel lost one day ago, and Nejmeh were deducted 6 points for not attending the game against Al Ahed in the previous round. 

The match was not as simple as it may look. Hikma / Sagesse also had their chance to get closer to the top six and to get involved in the play-off, so they fought hard, mainly in defence. Bourj attacked from the beginning, had many opportunities, but could not pass through the well-organized Hikma / Sagesse defence. Chances were few in the first half, but they began to emerge in the second half, especially after Bourj made a couple of offensive changes, meant to unlock their opponents' goal.

It was after a set piece that the first goal arrived. Abbas Atwi "Onika" executed a free kick from the centre of the field, Akram Moghrabi won the duel in the air and headed the ball towards Ahmad Al Khatib, who pushed it in from short range: 1-0 (74').

The visitors tried to give a reply, but their attacks were easily repelled by the Bourj defence. Moreover, on the counterattack, Bourj had some chances, and eventually managed to double their advantage in stoppage time, as substitute Youssef Atriss sent a great shot from outside the area near the far post: 2-0 (90'+2').

Bourj: Abdelkarim Saleh - Mohamad El Dor, Khodor Hallak, Ahmad Al Khatib, Youssef Anbar (Ibrahim Abou Hamdan 61') - Mohamad Al Faour, Ali Kharoubi (Hussein Al Outa 61') - Abou Baker Al Mel "Bako", Abbas Atwi "Onika" (Youssef Atriss 84'), Ali Merkabaoui (Samih Damaj 88') - Akram Moghrabi. Manager: Fouad Hijazi.

Hikma / Sagesse: Ali Al Hareesh - Walid Ismail, Ahmed Atwi, Mustafa Beydoun, Hussein Fahs, Hassan Hammoud (Serge Oskeyan 90'), Moussa Al Zayat (Kasim Laila 71'), Haider Awada, Hassan Tarmis, Daniel Abou Fakhr (Assaad Sablini 46'), Andre Al Qazi (Ahmed Badran 71').

Referee: Maher Al Ali.

Yellow cards: Ahmad Al Khatib 75', Ali Merkabaoui 83'.

There is only one round left from the regular season, and Bourj FC are in a rather unexpected but fully deserved second place, unbeaten after 10 rounds. In the last round, they will face another newly-promoted team, AC Sporting Beirut, which are now bottom of the table. This might look like an easy game, but it is going to be equally difficult, against a team which is in danger of relegation and will fight for every point.

Hikma / Sagesse will play against Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley, but they now have very small chances to get to the play-off. However, their next concern should be relegation, and to stay away from the relegation positions, they need these points very much, against a direct rival.

The league has been turned upside down by the Nejmeh attitude and the fact that they were deducted 6 points. Moreover, defending champions Ansar have a miserable season. It is possible that neither Ansar nor Nejmeh would get to play-off. However, they still have chances, if they win their remaining matches.

Bourj FC are now in a surprising position to look above to the top of the league. Al Ahed are six points above them, but everything is possible. Given the situation of the league right now, Al Ahed are big favourites to win the league this year. It is also noticeable that the four teams from the Dahieh (the southern suburbs of Beirut) are in the first four positions in the table.

Results, table and fixtures:

Round 10 (14-15 January 2022)

 

AC Tripoli – Ansar 2-2

Shabab El Bourj – AC Sporting 2-1

Safa – Tadamon Sour 1-0

Al Ahed – Shabab Sahel 3-0

Bourj – Hikma / Sagesse 2-0

Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley – Nejmeh postponed

 

Table

 

1	Al Ahed	10	8	2	0	18-2	26
2	Bourj	10	5	5	0	13-5	20
3	Shabab Sahel	10	5	2	3	18-12	17
4	Shabab El Bourj	10	4	2	4	15-13	14
5	AC Tripoli	10	4	2	4	13-14	14
6	Ansar	10	3	3	4	13-11	12
7	Tadamon Sour	10	2	5	3	11-10	11
8	Nejmeh	9	4	4	1	12-6	10
9	Hikma / Sagesse	10	3	0	7	7-23	9
10	Safa	10	2	3	5	4-15	9
11	Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley	9	2	1	6	7-12	7
12	AC Sporting	10	2	1	7	8-16	7

 

If two or more teams have the same number of points, the results of head-to-head matches between them are the main ranking criteria.

 

Round 11 (20-22 January 2022)

 

Bourj – AC Sporting

Ansar – Shabab El Bourj

Tadamon Sour – AC Tripoli

Al Ahed – Safa

Nejmeh – Shabab Sahel

Hikma / Sagesse – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley