Bourj FC won again over Tadamon Sour

Bourj FC - Tadamon Sour 2-1 (1-1)

Bersyl Obassi 3' penalty, Abou Baker Al Mel 58' - Bilal Nasrallah 36'.

Wednesday, 13 April 2022, 3:30 pm local time (12:30 pm UTC), Amin Abdelnour Stadium, Bhamdoun (Aley), Lebanon, 6th round of the championship play-off, Lebanese Premier League.

After two matches in which they did not win, a 3-0 defeat to Ansar and a 1-1 draw to Al Ahed, Bourj resumed winning, but they are still 7 points away from the leaders Al Ahed, with four rounds to go.

Bourj FC starting line-up. Source: Bourj FC Facebook page

Tadamon Sour starting line-up. Source: Tadamon Sour Facebook page

The match started perfectly for Bourj FC. Right in the first minute, Abou Baker Al Mel launched Ali Merkabaoui on the left side, and the young Bourj player was challenged by Bilal Nasrallah as he entered the box. The referee awarded a penalty for Bourj FC, transformed by Bersyl Obassi after heavy protests from the Tadamon side: 1-0 (3').

After the goal, Bourj FC tried to maintain possession, while the visitors proved more dangerous, and Abdelkarim Saleh had to save a couple of their long-range shots. The biggest chance came however for Bourj FC, as Abbas Atwi "Onika" crossed in face of the goal, but Bersyl Obassi was unable to score from just a few meters, missing the contact with the ball (18').

Tadamon Sour equalized rather unexpectedly after a corner kick. Alaa El Baba executed the corner from the left side to the far post, where defender Bilal Nasrallah came unmarked to head the ball in, taking advantage of the poor positioning of both the goalkeeper and the Bourj defenders: 1-1 (36').

It should have been the wake-up call for Bourj players, but in fact the visitors had the opportunity to take the lead (40') before the break.

Bourj FC indeed took control of the game in the second half, which began with consistent attacks at the opposite goal. The winning goal finally came after a prolonged offensive action of Bourj FC, in which the Tadamon defenders were unable to clear, the ball reached Abou Baker Al Mel who, with his usual technique, succeeded to dribble inside the box and to find a way for a right-footed shot (he is left-footed!) to get through to the far post: 2-1 (58').

Although there were more than 30 minutes of play, this goal sealed the game. Bourj FC were much more careful with their ball possession, while Tadamon Sour did not have the power (nor the ball) to create more equalizing chances.

Bourj: Abdelkarim Saleh - Mohamad El Dor, Khodor Hallak, Hassan Bitar, Shadi Skaf - Mohamad Al Faour, Mohamad Kassem - Abou Baker Al Mel (Akram Moghrabi 80'), Abbas Atwi "Onika" (Youssef Atriss 74'), Ali Merkabaoui (Mohamad Sadek 65') - Bersyl Obassi (Hussein Al Outa 65'). Manager: Fouad Hijazi.

Tadamon: Mohamad Santina - Hassan Cherkawi, Bilal Nasrallah (Bilal El Sabbagh 77'), Wael Youssef, Hassan Muhaidli, Salim Hamadeh, Jawad Kawtharani, Ghazi Hneineh (Bilal Hajo 80'), Karim Mansour (Rabah Mazbouh 71'), Alaa El Baba, Adnan Melhem (Hassan Hawila 71'). Manager: Mohamad Zouheir.

Referee: Hadi Salameh.

Yellow card: Mohamad El Dor 63'.

In the next round, on Monday, Bourj FC will face Ansar and Tadamon will play against Al Ahed. The matches may be decisive for the title, as well as for the second and third places. In case Bourj lose, and Al Ahed win, the gap between the two would increase to 10 points with three rounds to go, meaning that Al Ahed will mathematically be champions. Moreover, the gap between Bourj and third classified Ansar would decrease to 4 points, which means that the second place will still be at stake in the final three rounds. On the other hand, if Bourj win over Ansar, they will be certain of the second place, because the gap between them and Ansar would increase to 10 points with three rounds to go. This would be the greatest league performance ever for Bourj FC. Moreover, if they win, they will also maintain some chances to the title, regardless of the Al Ahed result. A draw between Bourj and Ansar might be enough to secure the second place for Bourj, but the chances to the title would be over.

Full results, tables and fixtures:

Play-off

 

Round 6 (13-14 April 2022)

 

Bourj – Tadamon Sour 2-1

Ansar – Shabab Sahel 2-0

Al Ahed – Shabab El Bourj 6-0

 

Table

 

1	Al Ahed	17	13	4	0	36-5	43
2	Bourj	17	10	6	1	22-11	36
3	Ansar	17	8	5	4	31-13	29
4	Shabab Sahel	17	8	2	7	27-28	26
5	Tadamon Sour	17	4	5	8	15-18	17
6	Shabab El Bourj	17	4	3	10	18-35	15

 

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 7 (18 April 2022)

 

Tadamon Sour – Al Ahed

Shabab Sahel – Shabab El Bourj

Bourj – Ansar 

 

Play-out

 

Round 6 (14 April 2022)

 

AC Tripoli – AC Sporting 1-0

Nejmeh – Safa 3-2

Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley – Hikma / Sagesse 0-2

 

Table

 

7	AC Tripoli	17	8	3	6	19-17	27
8	Nejmeh	17	7	7	3	23-13	22	[1]
9	Hikma / Sagesse	17	6	2	9	12-27	20
10	Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley	17	5	3	9	12-20	18
11	Safa	17	3	4	10	10-26	13
12	AC Sporting	17	3	2	12	12-24	11

 

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 7 (19 April 2022)

 

AC Tripoli – Safa

Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley – Nejmeh

AC Sporting – Hikma / Sagesse

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[1] Nejmeh were deducted 6 points for not attending the game against Al Ahed in round 9.