Goalless draw between leaders Bourj FC and title holders Al Ahed

Bourj FC - Al Ahed 0-0

Saturday, 26 November 2022, 4 pm local time (2 pm UTC), Fouad Chehab Stadium, Jounieh, Lebanon, 9th round of the Lebanese Premier League.

After almost one month of break due to the programme of the Lebanese national teams (senior, olympic, youth, and junior teams), the ninth round of the Lebanese league included the local derby and now also the national derby between the (then) current leaders Bourj FC and title holders Al Ahed. Due to the final result, and the very tight situation at the top of the table, Bourj FC lost their position on the top of the table to Ansar, and they are now only in second position, while Al Ahed also dropped into fourth place, but one has to remember that there are only three points that separate the first classified and the fifth classified!

Bourj FC starting line-up. Photo source: the-lfa.com

Al Ahed starting line-up. Photo source: the-lfa.com

The match was clearly dominated by Al Ahed. However, they were unable to break through the very organized Bourj FC defense, and when they did, they were unable to score. Bourj FC seemed to have learned something from their previous negative experience in their match against Ansar, when they played openly and finished losing the game. This time, their approach was very prudent, and they rarely passed in the opposite half of the field.

Al Ahed had a few chances, but missed all of them. In the first half, Nour Mansour's header went wide (30'). The biggest goal opportunity came in the second half, when newly-entered Rabih Ataya missed the target from close range, all alone with the empty goal in front of him (69').

 Bourj goalkeeper, Abdelkarim Saleh (in red), was one of the best players in this match. Photo source: the-lfa.com

Bourj FC tried something, not too much, on breaks and from set pieces. Their first (and only) chance came very late, in stoppage time, when Mohamed Sibaii "Wartan", assisted by Hussein Al Outa, had a good shot from outside the box, but Mahdi Khalil saved (90'+1').

 Bourj FC players (in yellow) focused on the defense for most of the game, and they finished with yet another clean sheet. Photo source: the-lfa.com

Bourj: Abdelkarim Saleh - Mohamad Al Dor, Richard Baffour, Shadi Skaf, Mohamad Hammoud - Hussein Ibrahim, Mohamad Al Faour - Dennis Tetteh (Mohamed Sadek 63'), Youssef Barakat (Mohamed Sibaii "Wartan" 73'), Stephen Sarfo (Hussein Al Outa 83') - Khaled Takaji (Khodor Hallak 83'). Manager: Osama Farjallah Al-Sakr.

Al Ahed starting line-up: Mahdi Khalil - Andrew Sawaya, Nour Mansour, Khalil Khamis, Hussein Dakik - Mohamad Haidar, Hassan Srour, Emmanuel Obere - Mohamad Kdouh, Samud Kadri, Mohamad Nasser. Manager: Bassem Marmar.

Referee: Ali Rida.

This was just the first of a number of very tough matches for both teams. In the next round, Bourj will face Nejmeh on Friday, 2 December 2022, kick-off at 4 pm, while Al Ahed will face Ansar on Sunday, 4 December 2022, also at 4 pm. Both matches will take place at Fouad Chehab Stadium in Jounieh and will likely bring further changes to the top of the table.

Full results, table and fixtures:

 

Round 9 (25-27 November 2022)

 

AC Tripoli – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley 2-2

Safa – Shabab Sahel 0-2

Salam Zgharta – Shabab Al Ghazieh 1-1

Bourj – Al Ahed 0-0

Ansar – Hikma / Sagesse 1-0

Tadamon Sour – Nejmeh 0-0

 

Table

 

1	Ansar	9	7	2	0	25-5	23
2	Bourj	9	7	1	1	16-7	22
3	Shabab Sahel	9	6	3	0	15-4	21
4	Al Ahed	9	6	2	1	16-5	20
5	Nejmeh	9	6	2	1	13-4	20
6	Tadamon Sour	9	2	3	4	9-12	9
7	Safa	9	2	2	5	8-15	8
8	Hikma / Sagesse	9	2	1	6	7-11	7
9	Shabab Al-Ghazieh	9	1	3	5	8-16	6
10	Salam Zgharta	9	1	2	6	6-14	5
11	Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley	9	1	1	7	9-22	4
12	AC Tripoli	9	0	4	5	4-21	4

 

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 10 (2-4 December 2022)

 

Bourj – Nejmeh

Tadamon Sour – Shabab Sahel

Hikma / Sagesse – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley

Salam Zgharta – Safa

Shabab Al-Ghazieh – AC Tripoli

Ansar – Al Ahed

Total Soccer to face Equipo Azul in the Colombian Primera C final

Total Soccer - Unión Pacífico Sur 3-0 (1-0)

Gutiérrez 8', Morón 57', J. J. Herrera 90'+1'

In the first leg: 0-0. Total Soccer won 3-0 on aggregate and qualified to the Primera C final.

Saturday, 26 November 2022, 8 am local time (1 pm UTC), Marte #1 Stadium, Unidad Deportiva Atanasio Girardot, Medellín, Colombia, 2nd leg of the Colombian Primera C semifinals.

 

Total Soccer starting line-up, with manager Juan Gabriel Sepúlveda. Photo source: capsulas.com.co

Unión Pacífico Sur starting line-up. Photo source: capsulas.com.co

 

In the first leg, played in Tumaco (the home town of Unión Pacífico Sur), on a very difficult ground, where there was more sand than grass, the two teams drew 0-0, which gave a small advantage to Total Soccer, as they played the second leg on their own ground in Medellín.

Total Soccer did not lose a single game in the knock-out stages of the Colombian Primera C, and therefore they were favourites to qualify to the final. Indeed, after the first minutes, they already took the lead after a corner: Arboleda crossed perfectly for Gutiérrez to head in from close range: 1-0 (8').

After the goal, the visitors tried to equalize and attacked most of the time, but Total Soccer proved to be very strong defensively, and launched dangerous breaks. Goalkeeper William Fierro had a number of incredible saves, which gave more confidence to Total Soccer, a team which actually did not concede a goal in their last four games.

Most of the emotions vanished in the second half. Joan Andrés Córdoba entered the game as a replacement in 48', and immediately after he was close to score a second goal. Morón also missed a good opportunity a few minutes later, but the two combined for the second goal, as Córdoba assisted Morón, whose shot went to the far post: 2-0 (57').

The visitors continued to attack, but rarely reached the opposite goal dangerously. Their biggest chance in the second half came rather late, when a free kick executed by Rosero was saved in a spectacular fashion by William Fierro (81').

Every attack or counterattack of Total Soccer provoked panic in the defensive lines of Unión Pacífico Sur. The third goal came in stoppage time, as Morón, Córdoba and Juan José Herrera passed to each other in a sort of tiki-taka which dismissed the defenders and the goalkeeper, eventually leaving Herrera alone with an empty net in front of him: 3-0 (90'+1').

The three goalscorers (left to right): Juan José Herrera, Danilo Morón and Juan Felipe Gutiérrez. Photo source: capsulas.com.co

 

Total Soccer: Fierro - J. Avendaño, Gutiérrez, Montes, Tapias (Ja. Mosquera 77') - Arboleda, J. García, S. Avendaño (J. Córdoba 48') - Morón, J. Martínez (Londoño 65'), J.J. Herrera. Manager: Juan Gabriel Sepúlveda.

UPS: Salcedo - Ó. Valencia, Vernasa, Vergara, Sevillano (Preciado 71'), B. Quiñones, Campaz (Ocampo 53'), Rosero, Ó. Quiñones, C. Quiñones (Estupiñán 20'), Vivas. Manager: Carlos Andrés Estacio.

Referee: Juan Camilo Mejía.

In the Colombian Primera C final, Total Soccer will face Equipo Azul of Valledupar, which won 3-2 on aggregate (2-1 and 1-1) agasint Cortuluá B, the second team of the professional club Cortuluá. The first leg will be played the next week in Valledupar, while the decisive second leg will be played in Medellín in two weeks from now.