Another draw in the Dahieh derby

Shabab Sahel - Bourj FC 1-1 (0-1)

Mohamad Haidar 48' - Richard Baffour 44'.

Friday, 6 January 2023, 4 pm local time (2 pm UTC), Fouad Chehab Stadium, Jounieh, Lebanon, 1st round of the championship play-off, Lebanese Premier League.

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

 Shabab Sahel starting line-up. Photo source: the-lfa.com

 

The regular season ended in December 2022 with a 0-0 draw between these two teams, in the first Dahieh derby of the season. Shabab Sahel and Bourj FC met again in the first round of play-off, less than a month after their last encounter, in the first match of the round, on Friday, 6 January. The weather was unusual, with heavy rain especially in the first half, and the artificial turf in Jounieh was quite flooded in the second half, even if the rain diminished. Under these conditions, the two Dahieh teams provided a good game, much better than the one in December.

The heavy rain influenced the game, but intensified the tackles. Photo source: the-lfa.com

 

Several important players were absent from Bourj FC, among them Youssef Barakat (who will miss the rest of the season, due to injury, and a surgery which went well), and striker Stephen Sarfo. Hussein Al Outa played in the position of central forward, but not necessarily well enough to make a difference. On the opposite side, former Bourj FC players Zein Farran and Fadel Antar were among the best in their squad, and Shabab Sahel proved to be a strong team, which remained undefeated this season, so far, for a reason.

Dennis Tetteh (Bourj FC, #17, in yellow) in a duel for the ball with Emmanuel Nettey (Shabab Sahel). Photo source: the-lfa.com

 

In the first half, when the physical resources of the players were largely intact, the game was more intense. Bourj FC focused on set pieces, sending their tall men up in the box to create danger. Shabab Sahel however succeeded in creating more opportunities, and one after the other, Hussein Awada, Ali Al Fadel and Fadel Antar missed important chances.

Almost at the end of the first half, Bourj FC tactics paid off in an unusual manner. Mohamad Hammoud executed a free kick from the left side, sending the ball into the box, Ali Daher was only able to give it a punch, sending it to the right corner of the box, where Richard Baffour took the opportunity and sent it home with a loop: 0-1 (44').

Richard Baffour (Bourj FC, #90, on the ground in this photo) scored the first goal of the game. Photo source: the-lfa.com

 

Shabab Sahel started the second half in a very offensive manner, determined to equalize as quickly as possible. And they succeeded after less than three minutes, with one of the weapons of their opponents: a set piece. It was a free kick from about 25 metres, which was perfectly converted by Mohamad Haidar: 1-1 (48').

After the equalizer, the game became balanced once again. Both teams tried their best to score the decisive goal. Mohamad Sadek (Bourj FC) made plenty of efforts in this respect, outrunning his opponents on his side, but to no avail. Shabab Sahel also had some dangerous attacks. However, as the match was approaching the end, it was obvious that both teams were rather content with the result, and would not risk too much to get a win. Moreover, because of the rainy conditions and the heavy and flooded pitch, many players were injured or looked quite exhausted towards the final minutes, and the changes made brought no results on the score sheet.

Mohamad Haidar (up in the air) is happy for scoring the equalizer and is congratulated by his Shabab Sahel teammates. Photo source: the-lfa.com

 

Starting line-ups:

Shabab Sahel: Ali Daher - Ali Abboud, Hamza Kheir, Andrew Evans Ikefe, Ali Fahes - Emmanuel Nettey, Mohamad Haidar, Ali Al Fadel - Zein Farran, Fadel Antar, Hussein Awada. Manager: Dragan Jovanović.

Bourj FC: Hassan Moghnieh - Youssef Anbar, Richard Baffour, Shadi Skaf, Mohamad Hammoud - Hussein Ibrahim, Mohamad Al Faour - Dennis Tetteh, Khaled Takaji, Mohamad Sadek - Hussein Al Outa. Manager: Osama Al Sakr.

Referee: Hussein Abou Yahya.

Results, tables and fixtures:

Play-off

 

Round 1 (6-8 January 2023)

 

Shabab Sahel – Bourj 1-1

Ansar – Shabab Al-Ghazieh 4-0

Al Ahed – Nejmeh 0-0

 

Table

 

1	Ansar	1	1	0	0	32-7	17	(+)
2	Shabab Sahel	1	0	1	0	18-6	14	(+)
3	Al Ahed	1	0	1	0	20-8	13
4	Nejmeh	1	0	1	0	18-7	13	(+)
5	Bourj	1	0	1	0	18-12	13	(+)
6	Shabab Al-Ghazieh	1	0	0	1	12-20	6

 

(+) Points have been rounded up.

If two or more teams have the same number of points, the teams that had their points rounded up will be classified below those which had their points halved neatly, as the main ranking criterion, followed by the head-to-head results, the goal difference, and the number of goals scored.

Initial classification before the start of the play-off: Ansar 14p, Shabab Sahel 13p, Al Ahed, Nejmeh and Bourj 12p, Shabab Al-Ghazieh 6p.

 

Round 2 (13-14 January 2023)

 

Shabab Sahel – Al Ahed

Shabab Al-Ghazieh – Nejmeh

Bourj – Ansar

 

Play-out

 

Round 1 (8 January 2023)

 

Safa – AC Tripoli 1-2

Tadamon Sour – Hikma / Sagesse 2-0

Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley – Salam Zgharta 2-1

 

Table

 

7	Tadamon Sour	1	1	0	0	13-15	8
8	Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley	1	1	0	0	12-26	7	(+)
9	AC Tripoli	1	1	0	0	6-23	6	(+)
10	Safa	1	0	0	1	9-17	5
11	Salam Zgharta	1	0	0	1	8-17	4	(+)
12	Hikma / Sagesse	1	0	0	1	9-17	4	(+)

 

(+) Points have been rounded up.

If two or more teams have the same number of points, the teams that had their points rounded up will be classified below those which had their points halved neatly, as the main ranking criterion, followed by the head-to-head results, the goal difference, and the number of goals scored.

Initial classification before the start of the play-out: Safa and Tadamon Sour 5p, Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley, Salam Zgharta and Hikma / Sagesse 4p, AC Tripoli 3p.

 

Round 2 (15 January 2022)

 

Hikma / Sagesse – Safa

AC Tripoli – Salam Zgharta

Tadamon Sour – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley