Bourj FC won the Dahieh derby after more than a year and a half, Shabab Sahel in trouble

Shabab Sahel - Bourj FC 1-2 (0-2)

Ali Fakih 74' - Ali Kassas 20', Tidiane Camara 45'+1'.

Friday, 27 October 2023, 3 pm local time (12 noon UTC), Rachid Karami (Tripoli Municipal) Stadium, Tripoli, Lebanon, 7th round of the Lebanese Premier League.

Bourj FC starting line-up. Photo source: Bourj FC Facebook page

Shabab Sahel starting line-up. Photo source: Shabab Al Sahel FC Facebook page

Teams and referees before the start of the game, respecting a moment of silence. Photo source: Shabab Al Sahel FC Facebook page

After a break of almost a month, caused by the games of the Lebanon national team and the continental competitions, the Lebanese Premier League resumed this week-end (on Friday) with the Dahieh derby between Shabab Sahel and Bourj FC. The match was played in Tripoli, a neutral venue, quite far from the southern suburbs of Beirut which provide the majority of the fans of the two teams.

The match was very disputed, as usual. Photo source: Bourj FC Facebook page

Bourj started in a very unusual line-up, but manager Hussein Tahan proved that he was right in his choice. Shabab Sahel had more ball possession in the beginning, and overall, but Bourj FC were more dangerous, launching swift counterattacks. On such a fast break, Hilal El Helwe escaped on the left side and provided a cross to Ali Kassas, but the young winger was unable to reach the ball (10'). It was just a warning, which Shabab Sahel should have taken into account. Just a few minutes later, the same two players combined to break the deadlock: Hilal El Helwe stole the ball from Andrew Ikefe at the edge of the box, and Ali Kassas' shot went through the legs of a defender and a goalkeeper, hitting the target to the near post: 0-1 (20').

Hilal El Helwe (#99, left) and Ali Kassas (#20, in the air) combined to score the first goal. Photo source: Bourj FC Facebook page

Shabab Al Sahel tried to come back in the game, but it was Bourj which had more opportunities in the first half. Hassan Chaito ”Moni”, who played in the starting XI after a long time, made an excellent game behind the strikers, providing many balls and creating many chances. However, the second goal came after a very long ball sent by the goalkeeper Ali Halal. Shabab Sahel defenders looked asleep, probably waiting for their own goalkeeper Ahmad Diab to come and collect the ball, while Ahmad Diab probably waited for the defenders, and came out very late, allowing Tidiane Camara to reach the ball first, and to head it above the goalkeeper into the back of the net: 0-2 (45'+1').

Tidiane Camara (right, in yellow and black) scored the second goal for Bourj FC after a terrible mistake of the Shabab Sahel defence. Photo source: Bourj FC Facebook page

In the second half, Shabab Sahel dominated the game, but could not find many ways to break through the opposite defense. Bourj FC manager Hussein Tahan made several changes, allowing more young players to come up and play more minutes, which are counted by the Lebanese Football Federation. On the contrary, Shabab Sahel manager Dragan Jovanović tried to enforce his offensive lines, and it was one of the substitutes, Ali Fakih, whose shot from outside the box hit the target: 1-2 (74').

Hussein Monzer (in blue), one of the most active players of Shabab Sahel, tackled by Bourj FC captain, Mohamad El Sibaii "Wartan". Photo source: Shabab Al Sahel FC Facebook page

The goal came rather unexpectedly, after a long period in which Shabab Sahel had no chances, but the tensions rised immediately after, and both teams improved their level, Shabab Sahel trying to equalize, and Bourj FC defending properly. However, nothing happened and Bourj FC obtained a much desired victory, more than one year and half since their last win over their Dahieh rivals in March 2022.

Mohamad Zein Tahan (Bourj FC) tried a spectacular bicycle kick, but the shot went wide. Photo source: Bourj FC Facebook page

The match was broadcasted on MTV Lebanon (all platforms) and on FIFA+ platform online.

Shabab Sahel: Ahmad Diab - Ali Abboud, Andrew Ikefe, Richard Baffour, Ali Fahes, Ali El Fadl, Hussein Monzer, Hassan Jaafar, Mohamad Haidar, Hadi Dakwar, Francis Nwankwo. Manager: Dragan Jovanović. Fallou Galass Wade, Said Saad and Ali Fakih played in the second half.

Bourj FC: Ali Halal - Mohamad Zein Tahan, Mohamad El Husseini, Ahmad Al Saleh, Mohamad El Hayek - Mohamad El Sibai "Wartan", Prosper Donkor - Ali Kassas, Hassan Chaito "Moni", Tidiane Camara - Hilal El Helwe. Manager: Hussein Tahan. Ali Chaito, Ali Merkabaoui, Mohamad El Saleh, Shadi Skaf and Mohamad El Faour played in the second half.

Referee: Mohamad Haddad.

Bourj FC climbed on the second place before the other matches of the round, and cannot get lower than third after round 7. However, for them it is more important to secure a spot in the top 6 at the end of the regular season, which looks very achievable at the moment, with four rounds to go. They can even hope of a top 3, if the positive results continue. The decisive match in this respect might be the next one, against Ansar (fourth at the moment), two weeks from now.

On the other hand, Shabab Sahel are in crisis. They have not won since the 4th of August, 3-1 over Hikma / Sagesse, which means that this was their sixth consecutive game without a win, and they are in clear danger of missing the top 6 if they continue this way. They also lost two of their last three games (5-0 to Al Ahed and 2-1 to Bourj FC) and their 0-0 draw with Tadamon Sour (themselves in crisis) might be considered similar to a defeat. In the next game, they will face Shabab Al-Ghazieh, and the win is needed for the top 6 to remain achievable.

Full results and fixtures:

 

Round 7 (27-29 October 2023)

 

Shabab Sahel – Bourj 1-2

Shabab Al-Ghazieh – Hikma / Sagesse 1-0

Ansar – Tadamon Sour 1-0

AC Tripoli – Nejmeh to be played on 29 October

Racing – Al Ahly Nabatieh to be played on 29 October

Safa – Al Ahed to be played on 29 October

 

Table

 

1	Nejmeh	6	5	1	0	16-3	16	Qualified for the play-off
2	Bourj	7	4	2	1	13-7	14	Qualified for the play-off
3	Al Ahed	6	4	1	1	18-5	13	Qualified for the play-off
4	Ansar	7	3	4	0	11-8	13	Qualified for the play-off
5	Safa	6	2	3	1	11-10	9	Qualified for the play-off
6	Racing	6	2	3	1	10-12	9	Qualified for the play-off
7	Shabab Sahel	7	1	4	2	6-10	7	Qualified for the play-out
8	Tadamon Sour	7	1	2	4	4-8	5	Qualified for the play-out
9	Al Ahly Nabatieh	7	0	5	1	5-9	5	Qualified for the play-out
10	Shabab Al-Ghazieh	7	1	2	4	4-14	5	Qualified for the play-out
11	AC Tripoli	6	0	3	3	6-10	3	Qualified for the play-out
12	Hikma / Sagesse	7	1	0	6	6-14	3	Qualified for the play-out

 

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 8 (10-12 November 2023)

 

Shabab Al-Ghazieh – Shabab Sahel

Safa – Tadamon Sour

Ansar – Bourj

AC Tripoli – Al Ahed

Nejmeh – Al Ahly Nabatieh

Racing – Hikma / Sagesse