Bourj FC won narrowly over Tadamon Sour and finished the regular season in third place

Tadamon Sour - Bourj FC 0-1 (0-1)

Ahmed Al Saleh 35'

Friday, 8 December 2023, 2:15 pm local time (12:15 pm UTC), Safa Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon, 11th (last) round of the regular season, Lebanese Premier League.

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

Tadamon Sour starting line-up. Photo source: Lebanese FA Facebook page

The last round of the regular season in Lebanon included the match between Tadamon Sour and Bourj FC, scheduled to be played on Friday, 8 December, right before the traditional Lebanese derby between Nejmeh and Ansar (which concluded with Ansar's smashing 5-1 win). Bourj FC needed a win to finish the regular season in third place and to collect more points for the upcoming play-off, while Tadamon Sour tried to end their negative run of four defeats (which are now five defeats in a row) and to enter the play-out with a better morale. Tadamon Sour were officially the hosts, but the match was played at Safa Stadium, which is rather the home ground for Bourj FC.

There were many high crosses in Tadamon's box, and eventually one paid off. Photo source: Lebanese FA Facebook page

The match was more balanced than one would have predicted, with Bourj dominating the first half, and Tadamon the second half. Bourj started very well, but after a few minutes Tadamon succeeded to bring the game farther away from their box, and even in the opposite half, although they did not pose any serious threat to Bourj in the first half. As a result, Bourj struggled a lot to build up their attacks, especially on the right side, with their usual high crosses meant for either Hilal El Helwe or Tidiane Camara.

Houssem Louati (Bourj FC, no. 24) took a free kick at the beginning of the match, but the ball went wide. Photo source: elmaestrosport.com

When corners emerged, both central backs Khodor Khallak and Ahmed Al Saleh went into the box, creating more pressure with their height and powerful headers. It was in one such occasion that the only goal of the match was scored. Houssem Louati took a corner from the right side, Tidiane Camara headed from the centre of the box, Karim Arab was unable to catch the ball, and Ahmed Al Saleh promptly scored from short range with his right foot: 0-1 (35').

Ahmed Al Saleh (Bourj FC, in black and yellow), here in a battle for the ball with Hassan Bazzi (Tadamon Sour), scored the only goal of the match. Photo source: Lebanese FA Facebook page

The second half started very differently, with Tadamon Sour changing tactics, and launching dangerous attacks, which ended in powerful shots that tested Abdelkarim Saleh. Bourj FC replied on fast breaks, and opportunities alternated fast at the two ends of the field. Houssem Louati missed a great chance for Bourj FC, all alone with the goalkeeper (50'), while Tadamon Sour even scored, when Abdelkarim Saleh saved a shot, but the ball went to Ghassan Sarriyeh who scored, but from an obvious offside position (53'). The game was then interrupted for a long time due to a serious injury of Ali Bitar (Tadamon), who clashed head on with Mohamad Sibaii "Wartan" (Bourj FC). Luckily, although he was transported to the hospital, news emerged that Ali Bitar is fine. 

Ali Bitar (Tadamon) is transported to an ambulance after a head-on clash, and the game was interrupted for more than 10 minutes. Photo source: Lebanese FA Facebook page

After the match resumed, Tadamon scored again, after a cross in the box, but the player touched the ball with his hand when scoring, and the goal was again disallowed, much to the disappointment of Tadamon staff (70').

Tadamon attacks intensified in the final minutes, including 14 minutes of stoppage time, which were played mostly in Bourj half and even in Bourj box, but Tadamon attackers did not find a way to break through. Moreover, Bourj could have doubled their advantage several times, on counterattacks, but Hilal El Helwe, Tidiane Camara, and Houssem Louati did not find the back of the net either.

Bourj FC players congratulating Ahmed Al Saleh (second from left) for scoring the only goal of the game. Photo source: Lebanese FA Facebook page

However, Bourj FC eventually obtained a much needed win and they finish the regular season in third place, which is also their best ever performance in the league, as they finished third in two occassions, last time in 2021-2022. However, this will not be easy to maintain in the play-off, with Ansar in fourth place chasing for a better position.

Tadamon Sour will be involved in the play-out and their main objective should be to avoid relegation.

Tadamon starting line-up: Karim Arab - Ali Bitar, Abbas Sherkawi, Kassem Watfa, Mohamad Dbouk, Ali Ezzeddine, Hassan Sherkawi, Hassan El Chemali, Jawad Kawtharani, Ghassan Sarriyeh, Hassan Bazzi. Manager: Malek Hassoun.

Bourj FC: Andelkarim Saleh - Mohamad El Dor, Khodor Hallak, Ahmed Al Saleh, Mohamad Al Hayek (Mohamad Zein Tahan 75') - Prosper Donkor, Mohamad El Sibaii "Wartan" (Mohamad El Faour 84') - Ali Merkabawi (Hassan Chaito "Moni" 75'), Houssem Lawati (Saad Al Shawiki 90'+13'), Tidiane Camara - Hilal El Helwe (Ali Kassas 84'). Manager: Hussein Tahan.

Referee: Ahmad Alaeddine.

Safa, Racing and Shabab Sahel will fight for two remaining places in play-off, and one of them will join the play-out group. Bourj will face fourth-placed Ansar in the first round of play-off.

Full results and table, with three matches remaining to be played on Sunday, and one match (Nejmeh - Al Ahly Nabatieh) postponed from round 8 before the end of the regular season:

 

Round 10 (2-3 December 2023)

 

Safa – Shabab Al-Ghazieh 3-0

Al Ahly Nabatieh – Hikma / Sagesse 0-1

Nejmeh – Shabab Sahel 3-1

Racing – Ansar 2-2

AC Tripoli – Tadamon Sour 2-0

Al Ahed – Bourj 3-0

 

Round 11 (7-10 December 2023)

 

Al Ahed – Shabab Al-Ghazieh 5-0

Tadamon Sour – Bourj 0-1

Nejmeh – Ansar 1-5

AC Tripoli – Hikma / Sagesse to be played on 10 December

Al Ahly Nabatieh – Shabab Sahel to be played on 10 December

Safa – Racing to be played on 10 December

 

Table

 

1	Al Ahed	11	9	1	1	31-6	28	Qualified for the play-off
2	Nejmeh	10	8	1	1	24-11	25	Qualified for the play-off
3	Bourj	11	6	3	2	17-11	21	Qualified for the play-off
4	Ansar	11	5	5	1	20-13	20	Qualified for the play-off
5	Safa	10	4	4	2	20-15	16	Qualified for the play-off
6	Racing	10	3	5	2	17-17	14	Qualified for the play-off
7	Shabab Sahel	10	3	4	3	11-15	13	Qualified for the play-out
8	AC Tripoli	10	2	3	5	10-13	9	Qualified for the play-out
9	Hikma / Sagesse	10	2	1	7	9-17	7	Qualified for the play-out
10	Tadamon Sour	11	1	2	8	5-16	5	Qualified for the play-out
11	Al Ahly Nabatieh	9	0	5	4	5-14	5	Qualified for the play-out
12	Shabab Al-Ghazieh	11	1	2	8	5-26	5	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.