Surprising home defeat for Bourj FC, 1-2 against Homenetmen in the third round of the Lebanese Second Division

On Saturday, 29 September, Bourj FC suffered a surprising and even shocking home defeat against Homenetmen Beirut in the third round of the Lebanese Second Division. The match was played at Bhamdoun Stadium in Aley instead of the usual home ground for Bourj, Safa Stadium in Beirut.

 Bourj FC before the start of the game against La Sagesse. Source: Bourj FC Official Facebook page

The visitors took the lead in the 29th minute by Sami Biaye and extended it to 2-0 right before half time, when Bourj FC goalkeeper Karim Abdul Saleh saved a penalty but the ball went back to David Ghandilyan, who scored.

The home side only succeeded to come back to one goal difference, by Wassem Abdulhady in the 50th minute, also by penalty, but they were unable to equalize for the rest of the second half, when Homenetmen were very well organized in the defense.

The result is surprising because Bourj FC underwent a series of supposedly positive changes during spring and summer, including a change in the management of the club and of the head coach. The game against Homenetmen provided the opportunity to meet the former head coach of Bourj FC, Hassan Mashor Meqdad, better known as Mido, now head coach of Homenetmen. Under his management in the previous years, Bourj FC promoted to the Third Division (2015) and to the Second Division (2017) and almost to the Premier League at the end of the 2017-2018 season. Some of the supporters blamed him for the last result in the league, 1-1 to Mabarrah, when a win would have brought the much desired promotion to the Premier League. Perhaps now the same supporters regret him as a head coach, who had important results with less investments and not the same financial support as now.

Despite the changes, the team of the present head coach Mohamad Dakka did not start as expected, as Bourj FC only have 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss after a mere 3 rounds, gathering 4 points. It is quite obvious that some things are not working right. The two foreign players, Papys Boubacar and Abdoullah Kanoute, did not score a single goal in any of the three matches, although this is the reason they have been brought. More than half of the team has been changed but the new players seem to need more time to adapt and to adjust. Many experienced players have arrived but the fighting spirit is not the same as last year.

The supporters' dream, to have a team that wins every match in the Second Division, from the beginning until the end, has vanished rather early. It is now time to reflect and analyze what is good and what went wrong, and to correct the mistakes for better results in the future games.
Highlights of the match are available on Bourj Fans Tube Facebook page.

In the next round, Bourj FC will play away at Ahly Sidon on Friday, the 5th of October.

Round 3 (28-30 September 2018)

Mabarrah – Shabab El Bourj 0-0

Shabab Al Arabi – Nahda Barelias 1-0

Bourj – Homenetmen 1-2

Ahly Sidon – Hikma / La Sagesse 1-1

Egtmaaey Tripoli – Al Islah Al Bourj Al Shimaly 5-1

Naser Barelias – Ahly Nabatieh 2-3

                                Table

1	Shabab Al Arabi	3	2	0	1	3-1	6
2	Al Islah Al Bourj Al Sh.	3	2	0	1	3-5	6
3	Ahly Sidon	3	1	1	1	6-4	4
3	Egtmaaey Tripoli	3	1	1	1	6-4	4
5	Bourj	3	1	1	1	3-2	4
6	Homenetmen	3	1	1	1	5-5	4
7	Nahda Barelias	3	1	1	1	4-4	4
8	Mabarrah	3	1	1	1	2-2	4
9	Shabab El Bourj	3	1	1	1	1-1	4
10	Ahly Nabatieh	3	1	1	1	4-6	4
11	Naser Barelias	3	1	0	2	3-4	3
12	Hikma / La Sagesse	3	0	2	1	2-4	2

Round 4 (5-7 October 2018)

Ahly Sidon – Bourj

Egtmaaey Tripoli – Mabarrah

Hikma / La Sagesse – Naser Barelias

Homenetmen – Shabab Al Arabi

Ahly Nabatieh – Shabab El Bourj

Nahda Barelias – Al Islah Al Bourj Al Shimaly

Real Garcilaso - Sporting Cristal 2-2 (1-0) in the top match of the fifth round in the Peruvian Clausura

Thursday night, on 27 September, Real Garcilaso played at home in Cuzco against the Torneo de Verano and Apertura winners, Sporting Cristal. The match was very important as Real Garcilaso is still hoping to get a place in the play-off semifinals, while Sporting Cristal might become champions without any play-offs if they manage to win also the Clausura.

Head coach of Real Garcilaso, Tabare Silva, had to make come changes in the line-up as Aucca had been sent off in the previous game. However, he choose to play without any young player, which is possible if two young players are to be used in a future game, and Tragodara replaced Aucca in the midfield. Also, goalkeeper Carlos Caceda, recently arrived on loan from Mexican side Veracruz, was introduced for the first time. Therefore, the starting XI included: Caceda - Arismendi, Kontogiannis, Dulanto, Cossio - Tragodara, Archimbaud - Vidales, Ramua, Santillan - Rengifo.

Real Garcilaso took a rather early advantage as Lampros Kontogiannis headed to goal from close range after the ball was sent in the area by Ramua from a free kick on the right side of the home attack: 1-0 in the 18th minute.

Sporting Cristal had some good chances in the first half but they managed to equalize only at the beginning of the second half, by a right-footed shot of Gabriel Costa from inside the area: 1-1 in the 48th minute.

Real Garcilaso were back in advantage in the 79th minute, when Jhonny Vidales accurately transformed a penalty given for a foul of the goalkeeper Patricio Alvarez on Afredo Ramua: 2-1.

In the 87th minute, however, Sporting Cristal equalized again by another right-footed shot from inside the area, this time by youngster Christopher Olivares: 2-2, which remained the final score.

Both teams are now 5 points behind FBC Melgar, leader of the Peruvian Clausura tournament.

The next round is programmed this week-end and Real Garcilaso has a very difficult away game to one of their traditional opponents, Alianza Lima, on Sunday afternoon.

Round 5 (25-27 September 2018)

Comerciantes Unidos – Sport Boys 3-2

Academia Cantolao – Sport Huancayo 1-1

Universidad de San Martín – Ayacucho 1-3

UTC – Binacional 2-1

FBC Melgar – Sport Rosario 2-1

Real Garcilaso – Sporting Cristal 2-2

Deportivo Municipal – Alianza Lima – postponed for 9 October

Universitario de Deportes – Unión Comercio – postponed for 13 October

Clausura Table

1	FBC Melgar	5	4	1	0	11-4	13
2	Ayacucho FC	5	3	2	0	9-2	11
3	Sporting Cristal	5	2	2	1	13-6	8
4	Real Garcilaso	5	2	2	1	12-9	8
5	Universidad de San Martín	5	2	2	1	8-7	8
6	Alianza Lima	3	2	1	0	6-3	7
7	Academia Cantolao	5	2	1	2	8-8	7
8	Deportivo Municipal	4	2	1	1	2-4	7
9	Sport Huancayo	5	1	3	1	7-7	6
10	UTC	5	1	3	1	4-4	6
11	Universitario de Deportes	4	1	1	2	5-7	4
12	Sport Boys	4	1	1	2	5-8	4
13	Comerciantes Unidos	5	1	1	3	5-9	4
14	Unión Comercio	4	1	0	3	4-8	3
15	Binacional	5	1	0	4	4-12	3
16	Sport Rosario	5	0	1	4	3-8	1

Round 6 (29-30 September 2018)

Binacional – Academia Cantolao

Ayacucho – Universitario de Deportes

Sport Rosario – UTC

Sport Boys – FBC Melgar

Sporting Cristal – Comerciantes Unidos

Unión Comercio – Deportivo Municipal

Alianza Lima – Real Garcilaso

Sport Huancayo – Universidad de San Martín

Aggregate table (Torneo de Verano + Apertura + Clausura) (on September 28)

1	Sporting Cristal	34	21	10	3	82-28	73	Copa Libertadores – group stage
2	FBC Melgar	34	16	14	4	54-37	62	Copa Libertadores
3	Real Garcilaso	34	16	6	12	52-51	54	Copa Libertadores
4	Alianza Lima	32	15	8	9	46-36	53	Copa Libertadores
5	Sport Huancayo	34	13	12	9	52-42	51	Copa Sudamericana
6	Deportivo Municipal	33	15	6	12	47-41	51	Copa Sudamericana
7	U.T. Cajamarca	34	12	14	8	37-38	50	Copa Sudamericana
8	Binacional	34	12	9	13	37-43	45	Copa Sudamericana
9	Academia Cantolao	34	10	11	13	43-48	41
10	Univ. San Martín	34	8	16	10	48-48	40
11	Sport Rosario	34	12	6	16	47-53	38[1]
12	Ayacucho FC	34	10	7	17	48-57	37
13	Sport Boys	33	8	12	13	40-50	36
14	Universitario	33	7	14	12	39-49	35
15	Unión Comercio	33	9	8	16	36-52	35	Relegation to the Second Division
16	Comerciantes Unidos	34	5	7	22	33-68	22	Relegation to the Second Division

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[1] Sport Rosario have been deducted 4 points for financial and economic irregularities.