Sunday, the 25th of October 2020, 2.15 pm local time (12.15 pm UTC), Amin Abdelnour Stadium, Bhamdoun (Aley), Lebanon, the 4th round of the Lebanese Premier League.
Bourj FC starting XI was the same as the one in the winning match against Safa. Source: Bourj FC Facebook page
This was supposed to be the easiest match for Bourj FC in this first round. They have just managed their first win, 4-1 over Safa, while Salam Zgharta were last classified with three defeats in three matches, without scoring a single goal so far, while receiving 10.
It looks like this "favourite" position does not help too much in the case of Bourj FC. While theoretically away at Zgharta, the match was played at Bhamdoun, so technically a neutral ground, but closer to Bourj FC, as they have played their home matches on this ground for a while. And on the same ground they won 4-1 over Safa about a week ago.
Despite all these calculations, Salam Zgharta started well and took the lead very early, as Hamza Ali executed perfectly a free kick from just outside the area: 1-0 (3'). Bourj FC clearly did not expect this, and they needed some time to recover in the field, even more so as their opponents withdrew to defend this small advantage and barely crossed the midfield in the first half. This style of defending with all players seemed efficient, since Bourj attacks did not yield any results for quite a while. The situation worsened for Bourj as their most creative player, Mohamad Kassem, had to be substituted because of an injury. However, the equalizer came right before half time: Abou Baker Al-Mel crossed from the right side and Hussein Al Outa managed to head the ball in: 1-1 (43').
In the second half, Bourj FC seemed to have learned nothing from the first half. While the game opened up a bit, Bourj continued to attack, but Salam Zgharta had their chances on the counterattack and in one of these breaks, Oscar Ghantous succeeded to get passed through several Bourj FC defenders and his shot went in: 2-1 (63'). The same scenario as in most of the first half ensued, with Salam Zgharta defending desperately and Bourj FC attacking with all their players. Even in these conditions, Salam Zgharta could have scored a winner on another counterattack, but Hassan Al Annan saved from the goal line (77'). Bourj's manager Mohammad Dakka even decided to substitute a central defender for a central forward (83') and in the next minute, after a corner, newly-entered Fadel Antar brought the much expected equalizer with a powerful shot from the centre of the area: 2-2 (84'). In the final minutes, Bourj FC could have won, but they missed an enormous chance by Zein Ferran (87').
Salam Zgharta: Mahmoud Sidawi - Taha Hussein (Ali Basma 57'), Rami Fakih, Yehya Kahil, Hamza Ali - Oscar Ghantous (Cesar Ghantous 90'), Amer Mahfoud, Philip Ayoub (Hicham Naboulsi 57') - Walid Fattouh, Alex Boutros (Michael Fenianos 69'), Mohammad Daher. Head coach: Ghassan Khawaja.
Bourj FC: Abdel Al Karim Saleh - Hamza Abboud, Ahmad Khatib, Khodor Hallak (Ibrahim Abou Hamdan 83'), Walid Ismail - Mohammad Kassem (Hassan Al Annan 30'), Hussein Ibrahim (Mohammad Al Faour 64') - Abou Baker Al-Mel (Zein Al Abidin Ferran 64'), Mohammad Jaafar, Hussein Al Outa - Mohammad Naser (Fadel Antar 83'). Head coach: Mohammad Dakka.
Yellow cards: Yehya Kahil 50', Amer Mahfoud 72', Hicham Naboulsi 80' - Hussein Ibrahim 19'.
Results, table and fixtures:
Round 4 (23-25 October 2020)
Shabab El Bourj – Shabab Al-Ghazieh 4-1
Safa – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley 0-2
Shabab Sahel – Tadamon Sour 1-0
AC Tripoli – Nejmeh 0-3
Salam Zgharta – Bourj 2-2
Ansar – Al Ahed 3-1
Table
|
1 |
Ansar |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
9-1 |
12 |
AFC Champions League |
|
2 |
Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley |
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
5-1 |
10 |
AFC Cup |
|
3 |
Nejmeh |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
9-2 |
8 |
Play-off |
|
4 |
Shabab Sahel |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
3-1 |
8 |
Play-off |
|
5 |
Shabab El Bourj |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
8-4 |
7 |
Play-off |
|
6 |
Bourj |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
8-6 |
5 |
Play-off |
|
7 |
Safa |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5-7 |
4 |
|
|
8 |
Al Ahed |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4-6 |
4 |
|
|
9 |
AC Tripoli |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
3-7 |
3 |
|
|
10 |
Shabab Al-Ghazieh |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
2-8 |
3 |
|
|
11 |
Tadamon Sour |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0-3 |
0 |
Relegation to the Second Division |
|
12 |
Salam Zgharta |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2-12 |
0 |
Relegation to the Second Division |
If two or more teams have the same number of points, the results of direct matches between them are the main ranking criteria.
Round 5 (31 October – 1 November 2020)
Nejmeh – Bourj
Salam Zgharta – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley
Shabab Al-Ghazieh – Al Ahed
Ansar – Shabab Sahel
Tadamon Sour – Safa
Shabab El Bourj – AC Tripoli
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