Bourj won 1-0 the local derby over Shabab El Bourj in the seventh round of the Lebanese Premier League

Wednesday, the 9th of December 2020, 4.05 pm local time (2.05 pm UTC), Fouad Chehab Stadium, Jounieh, Lebanon, the 7th round of the Lebanese Premier League.
There was almost one month of break for the Lebanese teams, caused by the matches of the national teams first, and then by the new measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, taken by the Lebanese government, which prohibited any sort of group sporting activities, including football. After heavy negotiations between the football authorities and the government, the Lebanese Premier League resumed on Tuesday, the 8th of December 2020, with five (out of six) matches of round 7, while the last match, the Bourj el-Barajneh derby, was played on Wednesday, the 9th of December.

Goalkeeper Abdel Karim Saleh was one of Bourj's heroes in this game, defending a penalty. Source: elmaestrosport.com (Talal Salman)

The game started very well, with good opportunities on both sides. A shot by Al Mel went wide (4'), while a great pass by Ali Hammoud reached Ali Bazzi in the area, and the goalkeeper Abdel Karim Saleh was late in his challenge. However, the same goalkeeper saved the penalty executed by Ali Bazzi and the score stayed the same (11'). Despite this, Bourj looked more focused on scoring and winning. Fadel Antar scored what looked to be a perfectly valid goal, lobbing Meslmani (20') but the goal was cancelled for an alleged offside position (not confirmed by the replays). A cross from the left side by Al Mel found Al Outa all alone in 5 metres, but his header from a very low position went straight into the arms of the goalkeeper, on the other side (34'). Immediately after, Abdel Karim Saleh stopped a very dangerous action by Adnan Melhem (35').

 Fadel Antar scored the only goal of the game. Source: elmaestrosport.com (Talal Salman)

The second half also started with Bourj more in possession, trying harder to break through the opposite defense, while Shabab El Bourj played reactively, mostly on the counter. The decisive moment of the game came in the 58th minute: Ali Bazzi mistakenly passed to Mohamad Kassem, whose strong shot from outside the area was deflected by the goalkeeper in the side post, from where the ball came to Fadel Antar, who eventually scored: 0-1 (58').
The goal changed the whole game, as the roles changed, with Shabab El Bourj attacking more and more, and Bourj defending and launching fast breaks. Fadel Antar could have doubled his team's advantage, as he lobbed a ball sent carelessly home by Bilal Nasrallah, but missed by very little (79'). The only real chance of equalizing came very late for Shabab El Bourj, in stoppage time, but Adnan Melhem's header missed the target (90'+2').

Bourj FC celebrated their victory at the end of the game in Jounieh. Source: Bourj FC Facebook page

Shabab El Bourj: Fadel Meslmani - Daniel Abbas (Bilal Nasrallah 73'), Saad Youssef, Hassan Hazime, Abbas Awad (Ali Remaiti 87') - Mahdi Tleis, Ali Ballout (Mohamad Al Sebaei 63'), Hussein Awada - Ali Hammoud (Issa Bazzi 73'), Adnan Melhem, Ali Bazzi. Manager: Youssef Al Jawhari.
Bourj: Abdel Karim Saleh - Hamza Abboud, Khodor Hallak, Ahmad Al Khatib, Walid Ismail - Mohamad Al Faour, Mohamad Kassem, Hassan Al Annan (Ibrahim Abou Hamdan 80') - Abou Baker Al Mel (Ghassan Farran 90'+4'), Fadel Antar (Zein Al Abidin Farran 82'), Hussein Al Outa (Mohamad El Dor 90'+4'). Manager: Fouad Hijazi.
Referee: Ali Rida.
Yellow cards: Daniel Abbas 33' - Mohamad Al Faour 27', Abou Baker Al Mel 90'+4'.

Bourj FC celebrated a lot this second win this year but they need to consolidate their place in the upper half of the table, and the next match is Sunday, against Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley, the biggest surprise this season, a team which is now among the top ones in Lebanon. Shabab El Bourj lost their position in the upper half and should fight a lot to get it back, with only four rounds to go before the end of the first stage of the Lebanese Premier League. They will have an equally difficult match on Sunday, against Shabab Sahel, another team which looks already qualified for the play-off. The next round will end with the derby of the strongest teams this season, Ansar and Nejmeh.
Full results, table and fixtures:

Round 7 (8-9 December 2020)

 

Ansar – Salam Zgharta 6-0

Shabab Al-Ghazieh – Safa 0-1

Al Ahed – Shabab Sahel 0-0

Nejmeh – Tadamon Sour 2-0

AC Tripoli – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley 0-0

Shabab El Bourj – Bourj 0-1

 

Table

 

1	Ansar	7	6	0	1	21-3	18	AFC Champions League
2	Nejmeh	7	4	3	0	14-3	15	AFC Cup
3	Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley	7	4	3	0	7-2	15
4	Shabab Sahel	7	4	3	0	6-1	15
5	Safa	7	3	1	3	9-13	10
6	Bourj	7	2	3	2	9-8	9
7	Al Ahed	7	2	3	2	6-7	9
8	Shabab El Bourj	7	2	2	3	9-7	8
9	AC Tripoli	7	2	2	3	4-7	8
10	Tadamon Sour	7	1	1	5	2-7	4
11	Shabab Al-Ghazieh	7	1	0	6	2-12	3	Relegation to the Second Division
12	Salam Zgharta	7	0	1	6	2-21	1	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 8 (12-13 December 2020)

 

AC Tripoli – Tadamon Sour

Shabab Al-Ghazieh – Salam Zgharta

Al Ahed – Safa

Bourj – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley

Shabab El Bourj – Shabab Sahel

Nejmeh – Ansar