Fifth win in a row for Bourj FC, which finished Stage 1 in second place

Bourj FC - AC Sporting Beirut 2-1 (0-0)

Ali Merkabaoui 56', Akram Moghrabi 85' - Hamza Hammoud 48'.

Friday, 21 January 2022, 2:15 pm local time (12:15 UTC), Amin Abdelnour Stadium, Bhamdoun, Aley, Lebanon, the 11th round of the Lebanese Premier League (last round of the regular season or Stage 1).

 

The two team captains, Hussein Ibrahim (Bourj FC, left) and Hamza Hammoud (AC Sporting, right), as well as referee Hadi Salameh, before the start of the game. Source: Bourj FC Facebook page

Bourj FC continue their winning streak, reaching the fifth consecutive win in the league, sixth if one considers also the match in the Lebanese Cup. This time, they met a strong opposition from AC Sporting, last classified in the league, eager to get any possible point to escape relegation.

Bourj FC starting line-up against AC Sporting. Source: Bourj FC Facebook page

In the first half, Bourj FC maintained the overall control of the game, had most of the ball possession, but had very few chances. The quality of the match was also affected by the unusual cold weather, including snow, which had to be taken out of the pitch. Bourj FC players seemed to be more affected, while Sporting were very good in defense, but rarely attacked.

The only opportunity of the first half was missed by Akram Moghrabi, who intercepted a lousy pass back to the goalkeeper by a Sporting defender, but was blocked by Mohammad Zahr (27').

The second half started very well for AC Sporting, which surprisingly broke the deadlock. Captain Hamza Hammoud executed perfectly a free kick from about 25 m: 0-1 (48').

The goal woke up the Bourj players, who gave up the very meticulous and rather harmless attacks they had built so far, and launched an overall offensive, which bore fruit in less than 10 minutes. The equalizing goal was created by the youngest footballers in Bourj team. Ali Kharoubi sent a long and precise pass to Ali Merkabaoui, who sneaked in between the two central backs and the goalkeeper and sent the ball home: 1-1 (56').

The offensive impetus decreased after the goal, but Bourj FC continued to look for the winning goal, creating many important chances. In a single play, they had three opportunities to score, but one after the other, Akram Moghrabi, Hussein Al Outa and Ali Merkabaoui were blocked either by the goalkeeper, the side post or a defender on the goal line (67').

Several other big opportunities were missed, and it seemed that the match was going to end in a draw. However, five minutes before the end, Akram Moghrabi succeeded to execute a decisive overhead kick from inside the box, surprising the Sporting defenders and the goalkeeper: 2-1 (85').

In the final minutes, the visitors tried their best to come back into the game, looking for an equalizer, but Bourj FC knew how to maintain their fragile advantage, to stay in the second place at the end of Stage 1 (or regular stage) of the 2021-2022 season.

Bourj: Abdelkarim Saleh - Mohamad El Dor, Khodor Hallak, Hussein Ibrahim, Youssef Anbar - Mohamad Al Faour, Ali Kharoubi (Youssef Atriss 77') - Abou Baker Al Mel (Abbas Atwi "Onika" 72'), Hussein Al Outa, Ali Merkabaoui (Samih Damaj 90'+4') - Akram Moghrabi. Manager: Fouad Hijazi.

Sporting: Mohammad Zahr - Hamza Hammoud, Ali El Atat, Mohammad Hammoud, Jamal Khalife, Muhammad Bakir Ayoub, Kassem Hneino, Ali Abbas (Mohammad Moussa 74'), Kassim Al Shoum, Ali Bazzi, Mahdi Kubaisi (Issa Khreis 62'). Manager: Sami El Choum.

Referee: Hadi Salameh.

Yellow cards: Hussein Al Outa 11' - Mohammad Zahr 56'.

The regular season is not over, because there are still two matches to be played. The big surprise is that Nejmeh will not be in the top six, and therefore will not play for the title this season, if the 6 points deduction is maintained as it is. An even bigger surprise would be that defending champions Ansar would not qualify in the play-off, which will happen if they do not win their postponed match against Shabab El Bourj.

The play-off and play-out matches will probably start in mid-February.

Full results, table and fixtures:

Round 11 (21-22 January 2022)

 

Bourj – AC Sporting 2-1

Tadamon Sour – AC Tripoli 1-0

Nejmeh – Shabab Sahel 1-2

Al Ahed – Safa 2-1

Hikma / Sagesse – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley 0-0

Ansar – Shabab El Bourj postponed

 

Table

 

1	Al Ahed	11	9	2	0	20-3	29
2	Bourj	11	6	5	0	15-6	23
3	Shabab Sahel	11	6	2	3	20-13	20
4	Shabab El Bourj	10	4	2	4	15-13	14	[1]
5	Tadamon Sour	11	3	5	3	12-10	14	[1]
6	AC Tripoli	11	4	2	5	13-15	14	[1]
7	Ansar	10	3	3	4	13-11	12
8	Nejmeh	10	4	4	2	13-8	10	[2]
9	Hikma / Sagesse	11	3	1	7	7-23	10
10	Safa	11	2	3	6	5-17	9
11	Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley	10	2	2	6	7-12	8
12	AC Sporting	11	2	1	8	9-18	7

 

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.

 

Postponed matches

 

Round 10 (5 February 2022)

 

Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley – Nejmeh

 

Round 11 (6 February 2022)

 

Ansar – Shabab El Bourj

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[1] Head-to-head points and goal difference: Shabab El Bourj 4 points (3-0), Tadamon Sour 4 points (1-0), AC Tripoli 0 points.

[2] Nejmeh were deducted 6 points for not attending the game against Al Ahed in round 10.