Bourj FC lost on penalties to Ansar in the Lebanese FA Cup semifinals

Ansar - Bourj 0-0, 3-2 on penalties

Penalties transformed by: Majed Othman, Hassan Maatouk and Hussein Al Dur (Ansar), Mohamad Kassem and Samih Damaj (Bourj). Jihad Ayoub (Ansar), Akram Moghrabi, Abou Baker Al Mel and Youssef Atriss (Bourj) missed.

Sunday, 27 February 2022, 4:45 pm local time (2:45 pm UTC), Fouad Chehab Stadium, Jounieh, Lebanon, the Lebanese FA Cup semifinal.

Bourj FC starting XI. Source: Bourj FC Facebook page

After a long break in the Lebanese football league, caused by several events, and mostly due to the ongoing dispute between Al Ahed and Nejmeh regarding their head-to-head match, the Lebanese football officially came back with the matches for the FA Cup semifinals. In the first semifinal, Nejmeh won 1-0 over Hikma / La Sagesse and reached therefore the final.

In the second semifinal, on Sunday, Ansar and Bourj offered a very tough and balanced game. The fans in the stands put up a great show, as they were allowed there after a very long time. Unfortunately, the show in the stands was better than the one in the field, where the two teams annihilated each other.

The result was a very tactical match, in which each team tried to capitalize its values at the expense of the opponent, but with very little success. In the first half, the two teams shared an almost equal number of opportunities.

However, in the second half, Ansar pushed harder to get the winning goal, but they were unable to unlock Bourj defense. Bourj responded mostly on counterattacks, but their strength decreased towards the end. The game was also fragmented, and a number of players received yellow cards for fouls or protests. Mohamad El Faour received the second yellow card (90') and left Bourj in ten men for the seven minutes of stoppage time. Ansar tried to take advantage of the situation and intensified their attacks, they even had a dangerous free kick, but could not score.

The game ended 0-0, and no extra time was played, the two teams went straight to penalties. Bourj FC started well, as Mohamad Kassem score the first penalty, while Jihad Ayoub (Ansar) missed. However, the situation changed completely, as the next two penalties were missed by the Bourj players (Akram Moghrabi and Abou Baker Al Mel), while Ansar players scored and reversed the situation in Ansar favour. Samih Damaj scored the fourth penalty for Bourj, giving them a certain hope, but Hussein Al Dur (Ansar) also scored, keeping Ansar in advantage, 3-2, before the last series. Youssef Atriss missed for Bourj and therefore Ansar did not need to execute the fifth penalty: they already won.

Ansar (in green) qualified again for the Lebanese FA Cup final. Source: elmaestrosport.com

Ansar: Nazih Assad - Nassar Nassar, Hussein Al Dur, Khaled Al Ali, Hassan Shaito "Shibriko", Jihad Ayoub, Ali Tneich "Al Sisi" (Hamza Hussein 78'), Nader Matar (Majid Othman 46'), Fayez Shamsin (Ahmed Hegazy 46'), Karim Darwish, Hassan Maatouk.

Bourj: Hassan Moghnieh - Muhamad El Dor (Samih Damaj 90'+7'), Khodor Hallak, Shadi Skaf, Youssef Anbar (Hassan Bitar 87') - Hussein Ibrahim (Mohamad Kassem 90'+7'), Mohamad El Faour - Abou Baker Al Mel, Abbas Ali Atwi "Onika" (Youssef Atriss 80'), Ali Merkabaoui (Mohamad Sadek 80') - Akram Moghrabi. Manager: Fouad Hijazi.

Referee: Muhammad Issa.

Yellow cards: Ali Tneich "Al Sisi" 62' - Hussein Tahan (Bourj assistant manager) 57', Hussein Ibrahim 59', Abbas Ali Atwi "Onika" 67', Mohamad El Faour 78', 90'.

Red card: Mohamad El Faour 90' (for the second yellow card).

Bourj missed the opportunity to reach the FA Cup final after 29 years, while Ansar successfully defended their last year cup so far, and they will have to do it one more time, in the final against their traditional opponents, Nejmeh. Both teams are very interested in the FA Cup this year, since the title seems to be impossible to attain.