Great start for Bourj FC in the championship play-off

Bourj FC - Shabab El Bourj 1-0 (1-0)

Abbas Ali Atwi "Onika" 38'.

Wednesday, 9 March 2022, 2.15 pm local time (12.15 pm UTC), Amin Abdelnour Stadium, Bhamdoun (Aley), Lebanon, round 1 of the championship play-off (Lebanese Premier League).

Bourj FC starting XI against Shabab El Bourj. Source: Bourj FC Facebook page

Bourj FC had an excellent start in the championship play-off, winning 1-0 over their rival neighbours Shabab El Bourj. It was not an easy match, and the weather conditions were far from perfect, but eventually Bourj FC achieved their objective: to get the three points. 

The captains and the referees before the start of the game. Source: elmaestrosport.com

For the first time (in the league) after a long time, spectators were allowed in the stands. It happened also two weeks ago in the Lebanese Cup. If Bourj and Ansar fans were equally distributed during the Cup game, this time the Bourj fans clearly outnumbered the Shabab El Bourj fans, although both teams were allowed the same number of spectators - 300. These spectators had to comply with the usual rules during the pandemic - they had to be fully vaccinated, for instance, in order to be allowed in. Bourj fans created a great atmosphere throughout the game, in fact the show in the stands was probably better than the one in the field.

Hussein Al Outa (in yellow) tries to reach a ball. Source: elmaestrosport.com

Shabab El Bourj clearly achieved their goal - to qualify in the top six and participate in the championship play-off. They did not even search for a foreign player to improve their squad, although the Lebanese FA allowed for one foreign player in each squad during the second stage of the season. However, this does not mean that Shabab El Bourj gave up fighting - on the contrary, they did their best, and they were not far from a draw.

In the first half, Bourj FC dominated the game almost completely, and attacked constantly, while Shabab El Bourj defended well. After several missed chances, Bourj FC finally succeeded to break the deadlock: Abou Baker Al Mel "Bako" executed a free kick, sending the ball in the box; one defender tried to clear, but the ball reached Youssef Anbar on the left, who crossed in the middle of the box once again, and captain Abbas Ali Atwi "Onika" scored with a beautiful left-foot volley, without controlling the ball first, taking everyone by surprise: 1-0 (38').

Abbas Ali Atwi "Onika" (right, #10) is congratulated by his fellow players. Source: elmaestrosport.com

The second half was less interesting. Bourj FC were only interested in preserving this small advantage and changed tactics, focusing on defense and trying to play on fast breaks. Shabab El Bourj took the apparent control of the game, but were unable to break through Bourj FC defense. Neither team was successful, although Shabab El Bourj did score, after a set piece and a header by Yasser Achour, but the goal was disallowed for offside (86'). The visitors protested heavily, to no avail.

Perhaps the main event of the second half, apart from the cancelled goal, was the first appearance of the Congolese player Bersyl Obassi for Bourj FC. He is Bourj FC foreign player to be used in this second stage, and he did quite an impressive job in the minutes he played. However, he was not very much helped in the attack, given that Bourj FC players were more focused on the defense during the second half.

Bourj FC: Hassan Moghnieh - Mohamad El Dor, Khodor Hallak, Shadi Skaf, Youssef Anbar - Hussein Ibrahim "Saaouk", Mohamad El Faour (Youssef Atriss 76') - Abou Baker Al Mel "Bako" (Bersyl Obassi 67'), Abbas Ali Atwi "Onika" (Mohamad Kassem 76'), Ali Merkabaoui - Hussein Al Outa (Hassan Bitar 82'). Manager: Fouad Hijazi.

Shabab El Bourj: Ahmad Taktouk - Mohamad Omar Arnaout, Ali Tawbe, Abbas Awad, Yasser Achour, Mohamad Sibaii (Omar Meshlawi 80'), Mehdi Tlays "Abou Mohsen" (Islam Sleiman 80'), Sultan Haidar (Ahmed Kanyar 74'), Hassan El Kadi (Ali Harb 65'), Ahmed Obaid, Ali Imad Moussawi. Manager: Youssef Al Jawhari.

Referee: Hussein Abou Yahya.

Yellow card: Youssef Anbar.

Bourj FC maintained the 6-point gap between them and leaders Al Ahed and increased the gap also to 6 points between them and the third classified, Shabab Sahel, which lost 6-0 to defending champions Ansar and seem unable to recover after losing some of their most important players during this prolonged winter break.

It looks like Bourj FC are on their way to their best league result ever, if they succeed to finish in second place. There are still four matches to be played, and the next one, against Shabab Sahel, apart from being another hard-fought local derby, may also be decisive to secure the second place in the league. Bourj FC already have an incredible run of six consecutive wins in the league, will they be able to get a seventh win in the row? Taking into account the weaknesses shown by Shabab Sahel in their match against Ansar, Bourj FC are certainly favourites.

Full results, table and fixtures:

Play-off

 

Round 1 (9-10 March 2022)

 

Bourj – Shabab El Bourj 1-0

Al Ahed – Tadamon Sour 2-0

Shabab Sahel – Ansar 0-6

 

Table

 

1	Al Ahed	12	10	2	0	22-3	32
2	Bourj	12	7	5	0	16-6	26
3	Shabab Sahel	12	6	2	4	20-19	20
4	Ansar	12	5	3	4	23-11	18
5	Shabab El Bourj	12	4	2	6	15-18	14
6	Tadamon Sour	12	3	5	4	12-12	14

 

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.

 

Round 2 (14-15 March 2022)

 

Shabab El Bourj – Al Ahed

Ansar – Tadamon Sour

Bourj – Shabab Sahel

 

Play-out

 

Round 1 (10-12 March 2022)

 

AC Sporting – AC Tripoli 0-1

Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley – Nejmeh 0-3

Safa – Hikma / Sagesse 0-0

 

Table

 

7	AC Tripoli	12	5	2	5	14-15	17
8	Nejmeh	12	5	5	2	16-8	14	[1]
9	Hikma / Sagesse	12	3	2	7	7-23	11
10	Safa	12	2	4	6	5-17	10
11	Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley	12	2	3	7	7-15	9
12	AC Sporting	12	2	1	9	9-19	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.

 

Round 2 (15 March 2022)

 

AC Tripoli – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley

Nejmeh – Hikma / Sagesse

AC Sporting – Safa

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