The Dahieh derby ended with a draw

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

Ali Fahes 61' - Bersyl Obassi 34'.

Friday, 29 April 2022, 3:30 pm local time (12:30 UTC), Amin Abdelnour Stadium, Bhamdoun (Aley), Lebanon, 9th round of the championship play-off, Lebanese Premier League.

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

Bourj FC have missed yet another opportunity to become sure of the second place at the end of the 2021-2022 season of the Lebanese Premier League. Two wins against Shabab El Bourj and Shabab Sahel in the local Dahieh derbies would have settled the issue. However, they lost to Shabab El Bourj, and they only drew with Shabab Sahel, and therefore got just one point out of six. Ansar are only one point away with one round to go, and in fact they are favorites to claim the second place, because they have an accessible opponent in the last round, while Bourj will face Al Ahed, already champions, which have not lost a single game the entire season and it is hard to believe that they will do so exactly in the last round.

Shabab Sahel players and staff before the start of the game. Source: elmaestrosport.com

The match was mostly controlled by Bourj FC, which played better overall and deserved to win, but were once again betrayed by their lack of attention in defense and lack of precision in attack. Shabab Sahel started to play better in the second half, until they scored the equalizer. In the end they were quite happy with the draw, unlike Bourj FC, which fought desperately in the final minutes, without success.

In the first half, Bourj FC dominated clearly and the game was played mainly in the Shabab Sahel half. Goalkeeper Ali Daher saved quite many shots. The best opportunity, before the goal, belonged to Abbas Ali Atwi "Onika", whose shot was blocked by the goalkeeper (17'). Nevertheless, the biggest chance belonged to Shabab Sahel, on a counterattack: Christian Obiozor, one on one with Abdelkarim Saleh, was unable to score (25').

The goal eventually came for Bourj FC: Hussein Al Outa passed to Abbas Ali Atwi "Onika" on the right side, his long cross to the far post was headed by Mohamad Sadek back in front of the goal, where Bersyl Obassi simply had to tap it in: 0-1 (34').

After the goal, Shabab Sahel changed their tactics and become more offensive, while Bourj FC looked very pleased with the score and gave up their charges. This became more visible in the beginning of the second half, with Shabab Sahel firmly in the opposite half, pressing for an equalizer.

This finally arrived from a set piece, a corner from the right side, executed by Mohamad Hammoud, and the ball was headed in by Ali Fahes from the centre of the box, despite the opposition of Mohamad El Dor, who tried to clear the ball from the goal line, but to no avail: 1-1 (61').

Immediately after the equalizer, the roles changed again, with Bourj FC resuming their offensive charges, and Shabab Sahel back in defensive mood (and time wasting mood). Fouad Hijazi made some offensive changes, which increased the attacking power of the team in the last quarter of an hour of the game.

Bourj FC had some excellent opportunities, but missed all of them. There were also two situations in which they claimed penalties, one after a possible foul on Ali Merkabaoui (78') and another one after another possible foul on Akram Moghrabi (82'), but none of them was awarded by the referee.

Shabab Sahel: Ali Daher - Ali Hazemeh, Ali Abboud, Ali Fahes, Mohamad Hammoud, Mohamad Haider (Shadi Jouni), Hassan Jaafar, Hadi Jezzine (Hassan Hammoud), Christian Obiozor, Hussein Khalife (Zaher Al Samahi), Ghaleb Kassab. Manager: Dragan Jovanović.

Bourj: Abdelkarim Saleh - Mohamad El Dor, Hassan Bitar, Shadi Skaf, Youssef Anbar - Mohamad Al Faour, Ali Chaito (Akram Moghrabi 75') - Hussein Al Outa (Samih Damaj 86'), Abbas Ali Atwi "Onika", Mohamad Sadek (Ali Merkabaoui 75') - Bersyl Obassi. Manager: Fouad Hijazi.

In the last round of the championship play-off and of the 2021-2022 league season, on Thursday, 5 May, Bourj FC will face champions Al Ahed, while Shabab Sahel will play against Tadamon Sour.

In terms of relegation, AC Sporting are already relegated, while the second relegated team will probably be decided in the head-to-head match between Safa and Hikma / Sagesse (in which Safa needs to win, while Hikma / Sagesse only needs a draw).

Full results, tables and fixtures:

Play-off

Round 9 (29 April 2022)

 

Shabab Sahel – Bourj 1-1

Shabab El Bourj – Tadamon Sour 2-2

Ansar – Al Ahed 1-1

 

Table

 

1	Al Ahed (C)	20	15	5	0	44-6	50	Qualified for the AFC Cup
2	Bourj	20	10	7	3	23-15	37
3	Ansar	20	10	6	4	36-15	36
4	Shabab Sahel	20	8	3	9	29-34	27
5	Shabab El Bourj	20	6	4	10	23-38	22
6	Tadamon Sour	20	4	6	10	18-26	18

 

C – Champions

 

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 10 (5 May 2022)

 

Bourj – Al Ahed

Shabab El Bourj – Ansar

Tadamon Sour – Shabab Sahel

 

Play-out

Round 9 (30 April 2022)

 

Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley – AC Tripoli 2-0

Hikma / Sagesse – Nejmeh 0-2

Safa – AC Sporting 3-1

 

Table

 

7	Nejmeh	20	9	8	3	28-15	29	[1]
8	AC Tripoli	20	8	4	8	21-22	28
9	Hikma / Sagesse	20	7	3	10	15-31	24
10	Safa	20	6	4	10	19-28	22
11	Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley	20	6	4	10	14-24	22	Relegation to the Second Division
12	AC Sporting (R)	20	3	2	15	16-32	11	Relegated to the Second Division

 

R – Relegated

 

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 10 (5 May 2022)

 

Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley – AC Sporting

Hikma / Sagesse – Safa

AC Tripoli – Nejmeh

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[1] Nejmeh were deducted 6 points for not attending the game against Al Ahed in round 9.