Bourj FC - Nejmeh 1-4 (0-2)
Dennis Tetteh 67' - Kassem El Zein 6', Alaa Ezo 45', Ali Alaa El-Din 57', Jean Baleke Othos 90'+7'.
Friday, 2 December 2022, 4 pm local time (2 pm UTC), Fouad Chehab Stadium, Jounieh, Lebanon, 10th round of the Lebanese Premier League (second to last round of the regular season).
Bourj FC starting line-up. Photo source: the-lfa.com
The derby between Bourj and Nejmeh, played on a neutral ground in Jounieh, proved to be a simple walk in the park for Nejmeh, which had no problems to overrun their opponents and to win comfortably.
Most likely, Bourj plans for this match were based on defensive skills, much like their previous game, against Al Ahed, which ended 0-0. Nevertheless, these plans (if existed) had to be dropped very early, because Nejmeh took the lead after less than six minutes: after a corner from the left side, Abdelkarim Saleh failed to come out for a ball inside the 6-yard box and Kassem El Zein took advantage, heading the ball in from very close range: 0-1 (6').
Nejmeh players had plenty of reasons to celebrate. Photo source: the-lfa.com
Given the early goal, Bourj had to adapt and to attack, which they tried but without much success. Their biggest opportunities in the first half came from Khaled Takaji, whose first shot was saved by Ali Al Sabeh (24') and immediately afterwards he had a second shot which hit the cross-bar (25').
Instead of an equalizer, Nejmeh extended their advantage right before half time, when another cross in the box was headed in by Alaa Ezo: 0-2 (45'). The goal came at the right time to downplay all the efforts made by Bourj so far.
Actually, any cross in the Bourj box proved to be a real danger, and this came out as true when Khalil Badr crossed from the right side, Abdelkarim Saleh and Richard Baffour both failed to clear the ball properly, and Ali Alaa El-Din was in the right place to head the ball in: 0-3 (57').
Bourj continued to attack out of inertia, as it was already obvious that the game could not be turned into their favour without some sort of a miracle. There were some signs of a miracle when Dennis Tetteh scored a beautiful goal with a long-range shot: 1-3 (67').
Dennis Tetteh (left, in yellow, #17) scored the most beautiful goal of the game. Photo source: the-lfa.com
Bourj intensified their efforts towards the end of the game, and Hussein Al Outa's shot hit (again) the cross-bar (87'). With so many attacks, spaces were left behind in the defence, and Nejmeh took profit in stoppage time, actually in the last action of the game, which ended with a numerical superiority of Nejmeh players on a counterattack, finalized by Jean Baleke Othos: 1-4 (90'+7').
Bourj: Abdelkarim Saleh - Mohamad El Dor (Youssef Anbar 56'), Richard Baffour, Shadi Skaf, Mohamad Hammoud - Hussein Ibrahim (Mohamad Al Faour 56'), Khaled Takaji (Ali Chaito 83'), Youssef Barakat (Mohamad Sibaii "Wartan" 56') - Dennis Tetteh, Stephen Sarfo, Mohamad Sadek (Hussein Al Outa 72'). Manager: Osama Al Sakr.
Nejmeh: Ali Al Sabeh - Said Awada, Ali Hamam, Kassem El Zein, Maher Sabra - Mahdi El Zein, Ahmad Khaireddine (Bilal Najdi 72'), Abdoulaye Fall (Hassan Kourani 90'+1'), Khalil Bader (Ali Ismail 79') - Ali Alaa El-Din (Edmond Chahade 72'), Alaa Ezo (Jean Baleke Othos 46'). Manager: Bilal Fleifel.
Referee: Hussein Abu Yahya.
Yellow cards: Youssef Barakat 18', Mohamad El Dor 34' - Alaa Ezo 21', Maher Sabra 45'+4', Kassem El Zein 73'.
Due to this result, Bourj FC dropped into fourth place, while Nejmeh climbed into third. In the next and final round of the regular season, Bourj will face second place Shabab Sahel in the derby of Dahieh, while Nejmeh will play the Lebanese League derby against the leaders Ansar. The results of these matches might change the final table of the regular season.
Full results, table and fixtures:
Round 10 (2-4 December 2022)
Bourj – Nejmeh 1-4
Tadamon Sour – Shabab Sahel 1-2
Hikma / Sagesse – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley 0-1
Salam Zgharta – Safa 0-0
Shabab Al-Ghazieh – AC Tripoli 1-0
Ansar – Al Ahed 1-1
Table
|
1 |
Ansar |
10 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
26-6 |
24 |
|
|
2 |
Shabab Sahel |
10 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
17-5 |
24 |
|
|
3 |
Nejmeh |
10 |
7 |
2 |
1 |
17-5 |
23 |
|
|
4 |
Bourj |
10 |
7 |
1 |
2 |
17-11 |
22 |
|
|
5 |
Al Ahed |
10 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
17-6 |
21 |
|
|
6 |
Safa |
10 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
8-15 |
9 |
|
|
7 |
Shabab Al-Ghazieh |
10 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
9-16 |
9 |
|
|
8 |
Tadamon Sour |
10 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
10-14 |
9 |
|
|
9 |
Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley |
10 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
10-22 |
7 |
|
|
10 |
Hikma / Sagesse |
10 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
7-12 |
7 |
|
|
11 |
Salam Zgharta |
10 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
6-14 |
6 |
|
|
12 |
AC Tripoli |
10 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
4-22 |
4 |
|
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 11 (9-11 December 2022)
Hikma / Sagesse – Al Ahed
Ansar – Nejmeh
Shabab Al-Ghazieh – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley
Tadamon Sour – Salam Zgharta
Safa – AC Tripoli
Bourj – Shabab Sahel
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