Bourj FC - Shabab Sahel 0-0
Sunday, 11 December 2022, 2:30 pm local time (12:30 pm UTC), Amin Abdelnour Stadium, Bhamdoun, Aley, Lebanon, the 11th round of the Lebanese Premier League (last round of the regular season).
Bourj FC starting line-up. Photo source: the-lfa.com
The much-expected Dahieh derby eventually resulted in a goalless draw, which seemed to please nobody and everybody at the same time. Both teams were much more interested in not receiving a goal than scoring one, and therefore few actions reached the opposite box, not to mention the almost complete absence of goalscoring opportunities.
However, more credit must be given to Bourj FC players, who tried harder in attack than their opponents, but to the same result: no goal whatsoever. Nevertheless, those who wish to count the statistically worthy actions of the game would probably find more on the Bourj side.
Khaled Takaji (#10, in yellow, with the ball) was again one of the best Bourj FC players. Photo source: the-lfa.com
Bourj manager, Osama Al Sakr, tried to revitalize the attack by sending Hussein Al Outa as the most advanced forward, with the Ghanaian strikers, Stephen Sarfo and Dennis Tetteh, on the sides, and Khaled Takaji behind all of them, distributing balls. Not much came out of it. The first shot on target came in 27', a long-range one from Khaled Takaji, testing Ali Daher. The biggest opportunity for Bourj came a few minutes later, when Hussein Al Outa was very close to push a ball in from close range, but missed the target (34').
In the second half, Stephen Sarfo and Richard Baffour (after a corner) had other chances, to no avail. Shabab Sahel defended very well but they were almost unexistent in the attack. The fans of both teams made quite a show in the stands, as opposed to what was going on in the field.
Bourj: Hassan Moghnieh - Youssef Anbar, Richard Baffour, Shadi Skaf, Mohammad Hammoud - Mohammad Al Faour, Hussein Ibrahim (Youssef Barakat 77') - Stephen Sarfo (Ali Chaito 90'), Khaled Takaji (Ali Merkabaoui 77'), Dennis Tetteh (Mohamad Sibaii "Wartan" 77') - Hussein Al Outa (Mohamad Sadek 58'). Manager: Osama Al Sakr.
Shabab Sahel: Ali Daher - Sultan Haider (Ali Fadel 64'), Mustafa Kasab, Andrew Ikefe, Yasser Ashour (Ali Abboud 64'), Hussain Rezq (Emmanuel Nettey 64'), Ali Fahes, Hussein Awada (Hussein Khalife 83'), Mohammad Haidar, Zein Farran, Fadel Antar (Bobby Clement 64'). Manager: Dragan Ivanović.
Referee: Mohammad Haddad.
Yellow cards: Stephen Sarfo 77' - Zein Farran 45', Hussain Rezq 67'.
Bourj dropped in fifth place at the end of the regular season, while Shabab Sahel are second. However, the gaps are very small and everything is possible in the play-off.
In the meantime, the round of 16 of the Lebanese Cup took place, with both teams advancing after easy wins over Second Division clubs. Bourj FC won 2-0 over Al Islah Al Bourj Al Shimaly, with goals scored by Richard Baffour and Ali Chaito. Shabab Sahel won 4-1 over Racing.
The big surprise of the last round of the regular season came from Shabab Al-Ghazieh, which succeeded to classify sixth, after a convincing 3-0 win over Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley. Their result was not actually the surprise, but rather the fact that both Safa and Tadamon Sour were unable to claim home wins over AC Tripoli and Salam Zgharta respectively, and therefore both missed the top six and will play to avoid the relegation. Shabab Al-Ghazieh, one of the usual candidates for relegation, have already achieved their objective by classifying for the play-off, but they will have very few chances in front of the top five, which will fight for the national title.
The derby between Ansar and Nejmeh started on Saturday, but was interrupted at half-time because of incidents in the stands, with the score 1-1. The game was resumed on Monday from the same score, and Ansar eventually won 2-1, claiming the top spot after the regular season.
Full results and final table of the regular season:
Round 11 (9-12 December 2022)
Hikma / Sagesse – Al Ahed 2-3
Shabab Al-Ghazieh – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley 3-0
Tadamon Sour – Salam Zgharta 1-1
Safa – AC Tripoli 0-0
Bourj – Shabab Sahel 0-0
Ansar – Nejmeh 2-1
Final table of the regular season
|
1 |
Ansar |
11 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
28-7 |
27 |
Qualified for the play-off |
|
2 |
Shabab Sahel |
11 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
17-5 |
25 |
Qualified for the play-off |
|
3 |
Al Ahed |
11 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
20-8 |
24 |
Qualified for the play-off |
|
4 |
Nejmeh |
11 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
18-7 |
23 |
Qualified for the play-off |
|
5 |
Bourj |
11 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
17-11 |
23 |
Qualified for the play-off |
|
6 |
Shabab Al-Ghazieh |
11 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
12-16 |
12 |
Qualified for the play-off |
|
7 |
Safa |
11 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
8-15 |
10 |
Qualified for the play-out |
|
8 |
Tadamon Sour |
11 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
11-15 |
10 |
Qualified for the play-out |
|
9 |
Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley |
11 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
10-25 |
7 |
Qualified for the play-out |
|
10 |
Salam Zgharta |
11 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
7-15 |
7 |
Qualified for the play-out |
|
11 |
Hikma / Sagesse |
11 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
9-15 |
7 |
Qualified for the play-out |
|
12 |
AC Tripoli |
11 |
0 |
5 |
6 |
4-22 |
5 |
Qualified for the play-out |
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.
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