Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley - Bourj FC 1-2 (1-0)
Ali Haidar 38' - Shadi Skaf 52', Dennis Tetteh 77'.
Friday, 17 March 2023, 2:15 pm local time (12:15 pm UTC), Al Ahed Stadium, Bourj El Barajneh (Ouzai), Lebanon, quarter-finals of the Lebanese FA Cup.
Bourj FC starting XI. Photo source: elmaestrosport.com
Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley starting XI. Photo source: elmaestrosport.com
The 2022-2023 Lebanese Premier League is over, but the season continues for some Lebanese teams, those qualified in the Lebanese FA Cup quarter-finals. Bourj FC faced Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley at Al Ahed Stadium, a neutral ground in theory, but actually located in Bourj El Barajneh, Bourj FC home town.
Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley have just been relegated from the Premier League, while Bourj FC lost the Dahieh derby to Shabab Sahel in the last match of the league season, so both teams were looking to heal their recent wounds in this Cup game.
Bourj FC dominated most of the game, as expected, but Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley gave a good reply, especially in the first half. They even succeeded to take the lead on a counterattack: Jamil Ibrahim had an excellent run on the right side, passed to Ali Haidar who, unmarked in the box, found the back of the net: 1-0 (38').
Bourj FC attacked quite often with high crosses inside the box. Photo source: Lebanese FA Facebook page
In the second half, Bourj FC came back into the game quite early. Mahmoud Kawar, who just came in at the break as a sub, executed a free kick from the right side, and Shadi Skaf headed from short range: 1-1 (52').
Shadi Skaf (in yellow, #3) equalized for Bourj FC at the beginning of the second half. Photo source: Lebanese FA Facebook page
Bourj FC continued to put pressure on the opposite goal, and eventually took the lead. After a long action on the right side, the same Mahmoud Kawar crossed for Dennis Tetteh, who headed to the left of the goalkeeper, close to the near post: 1-2 (77').
In the final minutes, Mohamad Sadek had another goal opportunity and attempted a bicycle kick, but missed the target.
Mohamad Sadek attempted a bicycle kick and almost succeeded to score. Photo source: Lebanese FA Facebook page
Al Akhaa Al Ahly: Rabih Saleh - Saeed Fayad (Hamza Abboud 62'), Mohamad Al Moussawi, Carlos Lomba, Youssef Atriss, Ali Hakim, Ali Al-Akbar Manna (Ryan Abi Shaheen 74'), Sari Shehayeb, Jamil Ibrahim, Ibrahim Abou Hamdan (Álex Chico 62'), Ali Haidar. Manager: Daniel Giménez.
Bourj: Hassan Moghnieh - Youssef Anbar (Mohamad Nasseredine 70'), Richard Baffour, Khodor Hallak, Shadi Skaf - Hussein Ibrahim "Saaouk" (Mohamad Sibaii "Wartan" 46') - Ali Merkabaoui (Mohamad El Dor 70'), Dennis Tetteh, Khaled Takaji, Mohamad Sadek - Hussein Al Outa (Mahmoud Kawar 46'). Manager: Hussein Tahan.
Referee: Mohamad Haddad.
Yellow cards: Sari Shehayeb, Mohamad Al Moussawi and Carlos Lomba.
Bourj FC qualified for the third consecutive year to the Lebanese FA Cup semifinals, where they will likely face Nejmeh. In the previous two years, they failed to qualify for the final, and one should remember that the last Cup final played by Bourj, and also the only one, in 1993, was actually won by the team in yellow-and-black.
For the moment, the only other team qualified for the semis is Shabab Sahel, which won 3-0 over Al Ahly Nabatieh, also on Friday. They will meet the winner between Al Ahed and Shabab Al Ghazieh. This match, the same as the one between Nejmeh and Safa, will be played only in April.
Bourj FC prepare the two matches against Al Wahda in the Arab Club Champions Club. They succeeded to get eight new players (mostly on loan) from other Lebanese teams and announced the roster of 30 players, out of which only 23 will eventually remain.
Goalkeepers
1 Abdelkarim Saleh
13 Afif Zreik
22 Antoine Douaihy (from Salam Zgharta)
31 Hadi Mortada (from Tadamon Sour)
50 Hassan Moghnieh
Defenders
2 Mohamad Al Dor
3 Shadi Skaf
4 Khodor Hallak
16 Mohamad Safwan
19 Saad Al Shawiki
21 Mohamad Hammoud
30 Hussein Dakik (from Al Ahed)
55 Mohamad Al Husseini (from Safa)
77 Youssef Anbar
90 Richard Baffour
Midfielders
5 Mohamad Al Faour
6 Hussein Ibrahim "Saaouk"
10 Khaled Takaji
11 Ali Chaito
12 Mohamad Sibaii "Wartan"
20 Bilal Al Sabbagh (from Al Ahed)
23 Emmanuel Obere (from Al Ahed)
80 Mensah Konate (from Hikma / Sagesse)
Forwards
7 Hussein Al Outa
8 Mohamad Sadek
9 Ali Merkabaoui
14 Mohamad Nasseredine
17 Dennis Tetteh
45 Boucounta Sarr (from Hikma / Sagesse)
70 Mahmoud Kawar
Four of these players have been called for the Lebanon national team: Mohamad Sadek, Ali Merkabaoui, Antoine Douaihy and Mohamad Al Husseini, and therefore they will miss many of the Bourj FC training sessions before their departure to the United Arab Emirates, where they will play both matches against Al Wahda on 4 April and 8 April 2023.
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