Bourj FC snatched a surprising win over Nejmeh in the last round of the regular season

Bourj FC - Nejmeh 1-0 (0-0)

Abbas Chahine 82'.

Saturday, 29 March 2025, 3:45 pm local time (1:45 pm UTC), Fouad Chehab Stadium, Jounieh, Lebanon, 11th round of the Lebanese Premier League (last round of the regular season).

 Bourj FC starting line-up.

 Nejmeh starting line-up.

Bottom-placed Bourj FC made the surprise of the season on Saturday, by winning 1-0 over Nejmeh, one of the teams which traditionally fight for the title in Lebanon. Traditionally, but not this year though, as they are already far away from the top three (Ansar, Safa, and Al Ahed).

The match was played on a rather neutral ground, in Jounieh (which may be regarded as a home ground for Nejmeh, rather than Bourj), and was broadcasted by MTV Sports on their various channels (TV, YouTube, Facebook, etc) and by FIFA Plus.

Nejmeh dominated quite clearly the entire game, created many opportunities, but Bourj defense resisted throughout the game, with goalkeeper Ahmad Diab as the main hero, although many others played an excellent game.

Then came the surprise: on a Bourj counterattack, Hassan Mehanna from the left passed to sub Abbas Chahine (who had just came on the field), and he placed a perfect shot from outside the area to score the only goal of the game: 1-0 (82'). 

 Abbas Chahine's shot went underneath the crossbar for the only goal of the game.

 Abbas Chahine (in yellow and black, left) celebrated along with his teammates and those on the bench.

In the last minutes of the game, Nejmeh pressed hard for an equalizer, but again Bourj FC defended well, and goalkeeper Ahmad Diab made miracles, saving several difficult shots.

One needs to point out that Bourj FC changed the manager. Former manager Fouad Hijazi was sacked at the end of February, and Ahmad Atwi, who had been manager of Bourj FC in June and July 2024, came back as manager, in the first days of March, and then Ibrahim Khair El-Din was brought as assistant manager.

 Ahmad Atwi (left) and Ibrahim Khair El-Din, manager and assistant manager of Bourj FC.

Since their arrival, Bourj results have improved. They lost 3-0 to Shabab Sahel, then drew 1-1 to Shabab Al-Ghazieh, now they won 1-0 over Nejmeh. There was a certain improvement from one game to another and now there is much hope that Bourj FC will manage to avoid relegation. They have just moved up two places with these three points, so at least technically they are (for the moment) out of the relegation zone.

Most important, and possibly the biggest (pleasant) surprise, was the fact that the (former?) president and owner Fadi Nasser came after the match and congratulated the players, and, according to some sources, even gave each of them an unexpected amount of money, which may be a sign that he might be (soon) back in his (former) position. So far, this season Bourj FC have struggled financially, and Fadi Nasser's support would be of utmost importance, now that the play-out is about to begin.

 Bourj FC, once again a big and happy family.

Bourj starting line-up: Ahmad Diab - Ali Abboud, Ibrahim Abdulai, Hassan Hazime, Mohamad Hammoud - Haidar Khriess, Mohamad El Sibaii "Wartan", Abdoulaye Fall - Ali Rahal, Hassan Mehanna, Shadi Jouni. Manager: Ahmad Atwi.

Nejmeh: Mohamad Bechara - Ali Alrida Ismail, Kassem El Zein, Hussein Mortada, Maher Sabra - Ali Chaito, Bilal Al Sabbagh, Mohamad Safwan - Mohamad Sadek, Fadel Antar, Rabih Ataya. Manager: Mohamad Dakka.

Referee: Hadi Salame.

One may note that the entire line of midfielders and attackers in Nejmeh (except for Rabih Ataya) was made up by former Bourj FC players!

From now on, the Lebanese League will be split into play-off and play-out, with the top six teams in the play-off, and the last six in the play-out.

Cusco FC out of Copa Sudamericana, lost to Atlético Grau on penalty shoot-outs

Atlético Grau - Cusco FC 0-0, 4-2 on penalty shoot-outs

P. Álvarez, Rostaing, A. Vásquez and Olivares scored for Grau from the penalty spot, Colitto and Ruidias scored for Cusco, while Colman and Ampuero (Cusco FC) missed their penalties. 

Thursday, 6 March 2025, 7:30 pm local time (Friday, 7 March, 12:30 am UTC), Mansiche Stadium, Trujillo, Peru, preliminary round of Copa Sudamericana, single match.

 Atlético Grau starting line-up. Photo source: Club Atlético Grau Facebook page.

Cusco FC starting line-up. Photo source: Cusco FC Facebook page.

Copa Sudamericana starts every year with a very odd preliminary round, in which teams from the same country face each other in a single match to decide which one would qualify for the group stage. This is pretty unfair, because the team which is lucky enough to be drawn as hosts would have a slender advantage from the start. More than that, why would you have a preliminary round instead of reducing (halving) the number of qualified teams? Cusco FC, which finished fifth in the 2024 Peruvian Liga 1, would have qualified directly, while Atlético Grau, which finished seventh, would not. But according to CONMEBOL, this is fair enough, and for Cusco FC it is the second time in a row that they have to play the preliminary round away - and lose, this time on penalty shoot-outs.

Jeremy Rostaing (Atlético Grau, left) is control of the ball in front of Lucas Colitto (Cusco FC). Photo source: Cusco FC Facebook page.

Well, Atlético Grau could not anyway organize the match on their own stadium, and they had to move to Mansiche in Trujillo, so it was played rather on a neutral ground - but still much closer to Piura and in the same climatic conditions to which Grau players are accustomed, while Cusco FC players are not. The match was also played without an audience, which was indeed odd.

Álvaro Ampuero (Cusco FC) has the ball, and is watched closely by Paulo De la Cruz (Grau). Photo source: Cusco FC Facebook page.

The match was rather boring, with very few scoring opportunities. Atlético Grau dominated most of the match, but only had a few long range shots, which were saved by Cusco FC goalkeeper, Andy Vidal. Very early in the game, even in the first minute, Aldair Fuentes (Cusco FC) received a yellow card for an unintended rough foul, as he slipped, tackling hard his opponent. This proved to be very important in the second half.

 Nicolás Silva had the only serious chance for Cusco FC. Photo source: Cusco FC Facebook page.

Cusco FC tried to reply on fast breaks, but had only very few such opportunities. Their biggest chance came at the beginning of the second half, when Nicolás Silva had a good shot, but Patricio Álvarez saved. The game changed completely when Aldair Fuentes received a second yellow card and then saw the red card after another rough tackle, which saw him off (63'). Down to ten men, Cusco FC relied on their defense to hold on to a 0-0 result until the final whistle. Grau's attacks intensified, but they were unable to break the opposite defensive lines, so the match finished 0-0 and went straight to penalty shoot-outs (there is no extra time in case of a draw in Copa Sudamericana).

Grau's goalkeeper Patricio Álvarez took the first penalty and scored, then Cusco's Ivan Colman missed, his weak shot being saved by the same Álvarez. This gave Grau an early lead in the shoot-outs. The next five players all converted their penalties, so the score was 4-2 when Álvaro Ampuero (Cusco FC) had to shoot, with only one remaining shot for each team. However, Ampuero missed, with a shot very similar to Colman's, straight to the centre and down, allowing Álvarez another save, and a decisive one as well, because there was no need for the last two players (one for each team) to take their penalties. 

Atlético Grau players congratulate their hero, goalkeeper Patricio Álvarez. Photo source: Club Atlético Grau Facebook page.

Atlético Grau won 4-2 on penalty shoot-outs and qualified for the group stage of Copa Sudamericana. For Cusco FC, this was another misfortune, after a rather weak start of the season, in which they lost the first two matches, to Alianza Lima away (a sweet revenge for Alianza) and to FBC Melgar at home, then they won away 2-1 at Deportivo Binacional, but then they disappointingly drew 1-1 at home to UTC Cajamarca. Ivan Colman missed a penalty in the match against Binacional, in this match he missed again, and you know that there is something wrong when the best player of the team makes such mistakes. Fuentes received a second yellow card against Alianza Lima, now it happened again. It is Miguel Rondelli's job as a manager to put the team again on the right track.

Grau: Álvarez - Rostaing, Tapia, Franco, Rodas (Herrera 88') - De la Cruz (Bolivar 89'), Guarderas, Soto, Bandiera - Vilca (A. Vásquez 78'), Sandoval (Olivares 68'). Manager: Ángel Comizzo.

Cusco: Vidal - Ruidias, Saravia, Fuentes, Ampuero - Diez (Gamarra 65'), Valenzuela - Silva (Cárdenas 90'), Colman, Colitto - Tévez (Callejo 76'). Manager: Miguel Rondelli.

Referee: Byran Loayza (Ecuador).

Yellow cards: Sandoval 27', Franco 57' - Fuentes 1', 63'.

Red card: Fuentes 63'.

Cusco FC received a bye in the fifth round of the Peruvian Liga 1 (because there are 19 teams, and in each round a team receives a bye) and their next game will be against Alianza Atlético de Sullana, away, on the 28th of March, after the international break caused by the matches of the national teams.