Bourj FC are winners of the Lebanese Challenge Cup, 2-0 over Salam Zgharta in the final

Saturday, the 24th of August 2019, 17:00 local time (14:00 UTC), Presdident Fouad Chebab Stadium, Jounieh, Lebanon, the final of the seventh edition of the Lebanese Challenge Cup.

Bourj FC finished in great style the 7th edition of the Lebanese Challenge Cup and the first in which they could participate as new members of the Premier League, winning all the games throughout the competition without receiving a single goal.

 Bourj FC, winners of the 2019 Lebanese Challenge Cup. Source: Bourj FC official Facebook page

Bourj FC and Salam Zgharta have already met in the group stage of the competition less than two weeks ago, on Tuesday, the 13th of August. The match was played on the same neutral ground, Fouad Chebab Stadium in Jounieh, and Bourj FC won 1-0 with a late goal by Samih Damaj.

 Bourj FC starting line-up in the Challenge Cup final. Photo: Abdallah Mahfouz. Source: Bourj FC official Facebook page

This time, the winners could be guessed after the first half. Supported by a large and enthusiastic crowd, Bourj FC played very well and missed a few chances by means of Stephen Sarfo and Ibrahim Abou Hamdan. In the last minute of the first half, a long pass by Hussein Al-Outa on the left side reached Ibrahim Abou Hamdan, who overtook the defenders and scored from inside the area with a shot to the right of the goalkeeper: 1-0 (45').

 Ibrahim Abu Hamdan scored the first goal of the match. Photo: Abdallah Mahfouz. Source: Bourj FC official Facebook page

In the second half, Bourj FC task to maintain their advantage became much easier after Rabih Al-Houbari was sent off for a second yellow card (63'). Down in ten, Salam Zgharta were unable to equalize. More than that, at the end of the game the decisive goal came for Bourj FC: Hamza Abboud executed a corner from the left, and Abdulfattah Achour headed the ball into the net from the far side: 2-0 (89').

 Abdulfattah Achour scored the second goal of the match. Source: elmaestrosport.com

Bourj FC: Mohamed Santina - Hamza Abboud, Mustafa Sall, Abdulfattah Achour, Walid Ismail - Mohammed Qassem, Mohammed Faour (Amin Halal 90'+5'), Hussein Ibrahim (Mohamed Al-Durr 90'+3), Hussein Al-Outa (Mohammed Jaafar 90'+1') - Stephen Sarfo (Ali Karaki 90'+6'), Ibrahim Abou Hamdan (Samih Damaj 75'). Head coach: Mohammad Dakka.

Salam Zgharta: Mustafa Matar - Hamza Al-Khair, Yasser Achour, Imad Karime (Michael Fenianos 86'), Ahmed Al-Masri, Jean-Jacques Yammine (Edmond Chehadeh 83'), Adnan Melhem, Hisham Al-Naboulsi (Georges Mouawad 72'), Rabih Al-Houbari, Shamil Soukar, Ani Elijah (Yahya Ghafour 81'). Head coach: Nihad Soukar.

Referee: Hussein Abu Yahya.

Yellow cards: Mohammed Qassem 45'+3', Samih Damaj 83' - Rabih Al-Hobari 54', 63', Ahmad Al-Masri 85'.

Red card: Rabih Al-Houbari 63' (second yellow card).
The full match record is available on YouTube page of MTV Lebanon.

 The Challenge Cup is given to the team captain, Walid Ismail, in the middle of Bourj FC players and staff. Source: elmaestrosport.com

This is a great achievement for Bourj FC, whose only success was in 1993 Lebanese Cup. 26 years passed since then, and now Bourj FC have won another cup, even of lesser importance - the Lebanese Challenge Cup. This adds to winning the Second Division and the promotion to the Premier League after 16 years of absence. It is a great performance for Bourj FC and all those involved deserve to be congratulated.

Juan Reynoso left Real Garcilaso for Puebla and the Cuzco team lost 2-1 away at Melgar

Friday, the 23rd of August 2019, 20:00 local time (1 am Saturday, 24th of August 2019, UTC), Estadio Monumental de la UNSA, Arequipa, Peru, fourth round of Clausura (Liga 1).

Just a couple of weeks after the match between FBC Melgar and Real Garcilaso in Copa Bicentenario, the two teams meet again in Arequipa. Two weeks ago, the Cuzco team won 2-1 and advanced to the quarter-finals of the Copa Bicentenario. This time, the home side won deservedly with the same score, 2-1, and move up towards the top of the table in the Peruvian Clausura.

The match was scheduled in a bad or odd moment for Real Garcilaso. On Tuesday, the 20th of August, the club announced that Juan Reynoso is no longer the head coach of the team. The reason was not the usual one, related to the results, but to the fact that he received quite an offer to become the new head coach of Puebla in the Mexican Liga MX. As a result, Real Garcilaso went to Arequipa with Ariel Paz as interim coach, while the club management is looking for a new head coach.

Melgar had a strong start of the match and Liga 1 goalscorer Bernardo Cuesta headed the ball in after a perfect cross by Jhonny Vidales from the left: 1-0 (5'). Real Garcilaso tried to control the game and had much of the ball possession, but few real goal opportunities in the first half, while Johnny Vidales (former player in Cuzco) had two chances of increasing the difference.

 Melgar players congratulate each other. Source: Ovacion.

In the second half, the visitors continued their attacks, and eventually equalized. Alfredo Ramua sent the ball in the area from a free kick on the left and, after several goal attempts, Santiago Ormeno finally scored with a shot from short range: 1-1 (61'). The balance was however maintained only for a few minutes. After a corner, David Villalba brought the score sheet in favour of the home side with a header and Ricardo Farro's efforts to save the goal were unsuccessful: 2-1 (68').

The offensive of Real Garcilaso in the last part of the second half, even with Danilo Carando in the attack, had no results whatsoever. Despite the attacks and the overall favourable statistics (including better ball possession), the impression was that Real Garcilaso were really lacking a manager in this game.

FBC Melgar: Caceda - Neyra, Narvaez, Villalba, Gomez - Hinostroza (Avila 66'), Arias - J. Sanchez, Amoroso (Romero 66'), Vidales (Freitas 74') - Cuesta. Head coach: Diego Osella.

Real Garcilaso: Farro - Arismendi, Robles, Quina, Cossio - Goyoneche (Carando 70'), Miguez - Souza (Ismodes 58'), Ramua, Nunez (Lecaros 86') - Ormeno. Interim coach: Ariel Paz.

Referee: Kevin Ortega.

Yellow cards: Gomez 25', Hinostroza 50', Amoroso 57', Narvaez 76' - Robles 69'.

While Diego Osella used the same starting XI as the one which won away at UTC, in Real Garcilaso there were a few changes in the line-up. First, the use of goalkeeper Ricardo Farro, who replaced Daniel Ferreyra for this game, rather oddly, as Ferreyra was constantly one of the best players in any match. Then, Joao Ortiz and Archimbaud missed from the squad, and were replaced by Cossio, who played weakly after a long absence, and Goyoneche. Finally, Santiago Ormeno was preferred to Carando in the attack, even if Carando was among the best in the field in the previous game and scored the winning goal against Carlos A. Mannucci. It is true that Ormeno scored the only goal for Real Garcilaso in this match but his overall contribution to the collective play was rather poor. It was also strange that the best player of Real Garcilaso, Cristian Souza, was substituted rather early by Damian Ismodes. Regarding the minutes played by young players, it should be noted that Lecaros only played in the last minutes, so the future head coach will have to use him (or other very young players, which unfortunately Real Garcilaso has few) for a long period in order to achieve the required amount of minutes.

1. FK Svidník lost 2-1 the local derby against MŠK Tesla Stropkov in the second round of the Slovak 3. Liga - East

Wednesday, the 21st of August 2019, 17:00 local time (15:00 UTC), Mestský futbalový štadión, Svidník, Slovakia, match rescheduled from the second round of the Slovak 3. Liga - East.

The local derby between the football teams from the neighbouring towns of Svidník and Stropkov was eventually played mid-week, on Wednesday, the 21st of August, after it was initially scheduled also in mid-week, on Wednesday, the 31st of July. As usual, it raised a lot of interest among the fans of the two teams.
Both teams came after surprising and unexpected defeats. On Sunday, 1. FK Svidník lost 2-1 away at Slovan Giraltovce, the last classified before that round; it was the first defeat for the Svidník team this season and the first points for the Giraltovce team. It was even worse for MŠK Tesla Stropkov, as they lost 4-2 at home against newly-promoted FK Poprad B.
As a consequence, the players on both sides struggled a lot to recover their fans' trust in the team capacity, by winning this local derby, which means so much for all the people involved.
The first half was disappointingly goalless. The home side started better but missed a few chances. The visitors got increasingly the control of the game and had the biggest chance at the end of the first half, when goalkeeper Mulík's foul on Agbane in the area resulted in a penalty, but the same Mulík defended Jakubco's shot from the penalty spot (41'). This was the second consecutive penalty defended by goalkeeper Mulík, after the one at Giraltovce on Sunday.
Goals were only scored in the second half. The Nigerian striker Candy Augustine Agbane opened the score sheet for the visitors with a beautifully executed free kick from about 25 meters: 0-1 (50'). He could twice double the advantage in the next minutes, but once the ball hit the side post, and the second time he was denied by goalkeeper Mulík. The home team replied quickly and equalized by means of defender Jakub Bialoncík with a header from short range after a corner executed by Kuhajdík: 1-1 (61'). Eventually the visitors managed to score the winning goal by means of Erik Burcák, who headed in a nice cross sent by Harvilko from the left side: 1-2 (78').

1. FK Svidnik: Mulík - Ducár, Zapotocký, Bialoncik, Kisel'a - Kuhajdík, Cekan - Tokar (Eliaš 79'), Maslov, Košc (Pil'ar 63') - Cabala (L. Hricov 63'). Head coach: Tomás Eliaš (who actually played); assistant coach: Róbert Petruš.

MSK Tesla Stropkov: Prysiazhniuk - Petrišin, Štefancík, Bochin, Harvilko, Borovyk (Feco 77'), Pol'ák (Vaško 46), Varga, Jakubco (Burcák 70'), Pál (Artim 90'), Agbane. Head coach: L'uboš Reiter.

Referee: Erik Anguš.
Yellow cards: Mulík 43', Cekan 49', Kuhajdík 90' - Petrišin 72', Prysiazhniuk 86.
This is the second consecutive defeat for 1. FK Svidník, and again in front of a team that is not among the strongest in the group. This should raise some questions for the management of the Svidník club. The players need to recover quickly, physically and morally, because on Sunday they will play again "a must-win" game at home, against TJ FK Vel'ké Revistia.

Results of the third round of Clausura, tables and fixtures of the Peruvian Liga 1

Round 3 (16-19 August 2019)

Real Garcilaso – Carlos A. Mannucci 1-0

Universitario – Universidad de San Martín 0-0

Pirata FC – Unión Comercio 0-2

UTC – FBC Melgar 0-2

Academia Cantolao – Sport Huancayo 0-2

Universidad César Vallejo – Alianza Lima 3-1

Deportivo Municipal – Binacional 1-1

Sporting Cristal – Sport Boys 4-2

Ayacucho – Alianza Universidad 3-2

Clausura table

1	Universidad San Martín	3	2	1	0	4-1	7	Qualified for the play-off
2	Universitario de Deportes	3	2	1	0	3-1	7
3	Sporting Cristal	3	2	0	1	8-4	6
4	FBC Melgar	3	2	0	1	5-1	6
5	Sport Huancayo	3	2	0	1	4-3	6
6	Alianza Lima	3	2	0	1	5-5	6
7	Ayacucho FC	3	2	0	1	4-5	6
8	Unión Comercio	3	1	1	1	4-3	4
9	Universidad César Vallejo	3	1	1	1	4-4	4
10	Deportivo Municipal	3	1	1	1	3-3	4
11	Academia Cantolao	3	1	1	1	3-4	4
12	Binacional	3	0	3	0	3-3	3
13	Alianza Universidad	3	1	0	2	5-6	3
14	Carlos A. Mannucci	3	1	0	2	2-3	3
15	Real Garcilaso	3	1	0	2	2-3	3
16	Pirata FC	3	1	0	2	1-3	3
17	Sport Boys	3	0	1	2	4-7	1
18	UTC	3	0	0	3	1-6	0

Aggregate table (Apertura + Clausura)

1	Binacional (Q)[1]	20	12	3	5	47-26	39	Qualified for the play-off
2	Sporting Cristal	20	11	5	4	36-17	38
3	Universidad César Vallejo	20	10	3	7	29-25	33
4	Alianza Lima	20	9	5	6	35-29	32
5	Deportivo Municipal	20	8	8	4	30-23	31	[2]
6	Ayacucho FC	20	9	4	7	30-28	31
7	Universitario de Deportes	20	8	6	6	28-28	30
8	Sport Huancayo	20	8	6	8	26-26	30
9	FBC Melgar	20	8	5	7	31-26	29
10	Real Garcilaso	20	8	5	7	21-18	29
11	Academia Cantolao	20	7	8	5	21-21	29
12	Alianza Universidad	20	6	7	7	23-24	25
13	UTC	20	6	7	7	27-30	25
14	Universidad San Martín	20	5	7	8	17-33	22
15	Carlos A. Mannucci	20	5	4	11	24-30	19
16	Unión Comercio	20	4	7	9	19-24	19
17	Pirata FC	20	4	5	11	18-32	16	[2] Relegation to Liga 2
18	Sport Boys	20	2	5	13	13-35	11	Relegation to Liga 2

Round 4 (23-26 August 2019)

FBC Melgar – Real Garcilaso

Binacional – Ayacucho

Sport Huancayo – Deportivo Municipal

Alianza Lima – Academia Cantolao

Universidad de San Martín – Pirata FC

Unión Comercio – Sporting Cristal

Alianza Universidad – UTC

Carlos A. Mannucci – Universitario

Sport Boys – Universidad César Vallejo

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[1] Binacional are qualified for the play-off as winners of the Apertura.

[2] Deportivo Municipal and Pirata FC had one point deducted for financial irregularities.