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Match Reports
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First Stage: Winners.. Salam,
Safa, Sagesse, Sahel, Al-Ahed, & Al-Ansar..
December 20, 2001
Life came back to the
Lebanese Football with the start of the championship. 14 clubs
are competing for the title, all of which have spent a lot of
time and money preparing for the season. The First week
witnessed a great success with 26 goals scored, including 2
penalty kicks, a high average which promises Football Fans more
rivalry among the teams, and warns Technical managers of the
need to monitor their defense lines, and correct their mistakes.
The main theme of the 1st. stage was the positive draw between
Ikhaa Ahley Aley & Tadamoun Sour, and the loss of Nejmeh to
Sagesse [4-5].
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Al-Ahed defeated its neighbor Bourj
with 3 goals to 2
December 16, 2001
Last season winners of the
2nd. division championship Al-Ahed & Bourj met on Sunday
December 16, 2001 in the opening match of the championship. The
match witnessed great rivalry between both teams, Al-Ahed
advanced [3-0] with the goals coming from Youssef Jawhari [7',
37'], & Ali Attar [22'], in the second half Bourj reduced the
score sheet to [2-3] by Darlington [55'], & Fadl Essayed [63']
with the reduction in Al-Ahed players' physical fitness, but
they were denied by bad luck from the equalizer especially
during the last quarter of the match.
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Al-Ahed celebrating a precious win
over their neighbors
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Salam Zgharta presented its guest
Homentmen with 3 goals
December 16, 2001
Salam Zgharta defeated
Homentmen [3-0] in the match that took place on Sunday December
16, 2001. The goals were scored by the lethal duo of Salam
Wehbeh Eddwaihi [9'], & Rabih Othman [25', 52']. Salam dominated
the whole match, and missed many opportunities to increase the
score sheet due to Homentmen strict defensive plan that aimed to
finish the match with least possible number of goals aggregated.
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Al-Ansar makes a good start in
front of Homenmen with an orphan goal
December 16, 2001
Al-Ansar made a successful
start in the championship after defeating Homenmen [2-0] in the
match that took place on Sunday December 16, 2001. The match
goal was scored by Fadi Ghosn on the 70th. minute. Al-Ansar made
an impressive performance, with the absence of their injured
player David Nakid, especially in the second half, created huge
danger on its opponent target, missed many goals on the bar, and
the post by Mohammad Jawad, Abbas Saleh, & Peter Prosper twice.
Malek Hassoun missed a penalty kick that was saved by Ara GK of
Homenmen. On their part, Homenmen performance was not that bad,
and they shared their opponent the field, and were about to
equalize many times with their shots deflecting from the edges
of Al-Ansar target especially in the last few minutes with
Hamlet Mokhtarian shot.
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Fadi Ghosn.. Welcome Back!
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Draw prevails between Ikhaa Ahley Aley & Tadamoun Sour
December 16, 2001
Tadamoun Sour lost 2
precious points in the start of its championship race. The match
goals were scored by Ibrahim Manasri [17'] for Tadamoun, and
Fadi Omari [50'] for Ikhaa. Tadamoun made an average
performance, and lacked the proper finishing of attacks with the
absence of his attacker Haitham Zein who made a large gap in the
defense. Tadamoun coach Akram Salman tried to react by focusing
on Ibrahim Manasri who scored once, and Faisal Antar who
advanced to the midfield to help, but none were able to
translate the team dominance into goals necessary in the
championship race. Ikhaa, on their part, missed their forward
player Zaher Indari, and Gilberto Dos Santos, attacker of Ikhaa,
also lacked support, & passes from his teammates, and made few
danger on his opponent area. Ikhaa in the second half entered
Fadi Omari who transformed a goal from a corner kick with his
head to the target, the ball was cleared by Tadamoun defender
Korken, but the assistant referee declared a legitimate goal for
Ikhaa. The result ended [1-1], with both teams losing 2 precious
points at the beginning of the season they might regret later.
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Tadamoun Sour squad missing
Haitham Zein, Kinidi Boboi.
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Shabab Sahel defeated Racing [2-0]
December 17, 2001
Shabab Sahel made a good start in the championship after
defeating Racing [2-0] in the match that took place on Monday
December 17, 2001. Sahel started the match with early attempts
to score, but they were faced by solid defense from the white
jersey squad whose youth promise a great future. The match goals
were scored by Mahmoud Majeed [60'], & Hussein Ballout [72'].
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Shabab Sahel with their
new /old goal keeper Ali Fakih
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Safa
shows off its muscles, and defeats Ahley Saida [3-1]
December 17, 2001
Safa made an expected win
over Ahley Saida. Experience and good preparation defeated Youth
& Enthusiasm, this is the situation of the match. The Yellow
squad of Safa knew how to end the match, hit their opponents
target 3 times, and missed one penalty near the end of the
match. Ahley who participated with one foreign player,
apparently lacked a lot of preparations, and were able to score
an orphan goal from a penalty kick too. The match goals were
scored by Abdullah Hommsi [21'], Ali Wassef Mohammad from a free
kick [31'], & Hisham Shleikh [73' p.] for Safa, and Issam Hamad
[61' p.].
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Sagesse turns the table over Nejmeh with 5 goals..
December 17, 2001
Sagesse team stunned Nejmeh team, and thousands of its fans with
historical win [5-4] in the match that took place on Monday
December 17, 2001 at Beirut Sports City stadium.
The match witnessed a great carnival of goals [9 goals], an
unexpected gift for the Football fans on the Second Day of Fitr
Holiday. Sagesse started the match with their best available
squad led by the lethal trio Vartan-Kassas-Tomi, this trio hit
Nejmeh target 5 times, and opened many High ways in their
opponents defense line. Sagesse coach, and former coach of the
national team, Theo Boker ordered Ibrahim Hosni to mark Errol
McFarlane, and the former performed its duty to the best
possible. On their part, Nejmeh lacked the efforts of their
Defender Mohammad Halaweh, suffering a short term injury,
midfielder Alein Nicolas, lacking official clearance letter that
didn't reach Lebanon by the time of the match, and Moussa
Hojeij, who is still boycotting the team for his personal
demands. This absence hugely affected the squad without true
Leader in the midfield who can activate this line, and help
reduce the pressure from the defense line who carried the match
on their shoulders, and eventually fell under the continuous
strikes from Mohammad Kassas, Tomi Jiacomali, & Vartan
Ghazarian. Meanwhile, Nejmeh side performance was not negligent,
as they were able to score 4 times, and create serious danger on
their opponents area, but with bad luck, negligence, and strong
Sagesse defense they were unable to do anything on the score
sheet, and they lost the opening match of the championship. As
for Sagesse, they made a great job, and their fans require them
to do the same on every match. As for Nejmeh, the situation is
not that pessimistic, and it might get better with the come back
of the team absentees.
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Vartan Ghazarian.. I am still
Here!
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