Championship 2002-2003 Round 21 Reports

Shabab Sahel vs. Ikhaa Ahley Aley (3-0)

The match between Shabab Sahel and Ikhaa was held at the Beirut City Stadium at the presence of a small crowd and the result was a 3-0 deserved win for Sahel. (The first half 2-0). 

The first half was controlled by Shabab Sahel with some counter attacks for Ikhaa, but Sahel was the best through both halves because its players followed the constructions of their coach - Samir Saed - while Ikhaa's players were slow and didn't play accurate balls. If it wasn't for the bravery of the Mountaineers' goalkeeper (Mazen Mi'dad), then Sahel would have scored more goals while on the other hand, Sahel's goalkeeper (Ali Fakih) was shining as usual and was alerted to keep his goal clean as ever.

At the 6^th minute, Luis Fernandez passed a ling ball for Jardel who broke through the offside trap and was one-on-one with the keeper and he stroke the ball at the moment of the keepers' attack. At the 37^th minute, Fernandez played a corner kick and the defense failed to clear the ball and the ball reached to Tawfik Haider who didn't hesitate to score the second goal for Sahel.

Five minutes after the opening of the second half, Jardel passed through Ikhaa's players and he was followed by Maher Fleifel who trapped him inside the area. Therefore, the referee declared a penalty kick which was performed by Luis Fernandez to score his team's third goal. 

The match was refereed by a group from Cyprus headed by Bnahots Brasmon and he was assisted by the linesmen; Andrias Cristo and Andrias Axanto.

Shabab Sahel: Ali El Fakih, Yaser Mansour, Tawfik Haidar, Basem Ne'meh, Hasanein Da'boul, Abd El Rahman El Mousawi, Fouad Shahrour, Luis Fernandez, Salah Haddad, Jardel and Shaaban Hmadeh (Husein Balout, Ali Asali, Mohammad Kheir El Deen). 

Ikhaa Ahley Aley: Mazen Mi'dad, Andre Silva, Husein Moustafa, Maher Fleifel, Rami Kfouri, Abd El Wahab Abou El Heil, Hasan El Mousawi, Mohammad El Ayoubi, Mahmoud Wehbe, Mohammad Naser and Zaher El Andari (Ahmed Mansour, Ali Taktak, Ali Awada).

Yellow Cards: Jardel, Luis Fernandez, Shaaban Hmadeh (Shabab Sahel).  Zaher El Andari, Maher Fleifel, Hasan El Mousawi (Ikhaa).

Salam Zgharta vs. Mabarrah (1-2) 

At Tripoli Municipality Stadium, Salam Zgharta lost - at its home ground and in front of its supporters - against Mabarrah who had a fighting spirit and won 2-1 to strengthen its position in the standing and is now leveled in points with the Northern team and Shabab Sahel with 20 points. 

The home team played a strong match of great and well organized attacks hoping to get out of the "death square" while Mabarrah relied on the "quick" counter attacks led by Madio Konati and Ali Ahmed who scored both Mabarrah's goals; At the 39^th minute, Ali Ahmed Stole the ball from Salam's defender Claude Kharma and scored the first goal of his team, but Salam soon equalized when Rami El Hasan scored a penalty kick after a handball by Rabi' El Ghoul.

The second half was full of missing chances especially for the Zgharta team which was the best in organizing its lines and Pierre Boya and Muhsen Nasif wasted a lot of chances. But Ali Ahmed scored the winning goal for Mabarrah after 1 minute of extra time (91^st minute) after a series of deflected balls when Jihad Sweidan shot a powerful ball to hit the right post and returned to Ali Ahmed who score the 2-1 win for Mabarrah. 

The match was refereed by a group from Cyprus headed by Luazos Luazo and was assisted by Fricos Petro and Michael Oyano.

Salam: George Sadek, Claude Regam, Claude Kharma, Bassam Asa'ad, Francois Kharma, Mohammad Obeid, Abd El Fatah El Samad, Rabi El Hasan, Muhsen Nasif, Jad Muawad and Pierre Boya, (Wael Muawad), (Butrus Karam), (Ghassan Jermanos).

Mabarrah: Ali Hmadeh, Keneth, Kassem Mohammad, Ismael Fayad, Izzat Khalil, Nabih El Jurdi, Rabi' El Ghoul, Ali El Atat, Khudor Fayad, Ali Ahmed and Madio Konati, (Yussof Mizyan), (Jihad Sweidan), (Ali Dabbous).

Yellow Cards: Kassem Mohammad and Rabi' El Ghoul (Mabarrah). Francois Kharma (Salam Zgharta).

Safa vs. Bourj (4-3)

The team of Safa came from far behind against Bourj and turned its 1-3 loss to a 4-3 win in the last ten minutes of the match which was held on Jounie Municipality Stadium. (The first half 1-2 for Bourj).

The game was a tremendous and gigantic one where both teams didn't play in a defensive way and instead of that played in an attacking style which led to the 7 goals scored in the match. The 3 points were closer to Bourj - who is in the last place at the bottom of the standing with 11 points - than Safa who was satisfied in its position at the middle of the standing. But the former didn't know how to control the match especially when the team played in a defensive style and the coach's - Majdi Kasla -wrong substitutions. 

The first half was very fast by Bourj's players who scored two fast goals; at the 6^th minute, Clement got the ball from the midfield to pass through the goalkeeper Hasan Harb and didn't hesitate to score. At the 10^th minute, Safa's goalkeeper Hasan Harb played a ball to his teammate Ali Karnib who failed to clear the ball which hit the bar and reached Husein Tahan who scored and easy second ball.

Safa replied in a quick way and scored through Hamza Salameh who shot a massive strike from outside the penalty area.

At the second half, both teams had their chances to score but they failed. However, at the 74^th minute, Husein Tahan scored the third goal for Bourj and at that same moment everyone thought that Bourj got the 3 points. But the turning point was when Bourj's players played in a defending way and Safa had the upper hand after they scored 3 consecutive goals and they snatched the win from Bourj; At the 80^th minute Bourj's goalkeeper committed a foul on Hassan Ibrahim inside the penalty area and Hassan Ibrahim scored from the penalty spot. Then, Ghassan Shweikh scored the equalizer after an unsettled play inside the prohibited area and Hassan Ibrahim killed Bourj's hopes when he scored the fourth goal for Safa from a penalty kick after Bourj's defender Basel Hadid committed a foul on Ali Karnib.

The match was refereed by Radwan Ghandour and he was assisted by Haidar Kleit and Roben Tarazian.

Bourj: Abd El Karim Mansour, Basel Hadid, Ibrahim Ismael, Ali El Haraka, Fadel El Said, Hasan Abdallah, Hasan Hamdan, Rami Kadoura, Husein Tahan, Nazih Tai and Clement.

Safa: Hasan Harb, Toni Bou Francis, Ali Karnib, Ali El Sa'edi, Walid El Miri, Hamza Aboud, Hamza Salama, Khudor Ibrahim, Hassan Ibrahim, Ghassan Shweikh and Ahmed Al Ni'mani. 

Yellow Cards: Ali Karnib (Safa). Nazih Tai (Bourj). Red Cards: Hasan Estanbouli (Bourj). Ghassan Shweikh (Safa).

Tadamon Sour vs. Ahed (0-2)

Ahed returned from Sour with 3 important points to strengthen its position in the standing of the Master Championship with 43 points after its victory over the "wounded" team; Tadamon with two clear goals. (The first half 2-0)

The match was in general a one-sided game for Ahed who scored early by Ali Al Attar when he played the ball in a tricky way that deceived Tadamon's goalkeeper Nabil Dakhl Allah - who played instead of Rami Irani - after a free kick by Abu Bakr Bah which was deflected by the defending wall and reached Al Attar.

The second goal came at the 14^th minute after a pass by Ali Al Attar to Mahmoud Shahoud who entered the box and scored the second goal by a strike from his right foot.

On the other hand, Tadamon's players tried to score but their attempts were useless because of the great absence of the midfield players. Thus the players were confused and they didn't have any dangerous play which could threaten Bilal Hashem's goal.

The second half was nearly of the same scenario; a complete control for Ahed who had three real chances to score. At the 52^nd minute, Ali Al Attar made a great effort and passed through the defenders to the restricted area and he had only the goalie to pass through but his shot gone wide. At the 61^st minute, Jamal El Hajj - who returned to the team during this match - wasted a great opportunity to score when he passed through all the defenders and the goalkeeper but his weak shot was saved by a header from Riyad Kubeisi. At the 75^th minute Ghulam Ghader crossed the ball from the right side of the field, but the header of Mahmoud Shahoud was saved by a great effort from the goalkeeper.

The match was refereed by a group from Cyprus headed by Bnahots and was assisted by the linesmen; Andrias Cristo and Andrias Janto.

Ahed: Bilal Hashem, Abbas Kina'an, Issam Ayoub, Aminou Ali, Hasan Mizher, Ali Al Attar, Udai Al Attar, Ghulam Ghader, Wisam Al Hakim, Abu Bakr Bah, Mahmoud Shahoud (Ahmed Trad), (Ayman Nahle), (Jamal El Hajj).

Tadamon: Nabil Dakhl Allah, Husein Malek, Riyad Kubeissi, Yosuf Hjazi, Usama Haidar, Bilal Barja, Hasan Basma, Kassem Ghaddar, Nasrat Al Jamal, Hamlet, (Hamid Basma), (Ibrahim Saidawi), (Khudor Najde).

Yellow Cards: Husein Malek and Yosuf Hjazi (Tadamon). Issam Ayoub (Ahed).

Comment: Tadamon's Supporters called for the return of Korkein after their team conceded two goals in the opening minutes which led the Club's president (Mr. Sharif Wehbi) to silence them.

Olympic Beirut vs. Ansar (1-0)

Olympic repeated its win over Ansar with a 1-0 victory in the match which was held on Beirut Municipality Stadium at the presence of 1500 spectators. Therefore, Olympic Strengthened its lead for the Master Championship with 48 points while Ansar is still with 36 points.

By this win, Olympic achieved its third win over Ansar this season; twice in the league (2-0) and (1-0) and in the second leg of Lebanon's cup (2-1) while they drew (1-1) at the first leg. 

The first half wasn't as it was expected and no skills were shown because both teams played in a defensive way most of the time.

At the 33^rd minute Malek Hasoun crossed a ball to Mohamad Jawad who shot the ball in a fashionable way inside the defensive zone of Olympic, but Ahmed Al Saker made a great jump and saved the ball with his fingers' tops. Two minutes later Ahmed El Shum moved to the left side and passed through everyone and then he crossed a well ball at the penalty spot but no one was there to score and Olympic was saved from a second goal.

These were the only chances at the first half and the leaders were not able to build a well organized play. On the contrary, the team played in a defensive way and concentrated on the counter attacks led by Mohammad Kassas and Silvio while Ansar's Peter Prospar was under a great pressure because he was subject to a man-to-man defense.

At the beginning of the second half, Olympic's players surprised Ansar with an early goal after 2 minutes of the second half which was scored by the top scorer in the league this season; Silvio Costa who followed a ball from a corner played by Husein Oleik, and headed it to the far-right corner of Ziad Al Samad's goal who only watched. Silvio therefore scored his tenth goal by a header and his 16^th so far in the league this season.

Two minutes later, there was a chance for Silvio again to score inside the area when he managed to control the ball with his chest and to shoot directly but Ziad Al Samad managed to save his goal this time.

Then, Olympic's players tried to preserve their 1-0 lead and they played in a defensive way and that made the job of Ansar's midfield an easier one with Malek Hasoun's lead. Therefore, there was a lot of attacks for Ansar and they controlled the field especially the defensive area of Olympic, but their quick desire to score and being unfortunate in addition to Ahmed Al Saker's heroic goalkeeping, made the equalizer a dream for Ansar especially when Peter Prospar headed Dani Nazzal's ball to the left side of the Al Saker's goal but Al Saker made a heroic save and  everybody was amazed with this save.

The match was refereed by a group from Cyprus headed by Lizo Kuizo and was assisted by Petro and Oyano. 

Ansar: Ziad Al Samad, Haidar Abd El Razak, Rabi'e Esper, Danny Nazzal, Sami El Shum, Abbas Saleh, Ahmed El Shum, Malek Hassoun, Peter Prospar, Mohammad Jawad, (Danny Nahleh), (Haitham Hallak), (Ali El Musawi). 

Olympic: Ahmed El Saker, Imad El Miri, Yussof Mohammad, Marsellio, Pierre Issa, Yussof Ba'albaki, Nabil Ba'albaki, Abbas Atwi, Silvio, Mohammad Kassas, Mohammad Rida (Husein Swaidan), (Husein Oleik).

 Yellow Cards: Imad El Miri (Olympic). Rabi'e Esper (Ansar).

Comment: The reasons behind the absence of Shadi El Shami from his teams' (Ansar) match against Olympic are still unknown where some considered that he is having some problems with the club's management.

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