Beirut derby

The Beirut derby (Arabic: دربي بيروت‎) is the name given in football to any match between cross-city rivals Ansar and Nejmeh. It is considered the biggest club football game in Lebanon.

Beirut derby
Team kits – Ansar in green, Nejmeh in burgundy
Other namesLebanese Clásico
LocaleBeirut, Lebanon
TeamsAnsar
Nejmeh
First meetingNejmeh 2–1 Ansar
Lebanese Premier League
(8 December 1968)
Latest meetingAnsar 0–1 Nejmeh
Lebanese Premier League
(20 September 2019)
StadiumsCamille Chamoun Sports City Stadium (neutral)
Statistics
Meetings totalLeague matches: 69
Cup matches: 30
Total matches: 99
Most winsLeague matches: Ansar / Nejmeh (21)
Cup matches: Ansar (13)
Total matches: Ansar (34)
Most player appearancesJamal Taha (20)
Top scorerMoussa Hojeij (11)
Largest victoryAnsar 4–0 Nejmeh
Lebanese FA Cup
(24 April 2002)
Nejmeh 6–2 Ansar
Lebanese Elite Cup
(30 September 2004)
Nejmeh 1–5 Ansar
Lebanese Premier League
(2 October 2017)

The derby has historically been the most anticipated game in Lebanon: both located in Beirut, Nejmeh and Ansar have shared the majority of domestic titles. Indeed Ansar holds 13 league titles, the most in the country, and Nejmeh have won eight, the second most.

Ansar leads the head-to-head results in competitive matches with 34 wins to Nejmeh's 31; while the two teams are tied in league wins, Ansar leads in cup and Super Cup wins, and Nejmeh leads in Elite Cup wins.

History

Origins of the clubs

Nejmeh and Ansar were both born in the post-World War II period. Nejmeh, Arabic for "Star", were founded in 1945 in Beirut, shortly after the independence of Lebanon. Their city rivals Ansar, Arabic for "The Supporters", were actually established in 1951 outside Beirut because the Lebanese capital already had one sports club per 10,000 inhabitants, as designated by the authorities, meaning the club set up in Mount Lebanon to the south of the city. By 1965, as Beirut’s population grew, they switched bases and a rivalry between the Lebanese capital’s Burgundy of Nejmeh and Green of Ansar was born.[1]

First match

The Beirut Municipal Stadium played host to the inaugural derby game between Nejmeh and Ansar on 8 December 1968, during the first leg of the 1968–69 season.[2] The match was won by Nejmeh 2–1.[1][2] Saadeddine Berjawi scored the derby's first goal in the 10th minute for Nejmeh, with Ansar's Abdullah Tabash drawing the score in the 23rd minute. Ali Safa the winning goal for Nejmeh in the 80th minute.[2][3] The game was led by the referee Krikor Chanian.[4]

1997–98 season
Ansar fans during the Beirut derby in 2018.

The Beirut sides met at the Municipal Stadium in Beirut in the 1997–98 Lebanese Premier League season with Ansar two points ahead of their rivals at the top of the table. A crowd of 22,000 made their way to the stadium from the early hours of the morning and thousands more gathered outside after tickets were sold out. Mohamed Al Saqsouq gave Ansar an early advantage after just five minutes but Moussa Hojeij equalised for Nejmeh with a thunderous drive, before The Greens restored their lead via a Malek Hassoun free-kick. Hojeij tried to repeat the trick, but his long-range effort this time rebounded off the bar for Wael Nazha to tap in as the first half ended 2–2. Ansar dominated the second half and added two more goals through Mohammed Mosalmani and Abdelfattah Chehab to win 4–2 and extend their lead to five points. They would go on to win their ninth consecutive league title that season.[1]

Statistics
As of 21 September 2019[3]
Matches Wins Draws Goals
ANS NEJ ANS NEJ
Lebanese Premier League 69 21 21 27 70 68
Lebanese FA Cup 12 8 4 0 23 15
Lebanese Super Cup 3 2 0 1 6 3
Lebanese Elite Cup 15 3 6 6 17 23
All competitions 99 34 31 34 116 109

Records

Biggest wins
4
Ansar 4–0 Nejmeh 24 April 2002 Lebanese FA Cup
Nejmeh 6–2 Ansar 30 September 2004 Lebanese Elite Cup
Nejmeh 1–5 Ansar 2 October 2017 Lebanese Premier League

Goalscoring

Top goalscorers
  • Players in bold are still active for Ansar or Nejmeh.[3]
Player Club League FA Cup Super Cup Elite Cup Total
Moussa Hojeij Nejmeh 4 2 2 3 11
Ali Nasseredine Nejmeh / Ansar 6 1 0 1 8
Peter Prosper Ansar — — — — 7
Errol McFarlane Nejmeh — — — — 7
Khaled Takaji Nejmeh / Ansar 6 0 0 1 7
El Hadji Malick Tall Ansar 5 1 0 0 6

Consecutive goalscoring
Player Club Consecutive matches Total goals in the run
Jamal Daher Ansar 3 3
Moussa Hojeij Ansar 3 3
Khaled Takaji Nejmeh / Ansar 3 3

Most hauls (4 goals)

Most hat-tricks

Honours

The rivalry reflected in Beirut derby matches comes about as Ansar and Nejmeh are the most successful football clubs in Lebanon. As seen below, Ansar leads Nejmeh 36–31 in terms of official overall trophies.

Ansar Competition Nejmeh
13Lebanese Premier League8
14Lebanese FA Cup6
5Lebanese Super Cup6
2Lebanese Elite Cup11
2Lebanese Federation Cup (defunct)0
36Aggregate31
gollark: As I said, change the color scheme if you must.
gollark: Yes, so do I.
gollark: I would, if possible, prefer an xenowyrm - changing the color scheme is fine.
gollark: There might be other oddly shaped ones which *do* have 12 identical faces though.
gollark: Not with regular polygons as faces!

See also

References
  1. "Great Asian Derbies – Al Ansar SC vs Nejmeh SC (Beirut)". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  2. "ديربي لبنان.. ملحمة كروية ممزوجة بالعنف". كووورة. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  3. Arab-Sport.net | (6 February 2018). "عرس الديربي | إحصاءات وارقام تاريخية بعيون عرب سبورت". عرب سبورتس. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  4. "أرقام تاريخية قبل كلاسيكو الكرة اللبنانية". كووورة. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
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