2020–21 Lebanese Second Division

The Lebanese Second Division (Arabic: الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الثانية) is the second division of Lebanese football. It is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The top two teams qualify for the Lebanese Premier League and replace the relegated teams, while the bottom two are relegated to the Lebanese Third Division.[1] The league was initially scheduled to start in September,[2] before being postponed to 2 October as part of preventive measures by the state towards the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4]

Lebanese Second Division
Season2020–21
Dates2 October 2020 – 16 April 2021
ChampionsSporting
PromotedSporting
Sagesse
RelegatedNasser Club Bar Elias
Ansar Howara
Matches played96
Goals scored289 (3.01 per match)
Top goalscorerMohamad Kdouh (15)
Biggest winSporting 6–0 Egtmaaey
(6 November 2020)
Highest scoringAnsar Howara 3–5 Nabi Chit
(28 March 2021)
Ansar Howara 2–6 Mabarra
(19 April 2021)

It is the first season to feature a "split" format, where the season is divided into two phases. In the first phase, each club plays against each other once, for a total of 11 matchdays. In the second phase, the league is split into two halves – the "top six" and the "bottom six". Points are carried over from the first phase, and each club plays five games within its own half. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all games in the season were played behind closed doors.[5]

As the 2019–20 season was cancelled, Sporting and Ansar Howara were the promoted teams from the Third Division,[6] while Bekaa and Racing Beirut were relegated from the Lebanese Premier League.[7][8] Sporting and Sagesse finished in first and second place respectively, and were promoted to the Lebanese Premier League, whereas Nasser Bar Elias and Ansar Howara finished in the bottom two positions, and were relegated to the Lebanese Third Division.

Teams

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Team Home city 2018–19 season
Ahli Nabatieh Nabatieh 6th in the Lebanese Second Division
Ahli Saida Sidon 3rd in the Lebanese Second Division
Ansar Howara Houara 2nd in the Lebanese Third Division
Nabi Chit Al-Nabi Shayth 12th in the Lebanese Premier League
Egtmaaey Tripoli 5th in the Lebanese Second Division
Islah Borj Shmali Tyre 9th in the Lebanese Second Division
Mabarra Beirut 10th in the Lebanese Second Division
Nahda Barelias Barelias 7th in the Lebanese Second Division
Nasser Club Bar Elias Barelias 8th in the Lebanese Second Division
Racing Beirut Beirut 11th in the Lebanese Premier League
Sagesse Beirut 4th in the Lebanese Second Division
Sporting Beirut 1st in the Lebanese Third Division

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation[a]
1 Sporting (C, P) 16 10 5 1 38 12 +26 35 Promotion to Lebanese Premier League
2 Sagesse (P) 16 9 5 2 24 10 +14 32
3 Ahli Nabatieh 16 9 2 5 25 14 +11 29
4 Islah Borj Shmali 16 7 4 5 28 18 +10 25
5 Ahli Saida 16 7 4 5 28 24 +4 25
6 Nahda Barelias 16 4 7 5 14 20 −6 19
7 Racing Beirut 16 8 5 3 29 19 +10 29
8 Egtmaaey 16 5 4 7 20 33 −13 19
9 Nabi Chit 16 5 3 8 26 30 −4 18
10 Mabarra 16 4 4 8 19 24 −5 16
11 Nasser Bar Elias (R) 16 2 5 9 17 31 −14 11 Relegation to Lebanese Third Division
12 Ansar Howara (R) 16 1 2 13 21 54 −33 5
Source: Goalzz
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Draw.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Teams play each other once (11 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).

Top scorers

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Rank Player Club Goals[9]
1   Mohamad Kdouh Racing Beirut 15
2   Wasim Abdalhadi Sagesse 12
3   Mazen Jamal Ahli Saida 11
4   Hassan Termos Sporting 10
5   Ali Abbas Sporting 9
  Ayman Abou Sahyoun Islah Borj Shmali

References

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  1. ^ "Lebanese League Second Division 2020/2021". www.goalzz.com. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  2. ^ "September kick off for new Lebanese season". The AFC. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  3. ^ Mahfoud, Maroun (19 August 2020). "LFA cancels all on-going tournaments and postpone the Premier League". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  4. ^ "The 2020-2021 Lebanese Premier League schedule has been revealed". FA Lebanon. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  5. ^ "الجمهور يعود.. لا يعود". lebanonfg.com. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  6. ^ "حوارة وسبورتينغ إلى الدرجة الثانية". Football Lebanon. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  7. ^ للإعلام, الوكالة الوطنية. "بطولة كرة القدم: البقاع إلى الدرجة الثانية ومعركة مفتوحة على هوية ثاني الهابطين". الوكالة الوطنية للإعلام (in Arabic). Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  8. ^ للإعلام, الوكالة الوطنية. "هبوط الراسينغ بيروت الى الدرجة الثانية والأنصار يقترب من المركز الوصيف". الوكالة الوطنية للإعلام (in Arabic). Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  9. ^ Lebanese Football Association [@thelfadotcom] (29 April 2021). "ترتيب الهدافين لبطولة الدوري العام لأندية الدرجة الثانية للموسم 2020-2021" (Tweet) – via Twitter.