Wihdat hope to build on slim lead in league

AMMAN — Wihdat have a chance to boost their lead when week 16 of the 64th Jordan Professional Football League kicks off on Thursday.

The titleholders are out of a 1-0 win over rivals Faisali and will next face Baqa’a while Faisali play Sarih who beat Shabab Urdun 2-0 to move up to sixth.

Ahli lost the chance to improve further after they were held 0-0 with Kufrsoum and will next play Hussein. Ramtha beat Jazira 1-0 and moved to fifth before they play Kufrsoum. In other matches, Jazira play Asala, and That Ras, who held Asala 0-0, take on Shabab Urdun.

Faisali have moved closer to the lead after a Jordan Football Association ruling in their favour. They had tied Asala 0-0, but Faisali later lodged a complaint noting Asala’s enlisting of injured players not on the referees sheet. The JFA noted Faisali a winner 3-0, a decision contested by Asala lawyers who said they will appeal as per FIFA regulations as it was three weeks after the match, and not within the 48 hour time frame.

This week, Faisali and Wihdat both played the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup with Wihdat losing the away match in Beirut against Lebanon’s Al Ahd in Group A 3-2 after their opening 2-0 win over Bahrain’s Hidd. Group A also includes Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr who beat Al Ahd 2-0 and drew Hidd 1-1.

In Amman, Faisali beat Iraq’s Naft Al Wasat 2-1 in Group B after their opening 0-0 draw with Turkmenistan’s Istiklol Dushanbe. Group B also includes Lebanon’s Tripoli who beat Istiklol 2-1 and lost to Naft Al Wasat 1-0.

So far this season, Jordan Cup titleholders Faisali beat league titleholders Wihdat 1-0 to win the 33rd Super Cup. Apart from conceding the Super Cup, and elimination from the Jordan Cup. Wihdat now have the league title left for grabs. The team has been league champ for the past two consecutive years while Faisali finished at a disappointing 7th place as runner-up and third places went to Jazira and Ramtha. Ahli are the surprise team of the league this season. After relegation to Division 1 in 2004 for the first time in their history, they were back among the Pro League clubs in 2014 and finished 5th in 2015. They have now made it to the Jordan Cup final against Shabab Urdun on May 5.