Wihdat’s lead slashed as teams scramble for wins

AMMAN — Wihdat’s lead has been slashed to two points as they head into Week 14 of the Jordan Pro Football League after they were held to a draw by Aqaba in the final minutes of the match as standings began to take shape at both ends.

Wihdat could not hold on to their lead as the ambitious team from the south playing in their second season in the Pro League scored the draw in the last minutes to move up to fourth.

Wihdat will next pay Sahab who lost to Faisali 1-0 as the latter moved within two points of their traditional rivals at the top. Faisali will next play Shabab Urdun who lost 1-0 to titleholders Ramtha who moved up to 9th.

Salt also scored a 2-1 win over Ma’an who are trying to keep their spot in the Pro League.

They will next play Hussein who beat Sarih 2-0 as the latter dropped to last.

Ramtha who won the league last year have begun to move up the ladder while, Ma’an dropped while Jazira, who finished in top five in last few years, moved from last after they scored their second win of the season and beat Mugheer Sarhan 1-0 ahead of their match against Aqaba.

In two of the 2022 competitions played so far, Faisali won the season opening 35th Jordan Football Association (JFA) Shield title when they beat Ramtha who in turn upset Jordan Cup titleholders Faisali 2-0 in the 39th Jordan Super Cup. 

In the 2021 season, Ramtha won the league title for the third time in their history ending a 39-year drought. Newcomers to the Pro League, relatively unknown Jalil, overcame Wihdat to win the 34th JFA Shield; Wihdat beat one-time winners Jazira in the 38th Jordan Super Cup, while Faisali beat Salt to win the Jordan Cup.

Last year, Baqa’a were relegated in their worst season yet and were accompanied by Jalil. Mugheer Sarhan and Sarih were promoted from the First Division.

Since the league kicked off in 1944 with only Faisali, Ahli, Urdun and Homenetmen competing, Faisali are 34 time record league champs while Wihdat won 17 times since they joined in 1980. Although Faisali are the all-time record holders, Wihdat’s record is quite impressive. After four years in the Pro League, they won their first title in 1980 and have gone on to win the majority of titles since then. Ahli won eight times, Ramtha and Jazira three times each, Shabab Urdun twice, Amman and Urdun clubs once each.