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LONDON — Swansea City have achieved “something special” in climbing out of the Premier League’s relegation zone but, with the end of the season in sight, the battle to maintain their top-flight status is still in the balance, manager Paul Clement said.

After Hull City lost at home to Sunderland on Saturday, Swansea capitalised to climb above them with a tense 1-0 victory over Everton.

Fernando Llorente headed the hosts in front midway through the first half but, with broadcasters showing Swansea supporters biting their fingernails and holding their heads in their hands, Everton laid siege to their goal in the closing stages.

The Welsh side hung on to climb out of the drop zone having claimed seven points from three games.

“It is one of my proudest moments today. What a fantastic, gritty performance. It was so important we got that result today after what happened at Hull,” Clement told BT Sport. 

“We have hit some form both offensively and especially defensively. We have played against really good opposition and seven points from three games is a fantastic tally.

“It gave us a lift before the game knowing that [Hull] result had gone in our favour; we knew if we did something special we could get out of the relegation zone.”

With games remaining against relegated Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion, Swansea appear to have a kinder run-in than Hull, who face Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur. 

“We are confident we can go anywhere and get a result with the form we’re in. We’re focused on Sunderland on Saturday,” Clement told the BBC.

“It’s not done. It just shows what happened this weekend, the swing can go with you one week and then go against you. We’ve got to try and pick up all three points.”

Swansea were led by the superb Alfie Mawson who kept the Premier League’s most lethal marksman, Romelu Lukaku, quiet all game and calmly marshalled their defence throughout.

“We knew what we had to do, go out there and hope we can get a result regardless of Hull’s,” the impressive 23-year-old told the BBC.

“We were thinking ‘please hold on’ and Sunderland did us a favour ‘but we have to go there next week. The atmosphere was fantastic. That’s why we’re paying for 3,000 [fans] to come up next week. Through the trenches, they’ve been with us.”

AMMAN  — Without having to resort to a title deciding match, Faisali sealed the Jordan Professional Football League and took home their 33rd league title after a four year hiatus.

The last matches of the 2016-17 league switched final standings and caused major changes especially in the bottom half of the standings.

As Jazira and Wihdat alternated the lead, while Faisali looked like the most unlikely champs earlier in the season. The team has won the league title a record 32 times, but had lost their aptitude in the past four years when Wihdat dominated.

Ahli won the first major competition on the 2016/17 football calendar, when they beat reigning league champs Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup. In the Jordan Football Association Shield, Shabab Urdun scored a major 5-1 win over Faisali to win their second Shield title after they first won in 2007. 

However, Faisali’s 4-0 win over Sahab took them atop the standings on the final day of the league, as three-time champs Jazira, who were last league champs in 1956 needed a win to take them up the podium. However, Jazira were held 0-0 by Ahli and settled for second.

Titleholders Wihdat settled for third after a 2-1 win over Hussein ,while newcomers Manshieh finished fourth after a 2-1 win over Ramtha.

Both Baqa’a and That Ras held on to their spots in the league after Baqa’a scored a 3-1 win over Shabab Urdun while That Ras ousted Sarih 2-0 as the latter was relegated with Sahab to the 1st League.

Faisali took home JD120,000, Jazira JD80,000, Wihdat JD35,000, Manshieh JD15,000. 

Jazira’s Syrian pro Mardig Mardigian won the top scorer award with 14 goals and took home JD5,000 in prize money.

Regionally, Wihdat have made it to the Round of 16 in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup after exiting the Asian Champions League earlier in the season. After losing the chance to win their fourth consecutive and 16th overall league title, now they still have the Jordan Cup semis ahead. Ahli, playing in the AFC Cup for the first time, finished third in AFC Cup Group A and were eliminated from the first round.

The Jordan Cup semis are set to see Wihdat play Faisali while Ramtha meet Jazira on May 12 and 16 before playing the final on May 20.

Last season, Wihdat retained the title with Faisali, Ahli, Jazira and Shabab Urdun in top five spots. It was Wihdat’s third consecutive and 15th league title since they moved up to the Professional League in 1975. Faisali beat Wihdat to clinch the Super Cup while it was Ahli, who after years in the backstage, beat Shabab Urdun to win their first Jordan Cup final.

AMMAN — A superb weekend of 3x3 basketball has ended with the A Team taking the honours at the Spring Championships held at King Hussein Business Park in Amman.

By winning the men’s title, the A team will now have the opportunity to play in a second qualifying event to reach the world tour, with Chinese Taipei their next stop from September 9-10. Al Shabab finished second while the Fox team took third.

In the Men’s U-18 event, the Falcons clinched first, while the 3X3 team that will compete in next week’s Baku Islamic Games finished second. The Amigos took third. ‘‘Swish’’ won the Women’s category followed by Slam Dank, while the 3X3 team participating at the U-18 Asian Cup later this month, took third.

AMMAN — Fencing in Jordan seems to be on the right track after more medals were secured at the Arab Junior Fencing Championship being hosted by the Kingdom’s Fencing Federation, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The female junior team took gold in the Epee weapon, beating Lebanon with both Palestine and the UAE settling for bronze. Jordan then also won the Foil competition, followed by the UAE and Lebanon.

Kuwait took gold in the boys’ Foil, followed by Jordan in second and Iraq in third. Kuwait lead the medal standings with five gold, two silver and five bronze with Jordan close behind on three gold, four silver and five bronze. Lebanon are third with one gold and two bronze medals.

Faisali football team celebrates the club’s 33rd Premier League title after defeating Sahab 4-0 on Saturday.

Their closest rival, Al Jazeera, withdrew with Al Ahli 0-0 in a match played simultaneously with the former.

Sahab, accompanied by Al Sarih, dropped to the First League 

AMMAN — He began the event as the firm favourite, but Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah was in devastating form to completely dominate the FIA Jordan Rally in his new Autotek-run Ford Fiesta R5 Evo 2, according to the Jordan Rally News Service.

The 12-time regional rally champion won all the special stages for the second successive year and reached the finish at the Dead Sea with a winning margin of 16min 09.3sec.

It was the perfect result for the Qatari and French navigator Matthieu Baumel after their retirement in round one in February, and keeps the Qatari in the hunt for a 13th title, despite the fact that he still trails Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri by seven points in the unofficial championship standings. The victory was Attiyah’s 64th in MERC history; Baumel has now taken 13 as a co-driver.

“The car was fantastic, no issues at all and I was able to control my pace and take no risks,” said Attiyah. “The future of this championship is important to me and Jordan as a rally is one of the strongest anywhere with its organisation and important to a great many people. It has a proud tradition and deserves a strong future.”

The all-Jordanian crew of Marouf Abu Samra and navigator Malik Hariri returned to the Jordan Rally for the first time since 2014 and settled in superbly, despite only running a brief pre-event test on the old Turki stage. They produced an impressive career-best performance to seal second position and victory in MERC 2.

Abu Samra’s feat marked the first time in 36 years that a Jordanian driver had finished second in the Jordan Rally – the late Nabil Dirani completed the event behind Lebanon’s Michel Saleh at the wheel of a Renault 17 Gordini in 1981.

Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri began the event in strong contention for both the MERC and MERC 2 titles and third overall did the Mitsubishi Lancer driver’s chances no harm at all. He now leads the MERC 2 Championship outright by an unofficial 21 points and heads to Cyprus as the outright MERC leader.

Khaled and Emad Juma closed the gap on the Kuwaiti over the closing stages on Friday afternoon, after overcoming an exhaust-related fire, but a broken turbocharger for two and a half stages through Saturday morning’s loop cost the Jordanians any chance of snatching a podium finish. They eventually retired with mechanical problems on the second run through Shuna.

Saudi Arabia’s Rakan Al Rashed used the Rally 2 ruling to regain fifth place after clutch woes, and he and Finnish co-driver Jarkko Kalliolepo moved up to fourth in his Mahara Racing-run Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX before retiring on the road section to the final stage with fuel pump issues.

Jordan’s Ihab Al Shorafa and Asem Aref rounded off the FIA finishers in fourth and fifth places after Kuwait’s Essam Al Nejadi and Salem Al Thefiri retired their Mitsubishis with mechanical issues after SS13.

Ahmad Shaban rolled out of the 2nd National Rally in the unlucky 13th Jordan River stage and was unable to challenge the eventual runaway winner Salamah Al Gammaz. The Jordanian reached the finish 13min 04.3sec clear of the father and son crew of former Arabic teacher Ziad Miqdad and his son Hassan. Nasser Khanfar and Burhan Abu Gura were third.

Cars were flagged over the finish podium by HRH Princess Ayah, the daughter of HRH Prince Feisal, chairman of Jordan Motor Sport.

The event ran thanks to a huge national effort supported by the Jordanian government and its security and safety services.

All nine FIA cars and four runners in the 2nd National Rally began the opening 15km Shuna stage that preceded runs through the Jordan River and Baptism Site stages and the return to service at the Dead Sea. The opener was slightly delayed while some spectators were relocated, and Attiyah increased his lead to 9min 49.6sec.

Thefiri managed to fend off a struggling Juma to strengthen his hold on third place heading to the 31.01km of the renowned Jordan River stage. Attiyah just missed out on breaking the 23-minute barrier for the longest timed section of the event and another fastest time pushed the Qatari 11min 37.9sec in front of Abu Samra, who had sustained a flat tyre three kilometres into the Shuna stage.

Ongoing turbo charger issues wrecked Juma’s chance of threatening AThefiri’s hold on third. Ahmad Shaban rolled his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI out of the 2nd National Rally and enabled Salamah Al Gammaz to take a massive lead into the remaining five stages.

Attiyah reached service with a lead of 12min 14.5sec and there were large gaps between drivers inside the top six after Juma dropped another three minutes to Thefiri through Baptism with his turbo charger woes. “We had to complete two-and-a-half stages like this,” groaned the Jordanian.

The road section between Jordan River and Baptism spelt the end of the line for Essam Al Nejadi (overheating) and Salem Al Thefiri (mechanical).

Attiyah survived the second loop of stages and a repeat of Thursday night’s super special to secure the victory, while Abu Samra and Al Thefiri did enough to consolidate second and third overall. Juma was sidelined on the stage after service with mechanical problems and his demise lifted Rashed to fourth, only for the Saudi to retire within sight of the finish with fuel pump issues.

The third round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship takes place in Cyprus on June 16-18.

AMMAN — Qatar’s Nasser SalehAttiyah and French navigator Matthieu Baumel cruised into a lead of 11.3 seconds at the FIA Jordan Rally after the opening two-kilometre Samarah super special stage on the shores of the Dead Sea on Thursday evening, according to the Jordan Rally News Service.

The late arrival of his support truck meant that the 10-time winner of the Hashemite Kingdom’s premier motor sporting event had been unable to test his new Ford Fiesta R5 Evo 2 until after scrutineering on Thursday morning. It was, therefore, a cautious Qatari who carded the fastest time of 1min 51.5sec over a stage that was held in near darkness adjacent to the ceremonial start

“We made a little test today, maybe 35km, with the car on a section of gravel track that was used in the WRC from the old Turki stage and the car felt great,” said Attiyah. “I need to finish this rally. The championship is short and the problems in Qatar mean that maximum points are important here. I have been driving Fords for many years, so I know the cars well. This car has a little more power.”

The best of the rest and the leader in MERC 2 was Jordanian driver Marouf Abu Samra at the wheel of his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. Khaled Juma finished third, 3.1 seconds behind, and Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri and Saudi Arabia’s Rakan Al Rashed rounded off the top five

Asem Aref was given the honour of running first on the road in his little Renault Clio and he and navigator Musa Djiyerian carded the target time of 3min 05.7sec. Cars were flagged away from the start ramp by HRH Prince Feisal, chairman of Jordan Motor sport.

“We have looked at the entry and I guess we should be targeting second place and at least a place on the podium,” said Abu Samra. “I intend to be careful, take no risks and make sure that we give ourselves the chance of a good finish. I considered using the Skoda, but it was impossible to get a part I needed to ensure I could use it.”

Abu Samra’s navigator Malek Hariri is a commercial pilot with Royal Jordanian and won the 2014 World Masters Jujitsu Championship in Brazil.  He has co-driven for numerous drivers, including Abu Samra, Michel Saleh, Amjad Farrah and Bashar Al Bustami, and is trying to piece together an exciting deal to tackle the Dakar Rally for the first time in January 2018.

Khaled and Emad Juma are competing in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and younger brother Khaled has replaced Emad in the driving seat. “I started rallying as a driver in the Jordan Rally in 1992 and switched to co-driving in 2002. I can pass on that experience to my younger brother now,” said 50-year-old Imad, who finished second on the opening round of this year’s National series after the duo won the series in 2016

Emad Juma has competed with a wide range of drivers, including Faris Hijazi, Maen Tantash, Faris Bustami and Yasmin A Hilli. His best MERC result as a navigator was a fine second overall with Bustami.

Seven of the nine cars in the FIA event were permitted to start with advisory messages issued by rally officials in connection with the lack of suitable protective roll cage padding, as per 2017 FIA appendix J of the technical regulations. There were three other minor issues (tinted windows, no external trigger and no external circuit breaker) that contravened appendix J, but all nine cars were permitted to start by rally stewards.

Ziad Miqdad dropped down into the National Rally to join Ahmad Shaban, Salamah Al-Gammaz and Nasser Khanfar — all four are driving Mitsubishi Lancers.

The event is running thanks to a huge national effort supported by the Jordanian Government and its security and safety services.

It is also being supported by the private sector with the Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa, Dead Sea Touristic & Real Estate Investment (Samarah), Vestel, CCI — Creative Concepts Industries, Radio Hala and Bliss FM all playing a key part.

Tomorrow (Friday), teams will tackle two loops of five stages in the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas. Runs through Panorama, Syagha, Rama, Bahath and Suwayma start at 09.09hrs and will be repeated in the afternoon from 13.03hrs after a return to the Dead Sea Service Park at midday.

AMMAN — This year’s FIA Jordan Rally, round two of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, gets under way with a two-kilometre super special stage on the shores of the Dead Sea, according to the Jordan Rally Media  Service.

Traditionally based at the lowest point on the earth (at over 400 metres below sea level), the former round of the WRC is seen as the toughest round of the regional rally series and has a proud tradition in regional motor sport.

Thirteen cars and competitors from six nations will start Jordan Motor Sport’s flagship event of the year, with Qatar’s 12-time regional rally champion, Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah, starting as the overwhelming favourite to clinch his 64th MERC rally win in a new M-Sport-built Ford Fiesta R5 Evo 2 being driven on an international event for the first time.

Attiyah and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel have endured a difficult start to a season that has been a roller coaster from the start. Radiator damage prevented the Qatari winning his home round of the MERC in February and victories in the Dubai International Baja and Qatar Cross-Country Rally were overshadowed somewhat by crashes at the Dakar and Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Attiyah arrives at the Dead Sea lying third in the MERC’s points’ standings and fresh from a skeet shooting competition in Cyprus. He tested the new Ford Fiesta for the first time on Wednesday afternoon.

In the absence of Khalid Al Suwaidi, Attiyah faces no competition in the RC2 class for R5 cars and attention focuses on what promises to be a close tussle for success in MERC 2 between eight Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution drivers entered in the NR4 group for showroom production vehicles.

Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri holds second in the regional series and a similar position in MERC 2 after his runner-up finish in Qatar and could well challenge for overall title honours this season.

He and Qatari navigator Nasser Al Kuwari lead an MERC 2 field that includes fellow Kuwaitis, Essam Al Nejadi and Salem Al Thefiri, Saudi Arabia’s Rakan Al Rashed and the Jordanian quartet of Khaled Juma, Marouf Abu Samra, Ihab Al Shorafa and Ziad Miqdad.

The Jordanian duo of Asem Aref and Musa Djiyerian will be aiming to conquer the demanding gravel stages of the Jordan Valley in their little Renault Clio, the sole entry in the RC3 class for two-wheel drive cars.

Three Jordanian crews will run behind the FIA entrants in a second National Rally. Ahmad Shaban, Salamah Al Gammaz and Nasser Khanfar will drive three older Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions.

The event is being pulled together thanks to a huge national effort supported by the Jordanian government and its security and safety services.

On Thursday cars will be scrutineered for FIA eligibility and the official timetable of events gets under way with the official pre-event press conference with leading drivers at the ceremonial start location from 5:20pm.

The ceremonial start then takes centre stage from 6:20pm and crews head into the opening two-kilometre Samarah super special stage at 7:30pm

The bulk of the action takes place on Friday and Saturday over gravel tracks and a further 17 timed special stages in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas.