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CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Openers Dimuth Karunarate and Kaushal Silva led Sri Lanka’s fightback on the second day of the first cricket Test Saturday as it followed on 303 runs behind New Zealand after being dismissed for 138 in its first innings.

Karunaratne and Silva shrugged off their failures in the first innings, in which they were dismissed for 0 and 4 inside the first five overs, and led Sri Lanka to 84 without loss at stumps, still 219 behind New Zealand’s first innings of 441.

Silva was 33 not out and Karunaratne unbeaten on 49.

Sri Lanka’s first innings was undone by outstanding swing bowling by Trent Boult (3-25), and Tim Southee (2-17). Neil Wagner (3-60) and Jimmy Neesham (2-28) then wrapped up Sri Lanka’s innings in less than 3-1/2 hours.

“To get through them for 138 and force them to follow on was good,” Boult said. “To get a couple more wickets would have been nice but obviously the boys bowled tremendously well. There are still three days to go, three big days, and we’re looking forward to those.”

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, whose 195 underpinned his team’s first innings total, had no hesitation in enforcing the follow on, believing his leading bowlers were still fresh and conditions at Hagley Oval still offered swing and seam movement.

But the pitch seemed to have lost some of its venom when it was rolled between innings, the New Zealand bowlers were less directed and the Sri Lanka openers more focused.

Boult and Southee had found pronounced movement in the air at the start of Sri Lanka’s first innings and none of their leading batsmen showed the technique or restraint to cope with that challenge. Karunaratne and Silva were both out lbw to Boult, caught in front of their stumps by balls that swung back at them late.

Veteran Kumar Sangakkara, in what might be his last Test, was undone by an outswinger from Boult which elicted a drive but no foot movement and provided a catch to Southee at third slip. Sangakkara started his 129th Test match with 11,988 runs — needing 12 runs to become the fifth player in history to exceed 12,000 runs in Tests. But he fell for six and left that historic moment to his team’s second innings.

“It came out pretty nicely in the first innings,” said Boult. “The ball came out of the hand pretty nicely and it seamed around a bit as well. Those are the conditions and those of the spells you dream of and it was good to get through a couple.”

Captain Angelo Mathews, who took 3-39 as Sri Lanka quickly ended New Zealand’s first innings on the second morning, batted superbly to top-score with 50 in his team’s first innings.

He had limited support, but Lahiru Thirimanne (24) stayed with him to add 43 for the fourth wicket, stemming the early collapse.

Mathews reached his 19th half century in Tests from 83 balls with three fours and two sixes. He moved to 50 runs with a four and six off consecutive balls from Wagner but was out two balls later as he tried to reverse Sri Lanka’s dire predicament through aggressive stroke play.

New Zealand resumed its first innings at 429-7 Saturday and Sri Lanka needed only 26 minutes and 5.2 overs to capture its last three wickets for 12 runs. That set the stage for a first session in which six wickets fell for 50 runs as Sri Lanka’s decline set in.

MANCHESTER, England — Chelsea and Manchester City kicked off the Premier League’s hectic festive schedule with commanding victories Friday to keep the title race finely poised, while Manchester United and Liverpool also won on a successful day for the country’s top teams.

John Terry and Diego Costa scored as Chelsea beat West Ham 2-0 to retain their three-point lead over City, which scored all of their goals in the first half in a 3-1 win at West Bromwich Albion played in a snowstorm.

Only United look capable of gatecrashing the fight for the title between the top two, with Wayne Rooney scoring twice to set up a 3-1 win over Newcastle that tightened the 20-time champions’ grip on third place — seven points behind City.

Liverpool built on recent encouraging performances by eking out a 1-0 win at Burnley through Raheem Sterling’s second-half goal to keep in sight of the top four, where Southampton returned after rolling past Crystal Palace 3-1.

Tottenham and Swansea were other teams in the top half to register wins in the first of three rounds of league fixtures over seven days across the holiday period. Stoke beat Everton 1-0 and Hull snapped a 10-game winless run by defeating Sunderland 3-1 to climb out of the relegation zone.

Arsenal host Queens Park Rangers in the late match.

Leicester’s miserable season back in the top flight continued with a 2-1 home loss to Spurs, leaving the team bottom of the standings and six points from safety. A winless run of 13 games is piling the pressure on Nigel Pearson, who is the British bookmakers’ favourite to become the first manager fired in the Premier League this season

Since losing 2-1 at Newcastle to end their unbeaten start to the campaign, Chelsea have rediscovered their fluent form and the leaders cut down to size a West Ham team enjoying their best season in nearly three decades and which arrived at Stamford Bridge in fourth place.

Terry tapped home from close range in the 31st minute following a downward header from a corner from Costa, who made it 2-0 in the 62nd with a low finish for his 13th goal in the season.

It was a dominant performance from Chelsea, who ware barely troubled until the last few minutes.

“The challenge this season was to bring that creativity, that dynamism, without losing the good defensive qualities of the team,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. “In this moment, we have a good balance.”

Playing without a striker for the second straight game, City relied on their midfielders for goals in blizzard-like conditions at The Hawthorns and they obliged through Fernando, Yaya Toure — from the penalty spot — and David Silva.

It was City’s seventh straight win in the league, with the defending champions showing the kind of form that swept them to a second title in three years last year.

There could be a new twist in the title race on Sunday when Chelsea head to Southampton, who have recovered from their recent slump and are hard to beat at St Mary’s Stadium. City host Burnley.

Rooney, starting again in central midfield, scored in the 23rd and 36th minutes before setting up Robin van Persie for United’s other goal at Old Trafford to help extend the team’s unbeaten run to eight games.

“I was very pleased because we dominated for 90 minutes,” Van Gaal said. “We make progress in every game.”

Liverpool began their game at Turf Moor in their lowest Christmas position since 1992-93 but a change of formation to 3-4-3 has rejuvenated last season’s runner-up and they recovered from a slow start at Burnley to record a first victory in four matches.

Sterling scored the winner in the 62nd minute, latching onto a lobbed pass from Philippe Coutinho and rounding goalkeeper Tom Heaton to roll a shot into the unguarded net.

Liverpool lost goalkeeper Brad Jones to injury in the 15th minute, meaning an earlier-than-expected recall for Simon Mignolet after he was dropped recently following some error-strewn displays.

Harry Kane scored in the first minute and Christian Eriksen grabbed a 71st-minute winner as Tottenham made it three wins in a row to pile the misery on Leicester.

Swansea beat Aston Villa 1-0 at home thanks to Gylfi Sigurdsson’s brilliant free kick and former Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic scored Stoke’s winning goal at Everton, who are struggling in 12th place.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood says his team’s refusal to be intimidated by India’s verbal sledges and physical play during the second Test will give it an advantage when the teams meet again on Friday in the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

India greeted Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson with a barrage of short balls and some heated verbal exchanges. But Australia’s response, led by Johnson, helped propel them to a 2-0 series lead in the four-Test series, winning in Brisbane by four wickets in four days.

“It backfired at the Gabba with them trying to get stuck into us and Mitch fired back,” Hazlewood said on Wednesday. “It was good to see him pick up some wickets in the second innings and really fire up and bowl fast.”

Johnson scored 88 runs from 93 balls to help revive the team’s first innings and turn the match in Australia’s favour.

Hazlewood took five wickets in the first innings and another two in the second in his Test debut in Brisbane.

Australia received some good news on the batting front Wednesday when David Warner and Shane Watson returned to training.

Warner batted for the first time since hurting his left thumb on the final day of the second Test.

“It was a bit sore when it hit the splice and toe of the bat, but that’s to be expected,” Warner said. “It’s going to be quite painful, but I can bear that pain and get out there on Boxing Day.”

Watson shook off the physical and psychological effects of being hit in the head by a James Pattinson bouncer and returned to batting in the nets.

On November 25, Australia teammate Phillip Hughes was hit by a bouncer during a domestic match in Sydney, and died in hospital two days later. Warner and Watson were on the field that day at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“It probably shook him [Watson] up a lot more than he would have anticipated,” Warner said. “He was close to Hughesy. It brought back a bit of a memory for him and he got back on the horse and trained again today which was fantastic.”

Mental battles

Warner has described his team’s mental battles with opponents as banter, not sledging, and says he has no plans to curb the exchanges despite things getting lost in translation occasionally.

Australia are renowned for their chatter in the middle, which has often put the team in hot water.

Captain Michael Clarke’s menacing warning to England bowler James Anderson to “get ready for a broken... arm” during the Ashes series cost him part of his match fee but won him more than a few admirers among the Australian public.

The recent death of Australia batsman Hughes prompted calls by pundits for cricketers to be more civil to each other out in the field of battle.

And for three days of the series-opening Test in Adelaide between Australia and India, it appeared the calls had been heeded.

Then Warner, as so often before, managed to get under his opponents’ skin.

Warner was given an almighty send-off when bowled by paceman Varun Aaron on day four but had the last laugh when the wicket was disallowed after a television replay showed the bowler had overstepped the crease on his delivery.

Warner would score two centuries for the match.

Since then, it has been “game on” and Warner said on Wednesday more of the same could be expected during the third Test in Melbourne with the hosts carrying a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

“If it requires a little bit of banter to get the other person talking, that’s what is going to happen,” Warner told reporters.

“Some players, they don’t say anything at all, but then when they do, you know you’ve gotten into them and they’re actually listening to you.

“You know you’re in their head.

“I like to go at them, to try and get them to bite back at me when I go out there and bat. At the moment it’s working.”

Warner was sledger-in-chief during the Ashes series — even off the field when assessing the struggles of England batsman Jonathan Trott.

India has proved a bit of a challenge, though.

“It’s quite tough with nations that speak different languages,” Warner said.

“The aim for us it’s not really sledging, it’s more banter.”

AMMAN — The Kingdom’s U-23 football team will regroup this weekend to prepare for two friendlies against Oman on December 28 and 31 as the team prepares for the 2016 Olympic qualifiers set for March 2015.

The team last played three friendlies against leading teams Wihdat, Faisali and Shabab Urdun during a local training camp as head coach Jamal Abu and team officials at the Jordan Football Association tried to secure several friendlies. 

“These matches will pave the way to assess all players recalled and finalise the line-up accordingly,” Abu Abed said. The squad is also set to play the UAE on January 27 and 30.

Earlier this year, Jordan was eliminated from the Asian Games quarters, despite a bumpy preparation as the team had a hard time regrouping amid the busy agenda of the national team as well as local clubs. Jordan  was impressive as the team topped Group G after three wins. In Round 1, they scored  a 1-0 win over the UAE and 2-0 over India. In Round 2, they beat Kyrgyzstan 2-0 in extra time. In the quarters, they lost to Thailand 2-0.

Following the Asian Games, the coach recalled other players, including five from the senior national team with the hope of further consolidating the line-up.

In local friendlies this summer, the team lost to Wihdat 2-0, tied Jazira 1-1 and beat Shabab Urdun 2-1. In regional friendlies they beat Uzbekistan 2-1, held Iran 2-2 and 1-1, and Kuwait 1-1 twice before a goalless draw with Qatar. They finished second at the Palestine International Championship, and earlier this year hosted the England C squad  in a historic match, losing 1-0.

DUBAI — Lee Chong Wei’s indefinite suspension for a doping violation will cost the Malaysian his top ranking with Chinese world champion Chen Long set to take over on Thursday after his World Superseries Finals triumph in Dubai.

The world governing body (BWF) provisionally suspended Lee last month after the shuttler tested positive for the illegal anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone at the World Championships in August.

Lee, who won silver medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, remains confident he can clear his name when the BWF panel conducts a hearing into the case next year.

Chen, currently ranked second, has made full use of Lee’s absence and collected valuable points by winning the Denmark Open in October and the Superseries Finals on Sunday, when he beat Dane Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.

The 32-year-old Lee had held the No. 1 ranking for the last six years barring a few weeks when Chinese Olympic champion Lin Dan became the top-ranked player in 2012.

SINGAPORE — A year which was supposed to showcase the virtues of modern sport was instead smeared by a series of scandals that exposed the ugly underbelly of the games people love.

On the fields of play, the action in 2014 was at times breathtaking.

A German team, unshackled from its pragmatic past and playing with uninhibited flair, won a World Cup in Brazil that exceeded everyone’s wildest expectations.

Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in the final at the sprawling Maracana in Rio de Janeiro thanks to a superb extra-time goal from baby-faced substitute Mario Goetze to lift the trophy for the first time since 1990.

The hosts buckled under the weight of expectation, finishing fourth, but never had the samba nation shone so brightly on the world stage.

Magnanimous in defeat, Brazil delivered a tournament that will be remembered for its contagious carnival atmosphere, infecting everyone from the golden sands of Copacabana Beach to the Amazon rainforest.

But the year did not end well for the beautiful game with FIFA, football’s world governing body, fending of more accusations of bribery over its decision to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and 2022 to Qatar.

FIFA cleared both of any of wrongdoing but the former US prosecutor who led the investigation said it had misrepresented his findings and he later quit.

The timing of the 2022 World Cup is also causing problems with doctors warning the tournament will have to be moved from its usual summer slot to avoid the stifling heat in Qatar.

But any change could impact on the European leagues and potentially clash with the 2022 Winter Olympics, in either Beijing or Almaty, the only two cities in the bidding race.

The rest all dropped out, citing the astronomical $51 billion price tag for this year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, and prompting the International Olympic Committee to introduce a raft of reforms.

Like Brazil’s World Cup, Russia’s Olympics went better than expected despite the inevitable collision between sport and politics. The buildup was overshadowed by threats of Islamist militant violence, an international outcry over a contentious “anti-gay propaganda” law and allegations of corruption.

Jealousy

Western critics labelled the Games a wasteful extravagance to show off modern Russia’s might. President Vladimir Putin said the complaints were fuelled by jealousy and reminiscent of the Cold War rhetoric that dominated Olympics in the 70s and 80s.

Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova won the women’s figure skating ahead of South Korea’s Kim Yuna, triggering complaints about the judging in the most-watched event of the Games.

In short-track speed skating, Viktor Ahn won three gold medals for his adopted Russia — heaping yet more agony on his native South Koreans.

Ahn won three golds for South Korea in 2006 but swapped nations after he was not selected for the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Forty-year-old Ole Einar Bjoerndalen beat the odds to set a record of 13 Winter Games medals by winning the biathlon sprint and the mixed relay while Dutch speed skater Irene Wust won five medals, matching the record at a single Winter Olympics.

Russia finished top of the medals table with 13 golds but the country’s recent surge in sport was questioned later in the year with allegations of systemic doping by Russian athletes.

Racism, doping and domestic violence dominated the American sporting landscape in 2014.

Donald Sterling, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, was banned for life and eventually agreed to sell the franchise after a racist rant that overshadowed the San Antonio Spurs’ victory over the Miami Heat in the championship final.

Alex Rodriguez, baseball’s highest-paid player, missed the entire MLB season after ending a legal challenge to his record suspension for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs.

The San Francisco Giants won the World Series for the third time in five seasons, with ace pitcher Madison Bumgarner playing the starring role.

The NFL, America’s richest and most watched sport, played its first Super Bowl in the New York area — with the Seattle Seahawks beating the Denver Bronocs.

But the sport was plunged into crisis when Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was caught on film punching his wife and Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson used a tree branch to discipline his son.

The genteel sport of cricket was left heartbroken after the shock death of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes — who was killed when he was hit in the head by a ball.

His death triggered a global outpouring of grief not seen since Formula One driver Ayrton Senna was killed in a high-speed crash 20 years ago.

Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, who grew up idolising Senna, won his second F1 driver’s title while Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy won the British Open and PGA championships titles.

Serena Williams showed why she remains the queen of women’s tennis, winning her sixth US Open and finishing the year as the world’s oldest number one, aged 33.

The men’s game saw some new names in the Grand Slam winners’ enclosure with Stan Wawrinka winning in Australia and Marin Cilic taking the US Open.

MARANELLO, Italy — Ferrari Chairman Sergio Marchionne drew a line under a dismal year for Formula One's most glamorous and successful team on Monday but made clear that 2015 would also be a season of struggle.

Speaking at a news conference before Christmas lunch at the team's Fiorano test track, Marchionne left no doubt there was a hard road ahead before Ferrari could catch up with dominant Mercedes.

"We must forget 2014," said the Fiat Chrysler (FCA) chief executive who replaced Luca Di Montezemolo as Ferrari chairman in October. "I don't want to talk about 2014."

The Italian outfit failed to win a race this year, their first blank season since 1993, and have said farewell to two team principals in a general clearout and restructuring.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso has left for McLaren, with Red Bull's quadruple champion Sebastian Vettel arriving to try to galvanise the restructured team after they finished fourth overall.

Newly-appointed principal Maurizio Arrivabene warned, in his first official news conference, that he could not work miracles and Marchionne agreed the team now needed time.

Marchionne said Ferrari, whose engine has been outperformed by champions Mercedes, were paying a price for decisions made under the previous management.

"We started late with the 2015 car, certain choices and strategies that were made by others and that, in retrospect, I don't necessarily share," he added.

"So 2015 will be a difficult year that will put the team to a real test."

Asked how long it would take Ferrari to recover, Marchionne said: "I think 2015 is going to be a reconstitution year. It will be Maurizio's first full year with the team.”

"I think hopefully within the next 12 months we will remove all the baggage of uncertainty that is going to plague at least the initial phase of 2015.”

"Not to underestimate the significance or the magnitude of the task, I think Ferrari can probably get to the same place [as Mercedes] by the end of 2015. Some of the work has already started. We need to be able to emulate their success."

Arrivabene, who has years of experience working on the governing body's F1 commission as a sponsor representative, said the 2015 car was on schedule and had passed crash tests.

He said two wins next year would be a success, even if the legions of fans might not see it the same way, and three a triumph.

"If we win four, we go to heaven," added Marchionne. 

Gutierrez thrown in 

too young

Mexican driver Esteban Gutierrez was thrown into F1 too young and paid the price but Ferrari can help him prove his worth, Arrivabene said.

Gutierrez, who was dropped by Swiss-based Sauber at the end of the season, was presented as Ferrari's test and reserve driver last week.

The deal was followed up by the announcement that Gutierrez's Mexican backers, telecommunications giant America Movil, were also joining the sport's oldest and most successful team as sponsors.

Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne was subsequently signed as another test driver, focusing on simulator work, with some media reports suggesting he would do the more substantial work.

However Arrivabene said Gutierrez should not be underestimated.

"He is a driver that made his debut in F1 too soon," he said of the 23-year-old.

"Talented drivers must not be thrown on to the scene too early. I am sure he is talented and will have a chance to show it," added Arrivabene.

MADRID — Decorated Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has dubbed 2014 “the best year of my life” .

After playing a key role for the Spanish giants as they swept to four titles including a record-extending 10th European crown.

A no-nonsense centre back whose strength in the air regularly yields goals, Ramos scooped the player of the tournament award at the Club World Cup after scoring in the semifinal win against Cruz Azul and the victory over San Lorenzo in Saturday’s final.

The standout moment on the pitch in a year during which he also became a father for the first time was his last-gasp equaliser against Atletico Madrid in May’s Champions League final before Real went on to beat their city rivals 4-1 after extra time.

His goals against Cruz Azul, San Lorenzo and Atletico were typically athletic headers from set pieces and cemented the Seville-born 28-year-old’s status as a hero to Real fans.

The heavily-tattooed Ramos was also an important member of the Spain team that won back-to-back European Championship crowns in 2008 and 2012 and a maiden World Cup trophy in between.

Spain’s abject failure to defend their title at the World Cup in Brazil in June was a major blemish but Ramos nonetheless declared 2014 as “the most important of my life, both professionally and on the personal side”.

“I had the unique experience of becoming a father and in the professional sphere I was able to win four titles and that Champions League we all wanted so much,” he told the radio station Cadena Ser late on Sunday.

“To win awards is gratifying but it is down to the work of my teammates and if an individual player shines it is only thanks to their efforts.”

Ramos, whose partner is glamorous Spanish television journalist Pilar Rubio, praised Real coach Carlo Ancelotti who he has a much more harmonious relationship with than he did with the Italian’s predecessor Jose Mourinho.

The defender’s contract expires in June 2017 and he told Cadena Ser he wanted to remain at the world’s richest club by income, having joined in August 2005, “for many years” and there was no need to rush talks on an extension.

Going into La Liga’s two-week winter break Atletico are in third place on 35 points, four behind leader Real Madrid, who have a game in hand, and three points behind second-placed Barcelona.

MARRAKECH, Morocco — Greeted with overwhelming indifference in Europe, the Club World Cup is still seen as the pinnacle of club football elsewhere as thousands of San Lorenzo fans demonstrated this week.

An estimated 9,000 fans made the tortuous and costly trip from Buenos Aires to Marrakech to witness what they believed was the most important week in their club’s history.

Goalkeeper Sebastian Torrico said before Saturday’s final against Real Madrid, won 2-0 by the European champions, that it would be “the most important game of my life” and coach Edgardo Bauza expressed similar sentiments.

“It’s the match all the players want to play. This is the most important game at club level,” he said.

“At my age this is like touching heaven,” added 34-year-old team captain Juan Mercier.

“I’ve played a lot of second division football and reached the top flight at a late age, so I never thought I’d ever be in a situation like this, about to take on Real Madrid.”

San Lorenzo had become almost obsessed by the tournament since winning the South American Libertadores Cup five months ago.

Until the 1990s, the South American champions used to compete on equal terms with their European counterparts and led by 13 titles to 12 when the old Intercontinental Cup was scrapped in 2004.

But Europe leads by seven wins to three under the new format, reflecting the huge gulf which has been caused by the continued exodus of top players worldwide towards Europe.

The December timing of the tournament also does not help.

Huge pull

While the European sides reinforce their teams in the six months between winning the Champions League and taking part in the club cup, the opposite happens with teams from the rest of the world where winning a title means the best players get sold.

Asian champions Western Sydney Wanderers have yet to win a league game this season and Moghreb Tetouan, who qualified as champions of the host nation, are 10th in the Moroccan league and had not won in five games going into the tournament.

San Lorenzo, meanwhile ambled through the 19-match campaign in the Argentine Inicial tournament, winning eight times to finish eighth.

Nevertheless, the chance to pit themselves against teams such as Real Madrid remains a huge pull for the likes of San Lorenzo and their mainly journeyman players.

Predictably, Real Madrid sailed through their two matches without conceding a goal, beating Cruz Azul 4-0 and San Lorenzo 2-0, reinforcing the concept that the tournament is uncompetitive.

In fact, Real probably encountered more resistance in those two games than they would in a typical La Liga game or Champions League group stage tie.

San Lorenzo coach Edgardo Bauza pointed out that it is not just teams from other continents that succumb to Real’s array of cherry-picked, world class players as the Spaniards had won their previous 20 games going into the tournament.

Bauza said there is also a huge gap between the elite group of European teams, such as Real, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and the rest of their own continent.

“The big difference is between us and the four or five best teams in the world, not all the European teams,” he said. “If you take out the top four or five, we could play a match on equal terms against almost any European opposition.”

The semi-professionals of Auckland City were another team who had no complaints about the tournament after the New Zealanders surpassed all expectations and finished third after wins over Moghreb Tetouan, ES Setif and Cruz Azul.

“It’s a luxury to come to a tournament like this and play against high level team,” said coach Ramon Tribulietx.

AMMAN — Teams have some time to regroup and refocus on Leg 2 of the 63rd Jordan Professional League that is now on a break as the national team begins its countdown to the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia kicking off on January 9.

For the first time, three teams among the top four are from the north of the Kingdom as Wihdat lead, followed by Ramtha, surprise third-placed newcomers Sarih and Hussein, who had been relegated, in fourth spot.

Jazira are fifth and followed by Ahli, who scored important wins over Faisali, Shabab Urdun and Baqaa to settle at sixth. They are followed by former Jordan Cup champs That Ras while Faisali are placed  at 8th, followed by former champs Shabab Urdun.

Throughout the first half of the competition, Wihdat and Ramtha remained the only unbeaten teams. Wihdat beat traditional rivals Faisali 2-0 but that was only the start of the former champs troubles as the club suffers an administrative crisis that has left the team trailing at the lower end of the standings for the first time ever since the league kicked off in 1944. 

Wihdat could have gained more points but were held by Ramtha, Hussein and Jazira. Ramtha fans are elated and hope to compete for the title while Sarih, who lost only three matches to Wihdat, Ramtha and Hussein, are happy with third place.

Faisali lost 2-1 to Sarih, 1-0 to Ahli and That Ras, and drew with Ramtha and Shabab Urdun, as the team’s fans urged Parliament and the Higher Council for Youth to interfere.

Shabab Urdun also disappointed fans with 9th place and only two wins over Ittihad Ramtha and Manshieh. Baqaa, a usual top five finisher, is now 11th after only one win over Ittihad Ramtha who are last.

In the past 66 matches, a total of 141 goals were scored as 45 matches ended in wins and 21 in draws, including 11 in goalless draws. Ramtha’s Rakan Khalidi tops the scorers list with eight goals, while Wihdat’s Mahmoud Zaatara has six.

Jordan Cup semifinalists

The Jordan Cup semis will see Faisali play Wihdat and Ramtha face That Ras. 

Leg 1 quarter-final matches saw Ahli hold Ramtha 1-1, That Ras beat Jazira 1-0, Wihdat beat Sarih 1-0 and Faisali beat Manshieh 2-1. In Leg 2, Faisali held Manshieh 1-1, Wihdat held Sarih 0-0, That Ras beat Jazira 4-3 on penalties and Ramtha beat Ahli 2-1.

Baqaa, Shabab Urdun and Hussein were eliminated earlier in the competition in which only league teams are playing this year. 

Wihdat won the first major competition of the 2014/15 football season calendar after they beat Baqaa 2-0 in the 32nd Super Cup.

Last season, Wihdat won the Jordan Professional League for the 13th time, and beat Baqaa to win the Jordan Cup while Shabab Urdun beat That Ras to win the 31st Super Cup. The Jordan Football Association  Shield was not held.