Wihdat take home second season title, Jazira runner-up

AMMAN — The Jordan Professional Fooball League has ended and Wihdat are champs for the 16th time.

In a season in which the champion and relegated teams were unclear early on, Jazira who led the league in most stages in the past two years, achieved an advance spot and ended up second, while Faisali let go of their title and ended up third.

Wihdat took home JD120,000, Jazira JD80,000 while Faisali settled for JD35,000.

Ramtha finished fourth, Shabab Urdun fifth, followed by Ahli, Baqa’a and That Ras. Aqaba and Hussein held on to their places leaving Manshieh and Yarmouk to be relegated.

In the last week of matches, Wihdat beat Jazira 4-0, Ramtha beat Ahli 3-0, Shabab Urdun beat Yarmouk 2-1, Aqaba beat Faisali 1-0 to move up the standings as did Baqa’a when they beat That Ras 2-1, while Manshieh beat Hussein 3-2.

Jazira and Faisali will play their return leg Asian Football confederation (AFC) Cup semifinal on Monday after they tied 1-1 last week. They are hoping to reach the AFC Cup zonal final and have a shot at the eventual title.

So far this season, Jordan Cup champs Faisali beat Jazira to win the 35th Jordan Super Cup. League champ Wihdat also beat Jazira to win the Jordan Football Association (JFA) Shield. In the Jordan Cup, Jazira ousted Faisali, while Shabab Urdun eliminated Wihdat to reach the final.

Last seaon, Faisali won their 33rd league title after a four year break and combined it with the Jordan Cup. Ahli beat reigning league champs Wihdat to win the Super Cup, Shabab Urdun beat Faisali to win their second Shield title after they first won in 2007. Sarih and Sahab were relegated and replaced by Aqaba and Yarmouk from the First Division.