Sports

AMMAN — Week 5 of the 64th Jordan Professional Football League kicks off on Thursday with leaders Wihdat playing all-time rivals Faisali in a much anticipated match.

Wihdat still hold a slight lead after they lost their first match and went down 1-0 to Hussein Irbid. They are followed by Shabab Urdun who made a big leap of four places to 2nd after a 3-0 drubbing of Faisali who slipped down six spots to 11th.

Sarih, who were held 2-2 with Asala, maintained third place and next play Shabab Urdun; Jazira, who held Ahli 0-0, next play Ramtha, who dropped to fifth after losing 1-0 to That Ras, who went up four spots to 6th.

Hussein, who also went up four spots, next play Baqa’a who held Kufrsoum 1-1, while Kufrsoum play Ahli, who are now 10th.

So far this season, Jordan Cup holders Faisali beat League titleholders Wihdat 1-0 to win the 33rd Super Cup. It was a much needed win for Faisali after a disappointing 7th place finish the League last season as runner-up and third places went to Jazira and Ramtha.  

Wihdat have been League champions for the past two consecutive years. Apart from conceding the Super Cup, they were knockout of the Jordan Cup as well this season.

League Standings  

(Last week’s position in parenthesis) 

AMMAN — The Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) has signed its first annual partnership deal — with international manufacturer of bakery ingredients backaldrin: The Kornspitz Company, according to the JOC News Service.

This new partnership will help meet the nutritional needs of Jordan’s athletes and strengthen the JOC’s vision for sports to play a key part in the lives of all Jordanians.

The JOC and backaldrin will launch an exclusive campaign in 2016 ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The partnership is part of the JOC’s Living Sport Communications Plan to work with like-minded local and international partners to promote sport and healthy living among Jordanians by making the JOC, a more approachable and marketable organisation.

Through Living Sport, the JOC has launched a number of initiatives and projects including the launch of the official JOC children’s ambassador, Nash, a character based on Jordan’s national flower — the Black Iris, which has survived and thrived amidst the harsh conditions of Jordan’s deserts to become a popular young sporting icon.

GENEVA — Deadline day to enter the FIFA presidential election saw surprise entries and a potential eight-man line-up on Monday.

Among late tactical changes, two unexpected additions were Gianni Infantino — the right-hand man of suspended UEFA president Michel Platini, whose own entry will likely be barred — and Liberian football leader Musa Bility, whose campaign seemed hopelessly stalled in August.

The list of contenders to succeed Sepp Blatter leading the corruption-hit world football governing body grew longer than expected and will surely be cut before the February 26 ballot.

A further twist stopped the race reaching nine as a former FIFA secretary general, Michel Zen-Ruffinen, told The Associated Press he decided not to run despite getting the required nominations from five of the 209 member federations.

Just over one month ago, Platini was a strong front-runner in a small field with key backers in Asia and the Americas.

That changed September 25 when the former France great was implicated in a Swiss criminal investigation. Platini got a suspected “disloyal payment” of $2 million in backdated salary from FIFA funds got in 2011 with Blatter’s approval. Both are serving 90-day bans imposed by FIFA’s ethics committee pending a full investigation.

Platini’s bloc of support seemed sure to transfer to Asia’s football confederation president, Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa.

The Bahraini royal family member duly filed his nomination papers Monday and is likely the current favourite, yet his bid has exposed himself and his home country to exposure for their human rights record.

Sheikh Salman’s entry has already been criticised by rights groups who urged FIFA’s election committee to reject him as a candidate when it oversees integrity checks in the next two weeks.

Questions have been raised over whether Sheikh Salman, as the Bahrain Football Association president in 2011, adequately protected national team players after some took part in pro-democracy protests. Some players say they were tortured while detained by government forces.

“Sheikh Salman played a key role in Bahrain’s retaliation against athlete-protesters,” the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy and the Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain said in a joint statement. “Throughout the government crackdown, he allegedly examined photographs of the protesters, identifying Bahraini athletes for the security forces.”

Sheikh Salman did not make a statement Monday. He previously challenged critics to present proof of wrongdoing, which he denies, and suggested that such questions have to do with politics and not football.

Still, Infantino’s late entry offers the Europe-Asia alliance an extra option if both Platini and Sheikh Salman are ruled ineligible as candidates.

UEFA agreed to its new strategy after an emergency executive committee meeting held via video conference.

“I am very proud of what we have achieved at UEFA and the way in which we conduct ourselves as an organisation,” said Infantino, a Swiss lawyer who has been Platini’s top administrator for six years. He was already viewed as a potential FIFA secretary general or UEFA presidential candidate.

Africa got a second contender when after Bility re-emerged two months since his campaign seemed over when African football leaders refused to support him.

“I don’t want to go into any race that I cannot win,” Bility told the AP, saying more than 25 of the 54 African voting federations offered to nominate him.

Bility joined the race one day after longtime African confederation President Issa Hayatou — the interim FIFA president, who has declined to publicly support Sexwale — met with Sheikh Salman in Cairo.

Other probable candidates vying for the FIFA job include HRH Prince Ali, South African tycoon Tokyo Sexwale, former FIFA official Jerome Champagne and David Nakhid, a former player from Trinidad and Tobago.

Prince Ali, a former FIFA vice president, cut ties with Platini after losing to Blatter in the election in May. That was held amid a crisis provoked by American and Swiss federal investigations of corruption which have forced Blatter to leave office early.

Sexwale, an Apartheid-era political prisoner, was appointed by Blatter to improve relations between the Israeli and Palestinian football bodies; Champagne, a former diplomat from France, was a senior FIFA official for 11 years under Blatter; Nakhid has career links to a Blatter aide.

They were not joined by Zen Ruffinen, who said he gained five nominations but lacked significant backing within a crowded field.

“Some of the candidates are very strong and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to go,” Zen Ruffinen said Monday. “I have hesitated until very late tonight.”

Later Monday, Champagne and Nakhid shared a platform at a sports conference dedicated to good governance, the two-yearly Play The Game event in Denmark.

“I am sure there will be a lot of sleaze,” Champagne predicted at a session examining the FIFA race. “It has started, believe me.”

The president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, has formally entered the race to become FIFA president, the Bahrain News Agency reported on Sunday.

The agency said Sheikh Salman had submitted his paperwork to FIFA headquarters on Sunday, a day ahead of the deadline for candidates to deliver the nominations from five football associations.

The Bahraini, who is closely allied with Kuwaiti Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, one of the most powerful men in international sports politics and a key figure in the Olympic movement, had canvassed opinion from Asian football associations last week.

Sheikh Salman had initially backed Michel Platini, the UEFA president. But the Frenchman’s troubles, which originated with a 2011 payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.04 million) from Blatter’s FIFA for work done nine years earlier, have dramatically changed the electoral landscape.

Earlier this month, Platini was handed a 90-day provisional ban from football by FIFA’s ethics committee — a decision which has quickly led to his support dissipating.

Platini has appealed the ban and could yet be let back into the race for the February 26 vote if he is successful in overturning the judgement.

Sheikh Salman will face another member of Arab royalty in the election with HRH Prince Ali have already submitted his nominations.

On Saturday, South African former Apartheid-era political prisoner turned businessman Tokyo Sexwale announced he would be standing in the election after winning backing from the South African Football Association.

Former Trinidad and Tobago midfielder David Nakhid says he has submitted his papers to FIFA along with former FIFA deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne and Platini.

Zico, the former Brazilian World Cup player, has said he wants to stand but it is not known if he has been able to receive the necessary support.

FIFA has been rocked by the US Department of Justice’s decision on May 27 to indict 14 football officials and sports marketing executives in a corruption investigation.

Swiss authorities are also investigating FIFA while FIFA’s ethics committee has handed out several bans.

Korean Chung pulls out

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Chung Mong-joon on Monday pulled out of the race for the presidency of global football body FIFA due to a ban from the sport.

“Because of the ethics committee’s unjust sanctions, I will have to miss the October 26 deadline to file my candidacy,” Chung said in a statement on Monday.

“It is now time to officially withdraw my candidacy for the next FIFA president.”

LONDON — Bitter rivals Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho had wildly contrasting afternoons on Saturday as Arsenal went top of the Premier League and champions Chelsea lost again with their manager being sent off.

Wenger, once dubbed “a specialist in failure” by the Chelsea boss, punched the air in delight after Arsenal beat Everton 2-1 at a rain-lashed Emirates Stadium.

Mourinho, however, failed to show up at his post-match news conference after the Stamford Bridge club slumped to sixth from bottom, following a 2-1 defeat at London rivals West Ham United.

On another bleak day for Chelsea they finished with 10 men after having Serbia midfielder Nemanja Matic sent off. The mood of the visitors was not helped at a wet Upton Park when Cesc Fabregas had a first-half goal harshly disallowed for offside.

Arsenal won their fourth successive league match after headers from Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny in a three-minute spell in the first half helped them go top for the first time since February 2014.

They have 22 points from 10 games and will stay at the summit until at least Sunday when Manchester City, second on 21, play Manchester United, fourth on 19, at Old Trafford.

Chelsea’s fifth league defeat of the season meant West Ham finished the day in third place on 20 points, after a venemous first-half shot into the bottom corner from Mauro Zarate and a late header from substitute Andy Carroll gave them victory.

Gary Cahill briefly drew Chelsea level with a close-range shot in the 56th minute after referee Jon Moss had ordered Mourinho to the stands when the outspoken Portuguese had approached him at halftime.

“The mood in the dressing room is not great, like you’d imagine when you lose games,” Cahill told the BBC. “The lads are devastated.

“You’re left scratching your head sometimes. In the first half the Fabregas goal could have been given and we had the goal that was nearly over the line. That sums up the way we’re going.”

Cahill was referring to a first-half header from Kurt Zouma that went within millimetres of a goal.

Chelsea’s defeat summed up Mourinho’s season.

Controversial incidents

Since falling out with former first team doctor Eva Carneiro on the opening day, he has been involved in several other controversial incidents.

Last week Mourinho was fined £50,000 ($76,560) by the FA for comments he made about referees when Chelsea lost at home to Southampton on October 3.

Mourinho, who sat in the directors’ box until eight minutes from time at Upton Park, is now facing another FA fine for not speaking to the media and a fresh punishment for being sent from the dugout.

While the Portuguese was a picture of abject misery, Wenger ended the day with a broad grin.

The Frenchman was delighted his team won again following their 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday.

“When you win such a big game like Tuesday night and you can win again straight after, it tells you a lot about the mentality of your team,” said Wenger.

Everton’s Romelu Lukaku hit the bar and former England midfielder Gareth Barry was shown a late red card but Arsenal were good value for their win.

Ross Barkley was on target for Everton in the 44th minute.

Elsewhere, Leicester City beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to stay fifth with England striker Jamie Vardy scoring for the seventh successive league match.

Swansea City won 2-1 at struggling Aston Villa with goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Andre Ayew while West Bromwich Albion triumphed 1-0 at Norwich City thanks to Salomon Rondon’s effort.

Troy Deeney and Almen Abdi struck in Watford’s 2-0 victory at Stoke City.

AMMAN — The Jordan Football Association (JFA) will soon regroup national team coaching staff after most teams were eliminated from their receptive Asian qualifiers.

After the U-16 boys and women’s teams were eliminated last month, both the U-23 and U-19 followed suit echoing earlier concerns by observers.

Despite a technical issue causing its elimination from the 1st West Asian Championship, the JFA on Saturday expressed confidence in the U-23 team’s staff and announced coach Jamal Abu Abed would stay and prepare for the upcoming agenda.

The team will shift focus to the 2nd AFC U-23 Championship which also serves as Asia’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Jordan got a tough draw at the 16-team competition set for Qatar January 12-30, 2016 where they will play in Group D next to Australia, the UAE and Vietnam. The Kingdom qualified to the U-23 Championship after it topped Group B qualifiers in Amman as Jordan held Kuwait 3-3, beat Kyrgyzstan 4-0 and Pakistan 5-0 to advance.

In the inaugural edition, the U-23 team beat South Korea to take bronze at the AFC U-22 Championship (now renamed the AFC U-23 Championship) as Iraq beat Saudi Arabia to take the title.

Misinterpretation of regulations cost the team qualification on points at the 1st West Asian Championship. After defeating Yemen 3-1, losing 2-1 to Qatar, assuming Palestine’s results were scrapped after it was eliminated from the competition, the team’s reserves played as Jordan lost 1-0 to Palestine and ended up fourth in the group, allowing Yemen, the only team it beat, to advance as best second placed team.

The team had a modest preparation period hampered with no training camps and no serious friendlies. In 2014, the U-23 squad had similar circumstances when it represented Jordan at the Asian Games. It made to the quarter-finals despite a bumpy preparation period amid the busy agenda of the national team as well as local clubs. 

Meanwhile, the U-19 team, which previously reached the FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada in 2007, was eliminated from the AFC U-19 qualifiers after it lost 2-1 to Kuwait, 3-0 to Iran and beat Nepal 3-0. Only group winners and best second-placed team booked a slot to the AFC U-19 Championship set for Bahrain in 2016.  The top-four sides of the U-19 Championship advance to the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

The Kingdom has previously reached the AFC U-19 Championship four times. It exited the group stages in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. Jordan failed to qualify in 2014 when it exited Group B qualifiers in Amman. 

On the other hand, as Jordan starts the countdown to host the U-17 Women’s World Cup kicking off September 30, 2016, the JFA is trying to secure more friendlies including a training camp in Germany and playing Egypt and Uzbekistan. Jordan beat Egypt 2-1 and 4-1 before leaving to Uzbekistan for a training camp and friendlies currently under way. 

Women’s teams have been competing in all age divisions in the Asian zone. In 2014, the U-19 team was eliminated from Group A qualifiers for the 2015 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship after qualifying as the only Arab team in 2007. The U-16 girls team also failed to qualify to the 2015 AFC U-16 Women’s Championship after qualifying in 2013. 

Earlier this year, the women’s national team concluded Group A Round 2 at the 2015–16 AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament with a winless record and only one goal. Jordan lost 2-1 to Vietnam, 1-0 to Thailand, 3-0 to Taiwan and 2-0 to Myanmar. Similarly, the U-16 boys failed to move to the 2016 AFC U-16 Asian Championship.

GENEVA — The newest contender in FIFA’s presidential election race is also the most likely to defend the work of Sepp Blatter.

Jerome Champagne, a French former diplomat, served Blatter for 11 years before being forced out of FIFA in 2010 in a power struggle that pitted the now-suspended president against rivals including Michel Platini.

Five years on, the onetime FIFA international relations director is a contender to lead the embattled governing body out of a corruption crisis and chaos partly provoked by those same leadership tensions.

“I sent my application letter and eight nomination letters to FIFA on Monday night,” Champagne told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of launching his bid for football’s top job on Friday.

“It’s an exciting mission,” said France’s deputy consul general in Los Angeles from 1991-95. “It’s a unique opportunity to restore FIFA and to continue what has been done correctly in 111 years.”

Champagne announced his bid after sending a 7-page manifesto to FIFA’s 209 member federations.

The detailed document includes plans to modernise how the embattled governing body is run, fight inequality — including cuts to European places at FIFA and the 2026 World Cup — and to trial the use of video review to help referees.

Champagne campaigned for the previous election, won in May by his former boss and ally Blatter, but did not get the required backing of five members to be a candidate.

He now joins Platini, HRH Prince Ali and David Nakhid, a former Trinidad and Tobago player, in meeting Monday’s deadline to apply for the February 26 emergency election. More contenders are set to stand.

Platini is suspended by the FIFA ethics committee and unlikely to be accepted as a candidate. The UEFA president is appealing against his ban for taking a $2 million salary payment nine years after he worked as Blatter’s personal adviser.

Blatter, who is also suspended for paying Platini from FIFA funds in 2011, called the election amid a deepening crisis in June. He announced his planned exit just four days after winning re-election despite FIFA then being subject to American and Swiss criminal investigations of bribery and suspected money-laundering.

Champagne was not linked to personal corruption during and since his FIFA stint, and gets a second election chance because of the scandals.

“If I met Mr Blatter in the street I will say hello. I’m not ashamed of that,” said Champagne.

Indeed, the 57-year-old sees his experience as a FIFA insider working with members worldwide as a vote-winner.

“They want someone who knows how FIFA functions — for the good and for the bad,” Champagne said,

Champagne chimed with current ideas to reform FIFA by suggesting a 12-year limit on all elected positions, quotas to ensure women are represented on all football bodies worldwide and “open and competitive” bidding for all commercial contracts.

Development in poorer football nations is another priority and he has long argued against Europe’s concentration of wealth and players from across the world.

He set a target of building 400 artificial turf pitches worldwide within four years, partly funded by spending less of FIFA’s $1 billion-plus annual revenue on running costs.

Up to 10 new FIFA member nations could be accepted, from Caribbean and Pacific islands and Kosovo, where Champagne has advised football officials since leaving FIFA.

MADRID — Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic struggled as Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid played to a lacklustre 0-0 draw in the Champions League on Wednesday, while Manchester City found a way to earn a late 2-1 victory in a thrilling finish against Sevilla.

Atletico Madrid, Wolfsburg and Galatasaray all won, while Manchester United could not manage more than a 1-1 draw at CSKA Moscow and Juventus was held to a scoreless home draw with Borussia Moenchengladbach.

There was a lot of talk about Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic ahead of the high-profile match at the Parc des Princes, but neither player made an impact and the teams left with a point each to remain comfortably ahead in Group A.

“Perhaps we lacked a bit of sharpness up front, but we leave here happy to have picked up a point from a difficult ground,” Madrid captain Sergio Ramos said.

Here is a look at Wednesday’s Champions League matches:

Group A

Two wins each in their two previous group games, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid produced a largely sterile match at the Parc des Princes, but the result left both teams in good position to advance to the next round.

Madrid and PSG each have seven points halfway through the group stage. Third-place Malmo reached three points by defeating pointless Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 at home.

“I think we created more chances than PSG, we controlled the match against a difficult team,” Madrid coach Rafa Benitez said.

PSG had the ball possession but just nine attempts at goal compared to Madrid’s 16. In the absence of the injured Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and James Rodriguez, Benitez had to field a largely reshuffled team.

PSG coach Laurent Blanc is well aware that winning the Champions League is a long-term project and PSG, who were only founded in 1970, may just be at the beginning of the journey.

“The PSG project is only four years old, and we got where we are fast,” the former France coach said. “It’s already a good sign that we were competitive against Real.

“We will need time to take another step.”

Despite only drawing with Real, Blanc said his side have already shown their pedigree in the competition.

“We were being told that we needed to beat Real to send a signal to Europe,” he said.

“But we already have references. We beat FC Barcelona and Chelsea, and all the European clubs have that in mind.”

In the group’s other match, a first-half goal from captain Markus Rosenberg gave Malmo the win over Shakhtar.

Rosenberg collected a pass from Pa Konate and fired home in the 17th minute for Malmo’s first goal of the group stage, following two consecutive 2-0 defeats to PSG and Madrid.

Group B

Anthony Martial gave away an early penalty and then scored the equaliser as Manchester United came back to draw 1-1 with CSKA Moscow in the Champions League on Wednesday.

United’s struggles in Europe continued on a cold night in Russia, with Louis van Gaal’s men lacking creativity for much of the game despite enjoying twice as much possession as the hosts.

Wolfsburg’s 2-0 win over PSV Eindhoven in the night’s other group game leaves the German team top with six points at the halfway point of the group stage, two points ahead of United and CSKA, with PSV last on three points.

Bas Dost scored in the first minute of the second half and Max Kruse sealed Wolfsburg’s victory in the 57th minute.

Group C

Saul Niguez, Jackson Martinez and substitute Oliver Torres scored a goal each as Atletico Madrid easily defeated Astana 4-0 to take the group lead with six points from three matches.

Atletico’s other goal came when Astana defender Denys Dedechko turned the ball into his own net just before the final whistle at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.

Benfica, which lost 2-1 at Galatasaray, also has six points but trails the Spanish club on goal difference. Galatasaray reached four points with its first victory, while winless Astana remains in last place with only one point.

Lukas Podolski scored a first-half winner for Galatasaray after Benfica had opened the scoring through midfielder Nicolas Gaitan in the second minute and Selcuk Inan levelled the game from the penalty spot in the 19th minute.

Atletico travel to Kazakhstan to play Astana in the next round, while Benfica host Galatasaray in Portugal.

Group D

Last season’s finalist Juventus remained atop the group despite a dull 0-0 home draw with Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Apart from a dangerous free kick from Paul Pogba early in the second half that ‘Gladbach goalkeeper Yan Sommer pushed away, there were few chances for either side in Turin.

Juventus has seven points, one more than Manchester City, which rallied to beat Sevilla 2-1. Sevilla is next with three points, while ‘Gladbach earned its first point.

In Manchester, Kevin De Bruyne scored an injury-time winner as City continued its recovery in the group.

“We are working hard as a team,” said City’s goalkeeper Joe Hart.

“We appreciate we are quite an attacking team so we can leave ourselves a little short at the back sometimes and it’s something we want to improve, but we want to improve all over the pitch to be the team we want to be.”

While goalkeeper Hart is understandably focused on City becoming harder to score against, De Bruyne, who grabbed the winner in stoppage time against Sevilla, said it was their commitment to attack that earned the points on Wednesday.

“Even though we didn’t have our best game, in the end we tried everything to look for the victory and thankfully in the end we could score,” De Bruyne said.

“To get a draw [in Spain] isn’t that bad but I think we have a team to attack. Sevilla are very good in possession but we will try to get the three points there too,” he added.

Playing as a lone striker in the final minutes, the Belgium playmaker collected a pass from Yaya Toure, cut inside and drove a low left-footed shot inside the far post in the first of four minutes of stoppage time.

“We had the character to try to win the game until the end,” City coach Manuel Pellegrini said.

Yevhen Konoplyanka had put Sevilla ahead in the 30th minute and defender Adil Rami unwittingly bundled the ball into his own net in the 36th minute to put City level.

AMMAN — Week 4 of the 64th Jordan Professional Football League (PFL) starts this weekend, with teams seeking to capitalise on gains made last week after a three week break.

Wihdat are still in the lead and will next play Hussein Irbid on Saturday. After conceding the Super Cup to Faisali earlier this season and being knockout of the Jordan Cup, Wihdat aim to maintain momentum and retain the league title for the third year running.

Faisali will play Shabab Urdun in a much anticipated match on Friday, while second place Jazira play Ahli, hoping to win and maintain their advanced position early in the league. 

Last week, all teams saw changes on their standings — apart from newcomers Asala and champions Wihdat. 

Wihdat beat former champs Shabab Urdun 3-0 and secured their lead, Jazira held Baqaa 0-0 and moved to second, Sarih held Ramtha and moved to third, Faisali held Asala 1-1 and moved to 5th, Kufrsoum scored their first win and beat Hussein Irbid 5-1 to jump to 7th, and Ahli scored their first win beating That Ras 1-0 to move up to 9th.

In the kick-off of the local football season, Faisali beat league champs Wihdat 1-0 to win the 33rd Super Cup. It was a much-needed win for reigning Jordan Cup champs Faisali after a disappointing 7th place finish in the league last season.

Wihdat have been league champions for the past two years. Last year, they also won the Super Cup while Faisali won the Jordan Cup title. Last season, the league runner-up and third places went to Jazira and Ramtha.

Players and fans are upbeat this week after the national team resumed Group B qualifiers of the 2018 World Cup doubling as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup. Jordan beat Australia 2-0 and Tajikistan 3-0, and beat Iraq in a friendly 3-0.

Jordan now leads the group after it beat Tajikistan 3-1, scored a 4-0 win over lowly Bangladesh and were held to a disappointing 0-0 draw with Kyrgyzstan. It will play Kyrgyzstan on November 17 in the return leg.

Teams also played the knockout Jordan Cup Round of 16 where four Division 1 teams — Turra, Balaama, Arabi and Sheikh Hussein — qualified to join JFL teams.

Reigning Jordan Cup champs Faisali ousted Sarih 2-1, Ahli upstaged Wihdat 1-0, Turra upset Ramtha 5-3 on penalties, Jazira beat Asala 2-1, Hussein eliminated Baqaa 3-2 on penalties, That Ras ousted Arabi 1-0, Kufrsoum beat Sheikh Hussein 2-0 and Shabab Urdun defeated Balaama 5-0.

League Standings

(Last week’s position in parenthesis)

PARIS — Arsenal remains bottom of Group F in the Champions League but the Gunners finally got their campaign under way with a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

After losing both opening matches for the first time, Arsenal desperately needed a win to keep alive its hopes of reaching the knockout round.

Arsene Wenger’s men delivered at the Emirates Stadium, ending Bayern’s run of 12 straight wins with second-half goals from France striker Olivier Giroud and Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil.

“They dominated the game, but we knew that and we were able to finish it off,” Giroud said. “We needed this win to stay in the Champions League and to try and qualify for the next stage. We have to thank Petr Cech too, he had a fantastic game.”

Defending champion Barcelona remained in control of top spot in Group E as Ivan Rakitic scored both goals in a 2-0 win at BATE Borisov, while Roma came back from a 2-0 deficit in a 4-4 draw at Bayer Leverkusen in a topsy-turvy game.

In Group G, Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho complained about the referee after the Blues were held to a goalless draw at Dynamo Kiev. Porto tops the standings after a 2-0 defeat of Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

“The referee was weak and naive with the penalty,” said Mourinho after his side was not given a penalty when Cesc Fabregas went down in the area. “My first thoughts were that it looked like a spot-kick. I cannot understand what the referee behind the goal does, because he doesn’t make a clear decision too.”

Group E

Neymar continued to lead Barcelona in Lionel Messi’s absence with two assists for substitute Ivan Rakitic to score both goals and give Barcelona an easy 2-0 win at BATE Borisov in Belarus.

Coming off his four-goal performance over the weekend, Neymar created a steady stream of scoring chances for the defending European champions.

Rakitic, who went on for the injured Sergi Roberto in the first half, fired in a pinpoint strike from Neymar’s pass for Barcelona’s first goal in the 48th. Neymar found him a second time in the 64th.

The other Group E match was a wild back-and-forth shootout that ended with Bayer Leverkusen scoring two late goals to grab a 4-4 draw at home to Roma.

Daniele de Rossi scored two goals to cancel out early strikes from Leverkusen’s Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, before Roma took a 4-2 lead with goals from Miralem Pjanic and substitute Iago Falque.

But Kevin Kampl began Leverkusen’s comeback in the 84th and substitute Admir Mehmedi scored two minutes later to salvage the draw.

Barcelona has seven points, while Leverkusen remained second with four. BATE has three and Roma two.

Group F

Arsenal revived its hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League by beating Bayern Munich 2-0.

Olivier Giroud scored in the 77th minute at the Emirates Stadium, bundling the ball into the net after Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer rushed off his line and failed to claim a free-kick from Santi Cazorla.

The ball appeared to come off Giroud’s arm last, after first hitting his head as he dived to make contact.

Mesut Ozil scored the second in added time, converting a cross from Hector Bellerin which Neuer pushed out after it had crossed the line.

Elsewhere in the group, Olympiakos won 1-0 at Dinamo Zagreb with a 79th minute goal from Ideye Brown.

Bayern and Olympiakos have six points each, three more than Zagreb and Arsenal.

“Everybody can win or lose a game in this group as proved today,” Brown said. “We have to show the same level of attention and dedication in the remaining matches.”

Group G

Chelsea’s Champions League campaign hit more trouble in a frustrating 0-0 draw against Dynamo Kiev.

Chelsea dominated the game and was unlucky not to score after hitting the woodwork twice through Eden Hazard and Willian.

On a chilly night in Ukraine, another good chance was missed by Nemanja Matic, who charged through the Dynamo defence but shot wide.

The Ukrainian team came close when Vitaliy Buyalskiy and Derlis Gonzalez forced saves from Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who late on stopped a dangerous attempt by Junior Moraes.

At the halfway point of the group stage, Chelsea is third, one place behind Dynamo.

In Portugal, Vincent Aboubakar and Yacine Brahimi gave Porto a 2-0 win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv and the group lead, with seven points, two more than Dynamo Kiev. Chelsea has four points, while Maccabi has yet to earn a point.

Group H

Zenit kept its perfect record, making it three victories from three matches with a 3-1 win against Lyon, while Valencia’s 2-1 win over Gent in the group’s other match lifted the Spanish side five points clear in second place.

Artem Dzyuba scored in the third minute, Hulk fired home a spectacular shot from distance and Danny completed the win as Zenit closed in on qualification for the knockout stage.

Lyon made a dreadful start as Dzyuba found the net for the fifth successive game for Zenit with a clean finish at the far post from Oleg Shatov’s pass.

After Alexandre Lacazette cancelled out the hosts’ lead early in the second half, Hulk stole the ball in midfield, surged towards the goal and unleashed a 30-metre shot into the top corner. The visitors were then caught on the break after Hulk and Shatov combined well to cut their defence open, with Danny tapping home with a simple finish in the 82nd minute

Valencia needed two own goals to defeat Gent.

Defender Lasse Nielsen found his own net in the 15th minute before Thomas Foket equalised for the Belgian side in the 40th at Mestalla Stadium. Stefan Mitrovic added a second own goal in the 72nd to give Valencia its second consecutive win in the competition.

Valencia has six points, three less than Zenit. Lyon and Gent have one point each after three rounds.