Football Japan Minutecast

Kashima Antlers and Kawasaki Frontale will go head to head for the J1 title on the final day of the season after both secured three points on the penultimate weekend.

A 5-1 rout of Gamba Osaka at Kashima Stadium kept the defending champions in the driving seat for a third consecutive crown, and put an end to any hopes their opponents may have had for a first league title in four years. After a goalless first half, a crazy six minutes early in the second saw Shinzo Koroki and Takuya Nozawa benefit from Gamba defensive blunders in quick succession, before Takahiro Futagawa pulled one back immediately for the visitors, only for Koroki to go straight down to the other end and restore Kashima�fs two-goal lead. Gamba�fs chances were soon over when Lucas was dismissed for two yellow cards, and a perfect afternoon for the home side was complete when two late counterattacks were finished off by substitutes Yuzo Tashiro and Danilo.

Kashima�fs celebrations were tempered slightly by the news that title rivals Kawasaki had secured a tense 1-0 win over Albirex Niigata thanks to a 70th-minute goal from North Korean striker Chong Tese. The gap between the two contenders remains two points, but Kawasaki�fs superior goal difference means a win at Kashiwa Reysol next Saturday will give them the title if Kashima fail to take all three points from a tough-looking trip to Urawa Reds.

Neither Urawa nor Kashiwa will have anything other than pride to play for on the final day, however, as their respective battles for ACL qualification and J1 survival came to a disappointing end on Saturday. Urawa�fs 1-0 loss at Kyoto Sanga guaranteed third place for Gamba Osaka, while Kashiwa drop down to the second tier after a 1-1 draw at closest rivals Omiya Ardija. The result also guaranteed the survival of Vissel Kobe, who lost 1-0 at FC Tokyo, and Montedio Yamagata, who went down to a 2-0 defeat at Nagoya Grampus.

Elsewhere, Sanfrecce Hiroshima moved up to fourth with a 1-0 win at Jubilo Iwata, Yokohama F Marinos made it five defeats in a row for former leaders Shimizu S-Pulse, while Oita Trinita moved off the bottom for the first time since April with a 2-0 victory at fellow relegated side JEF United Chiba.

In J2, leaders Vegalta Sendai thrashed Tokushima Vortis 4-0 to stay a point clear of Cerezo Osaka, who beat FC Gifu 2-1. Shonan Bellmare remain on course for the third promotion spot, but two points dropped at home to Thespa Kusatsu means they only have a one point cushion over Ventforet Kofu in fourth going into the final day.


J1 results (matchday 33)
Kashima Antlers 5-1 Gamba Osaka
Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 Albirex Niigata
Jubilo Iwata 0-1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Nagoya Grampus 2-0 Montedio Yamagata
Kyoto Sanga 1-0 Urawa Reds
Omiya Ardija 1-1 Kashiwa Reysol
FC Tokyo 1-0 Vissel Kobe
Yokohama F Marinos 2-0 Shimizu S-Pulse
JEF United Chiba 0-2 Oita Trinita


Selected J2 results (matchday 50)
Cerezo Osaka 2-1 FC Gifu
Fagiano Okayama 0-1 Ventforet Kofu
Shonan Bellmare 0-0 Thespa Kusatsu
Tokushima Vortis 0-4 Vegalta Sendai

Kashima Antlers returned to the top of the J1 table with two matches left to play after former leaders Kawasaki Frontale went down to a shock 1-0 defeat at relegated Oita Trinita on Sunday afternoon.

A goal midway through the second period from Brazilian forward Fernandinho, part of the title-winning Gamba Osaka team four years ago, proved enough to clinch all three points and seal Kawasaki�fs first league reverse in two months. Bottom club Trinita are now unbeaten in eight matches, but the defeat meant that Takashi Sekizuka�fs side were unable to reclaim pole position from Kashima, who had laboured to a 1-0 win at Kyoto Sanga 24 hours earlier with a first-half winner from Takuya Nozawa.

The result was also greeted warmly by Fernandinho�fs former teammates in Osaka, as Gamba kept up their title hopes with a 2-0 win at Shimizu S-Pulse with goals from Lucas and former S-Pulse striker Cho Jae-Jin. Akira Nishino�fs men are now just a point behind Kawasaki in second, and three points off the top with a crunch visit to Kashima Stadium to come next weekend.

Four defeats in a row mean that Shimizu have fallen from first to sixth in just over a month, and are now out of contention altogether for a spot in next year�fs AFC Champions League. Urawa Reds are the only team currently outside the top three with a chance of qualification after coming from 2-1 down to beat Jubilo Iwata 3-2 with a brace from Edmilson in the final 10 minutes, including a spectacular long-range effort with the last kick of the game. The result moves them up to fourth, but still five points behind Gamba with a vastly inferior goal difference.

At the bottom, Kashiwa Reysol kept their survival chances alive with a 1-0 victory at Albirex Niigata, as Montedio Yamagata and Omiya Ardija played out a 0-0 stalemate, and Vissel Kobe drew 2-2 with Yokohama F Marinos. Kashiwa have now won consecutive matches for the first time all season, but will need to keep winning if they are to bridge the four-point gap to Omiya or the five-point difference with either Yamagata, Kobe, or Kyoto.

Elsewhere, already-relegated JEF United Chiba picked up their first win since early July against FC Tokyo, Sanfrecce Hiroshima drew 0-0 with Nagoya Grampus, while down in J2, Vegalta Sendai are the new leaders after a 1-0 win over title rivals Cerezo Osaka. Both clubs are already guaranteed promotion, with Shonan Bellmare now favourites to join them in the top flight next year following a dramatic 3-2 win at fourth-placed Ventforet Kofu.


J1 results (matchday 32)
Montedio Yamagata 0-0 Omiya Ardija
Urawa Reds 3-2 Jubilo Iwata
Albirex Niigata 0-1 Kashiwa Reysol
Shimizu S-Pulse 0-2 Gamba Osaka
Kyoto Sanga 0-1 Kashima Antlers
Vissel Kobe 2-2 Yokohama F Marinos
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0-0 Nagoya Grampus
JEF United Chiba 2-1 FC Tokyo
Oita Trinita 1-0 Kawasaki Frontale


Selected J2 results (matchday 49)
Vegalta Sendai 1-0 Cerezo Osaka
Ventforet Kofu 2-3 Shonan Bellmare


2011 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers (Group A)
Hong Kong 0-4 Japan
Bahrain 4-0 Yemen

Japan�fs preparations for 2010 suffered a minor blow on Saturday when they were held to a goalless draw by World Cup hosts South Africa at the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

In a disappointing game of few chances, Shinji Okazaki and Makoto Hasebe went closest for the visitors, but a determined Bafana Bafana back line were not to be broken down even after the second-half introduction of Espanyol playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura. Takeshi Okada was keen to focus on the positives after the game, arguing that just sampling the noisy local atmosphere ahead of next year was a �egood experience�f in spite of the result, but privately the Japan boss must have worried about his side�fs repeated lack of cutting edge.

The national team will now move on to Hong Kong for an Asian Cup qualifying match this Wednesday.

Back home, Vegalta Sendai were the big winners in the last 16 of the Emperor�fs Cup after thrashing FC Tokyo 3-0 at the Marugame Stadium in Kagawa. Goals from Takayuki Nakahara, Yuki Nakashima, and Marcelo Soares crowned a fortnight of highs for Makoto Teguramori�fs side, who knocked out another J1 opponent, Omiya Ardija, in the previous round, before sealing promotion back up to the top flight themselves last weekend.

Vegalta�fs reward is a quarter-final meeting with J1 leaders Kawasaki Frontale, who won 2-1 at Yokohama F Marinos just four days after sealing their fourth round place with victory over Kataller Toyama.

FC Gifu made it through to the last eight with a 1-0 win over JEF United Chiba, who will join them in the second tier next year, but there was no luck for any of the other smaller clubs. J2 sides Sagan Tosu and Ventforet Kofu were comfortably dispatched by Gamba Osaka and Shimizu S-Pulse, while the heroes of the last round, Meiji University, lost 3-1 to Albirex Niigata.

Elsewhere, Nagoya Grampus came from behind to beat Jubilo Iwata 3-1, while a late strike from Danilo gave Kashima Antlers a 2-1 victory over Vissel Kobe.


International friendly result
South Africa 0-0 Japan


Emperor�fs Cup 4th Round results
Kashima Antlers 2-1 Vissel Kobe
Sagan Tosu 1-3 Gamba Osaka
Yokohama F Marinos 1-2 Kawasaki Frontale
FC Tokyo 0-3 Vegalta Sendai
FC Gifu 1-0 JEF United Chiba
Nagoya Grampus 3-1 Jubilo Iwata
Meiji University 1-3 Albirex Niigata
Shimizu S-Pulse 3-0 Ventforet Kofu


Emperor�fs Cup 3rd Round results (11 November)
Kawasaki Frontale 3-1 Kataller Toyama
FC Tokyo 3-2 Thespa Kusatsu