Football Japan Minutecast

Nagoya Grampus and Gamba Osaka will contest the final of the Emperor�fs Cup on New Year�fs Day after successfully coming through their respective last four matches on Tuesday afternoon.

Holders Gamba Osaka had Lucas to thank after the Brazilian notched both of his side�fs goals in their 2-1 victory over J2 champions Vegalta Sendai. Gamba�fs preparations had suffered a setback when goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya was struck down with swine flu over the weekend, forcing coach Akira Nishino to hand a debut to third-choice custodian Atsushi Kimura, but any early nerves were settled when Lucas fired home an impressive overhead kick after just three minutes. Takayuki Nakahara scored just before the hour mark to level the score for Sendai, but Lucas struck again minutes later to keep Gamba�fs trophy defence on track.

Earlier in the day, Nagoya Grampus had needed penalties to overcome Shimizu S-Pulse in what had effectively been an away trip to Shizuoka Stadium. Shinji Okazaki gave S-Pulse the lead after 16 minutes, before his national team striking partner Keiji Tamada levelled the scores from the spot early in the second half after Joshua Kennedy had been felled. With both goalkeepers showing fine form throughout a tense period of extra time, the tie was ultimately decided when Daisuke Ichikawa hit the crossbar with Shimizu�fs first kick of the shootout.

Friday�fs showpiece will be Nagoya�fs first final appearance in ten years, since beating Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-0 on the first day of the new millennium. Victory for Dragan Stojković�fs men will ensure that Japan is represented by the same four teams in the 2010 AFC Champions League as it was this year, but with Gamba already qualified through their league position, a second straight crown for the Osaka club will transfer the final ACL place to Sanfrecce, who finished fourth in their first season back in J1 this year.


Emperor�fs Cup semi-final results
Gamba Osaka 2-1 Vegalta Sendai
Nagoya Grampus 1-1 Shimizu S-Pulse (after extra time; Nagoya won 5-3 on penalties)

Gamba Osaka gained revenge for their 5-1 thrashing at Kashima Antlers two weeks ago with a 2-1 victory over the newly-crowned J1 champions in the quarter-finals of the Emperor�fs Cup.

Returning to the scene of where their own title challenge had ended so crushingly, Gamba were forced to pair Takahiro Futagawa with Masato Yamazaki in an unfamiliar forward line when Korean striker Cho Jae-Jin was taken ill shortly before kick-off. The change proved a blessing in disguise as the away side controlled much of the game with Yamazaki scoring twice, heading home a Yasuhito Endo free-kick in the first half before taking advantage of Atsuto Uchida�fs mistake to seal the win midway through the second. Kashima had equalised just before the interval through Yuzo Tashiro.

Gamba�fs opponents in the semi-final at the National Stadium in Tokyo will be J2 champions Vegalta Sendai, who stunned J1 and Nabisco Cup runners-up Kawasaki Frontale with a 2-1 victory after extra time. Yuki Nakashima�fs 36th-minute strike looked to have won it for Sendai until Kazuhiro Murakami equalised in second half stoppage time, but a Tomoyuki Hirase header on 108 minutes was enough to add Frontale to a list of Vegalta victims that includes Omiya Ardija and FC Tokyo.

J2�fs other representatives, FC Gifu, were the victims of a Joshua Kennedy hat-trick as Nagoya Grampus cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win at the Mizuho Athletic Stadium. Grampus will now travel to the Shizuoka Stadium to face Shimizu S-Pulse, who eventually came out on top following a five-goal thriller at home to Albirex Niigata.

A Toshihiro Matsushita penalty for the visitors cancelled out Shinji Okazaki�fs early opener, but S-Pulse thought they had done enough when Frode Johnsen put them back in front with just four minutes remaining. They were pegged back when an even later strike from Kisho Yano took the game to extra time, but Arata Kodama�fs scrambled winner at the end of the first additional period keeps alive Shimizu�fs hopes of a first Emperor�fs Cup title since 2001.

Both semi-finals will be played on 29 December, with the final in Tokyo on New Year�fs Day.


Emperor�fs Cup quarter-final results
Kashima Antlers 1-2 Gamba Osaka
Vegalta Sendai 2-1 Kawasaki Frontale (after extra time)
Nagoya Grampus 3-0 FC Gifu
Shimizu S-Pulse 3-2 Albirex Niigata

Kashima Antlers are J. League champions for the seventh time and an unprecedented third season in a row after battling to a 1-0 victory over Urawa Reds at Saitama Stadium.

With nearest rivals Kawasaki Frontale racing into a 3-0 first half lead in their game at relegated Kashiwa Reysol, the Antlers needed all three points to avoid being overtaken at the last, and finally went in front in the 67th minute when Shinzo Koroki headed home an early cross from Atsuto Uchida. Kawasaki survived a determined fightback from nine-man Kashiwa to eventually win 3-2, but the Kashima defence held firm against a late barrage of Urawa attacks to ensure that the championship trophy remains in their hands for another year.

The victory was a personal triumph for the clearly emotional Kashima coach Oswaldo de Oliveira, who celebrated his 59th birthday on the day of the game and has now led his side to the J1 crown in every season since arriving back in 2007. Five consecutive defeats in autumn had wiped out what had once been a ten-point advantage at the top, but it was five straight wins at the end of the year that ultimately proved decisive.

Elsewhere, Sanfrecce Hiroshima beat Kyoto Sanga 4-1 to secure a fourth-place finish in their first season back in the top flight, with FC Tokyo three points behind in fifth following a 1-1 draw at Albirex Niigata. Gamba Osaka were the final weekend�fs only other winners, with two Yasuhito Endo strikes accounting for bottom club JEF United Chiba, while second-from-bottom Oita Trinita drew 1-1 with Omiya Ardija to end the season unbeaten in ten league matches and all the more rueful of the 14 straight defeats earlier in the year that ultimately resulted in their demise.

In J2, Vegalta Sendai survived the concession of a last-minute equaliser to Ehime FC to clinch the title thanks to an even more dramatic conclusion in second-placed Cerezo Osaka�fs trip to Sagan Tosu. Leading 1-0 with ten men going into stoppage time, Cerezo were suddenly on course for glory until two goals from Tosu�fs Keiji Takachi denied them in a manner reminiscent of their final day misery in the J1 title race with city rivals Gamba four years ago.

Shonan Bellmare were, meanwhile, able to clinch the win they needed at Mito HollyHock to seal a first return to the top flight for 11 seasons.


J1 results (matchday 34)
Montedio Yamagata 0-0 Yokohama F Marinos
Urawa Reds 0-1 Kashima Antlers
Kashiwa Reysol 2-3 Kawasaki Frontale
Albirex Niigata 1-1 FC Tokyo
Shimizu S-Pulse 0-0 Nagoya Grampus
Gamba Osaka 2-0 JEF United Chiba
Vissel Kobe 1-1 Jubilo Iwata
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 4-1 Kyoto Sanga
Oita Trinita 1-1 Omiya Ardija


Selected J2 results (matchday 51)
Vegalta Sendai 1-1 Ehime FC
Sagan Tosu 2-1 Cerezo Osaka
Mito HollyHock 2-3 Shonan Bellmare
Ventforet Kofu 2-1 Roasso Kumamoto