Football Japan Minutecast

Defending champions Kashima Antlers stepped up their bid for a fourth consecutive J. League crown by cruising to a 3-1 victory over Montedio Yamagata that sees them end the first month of the new season on top of the table once again.

After a relatively even opening half hour, South Korean defender Lee Jung-Soo broke the deadlock with a powerful header to mark his first league appearance since arriving in Kashima from Kyoto Sanga over the winter. Young midfielder Yasushi Endo then took the Antlers out of sight with his first and second ever goals for the club either side of the interval, and even when Yamagata did manage a consolation goal 20 minutes from time, the name on the scoresheet was technically that of another Kashima employee, Yuzo Tashiro, who joined Montedio on loan in January.

The win takes Kashima to ten points from four games, with the only blot on their record being a last-minute equaliser conceded at Kyoto Sanga on matchday two. Oswaldo de Oliveira�fs side are now two points clear of Shimizu S-Pulse, who drew 0-0 with Kawasaki Frontale in a match that pitted Japanese internationals Shinji Ono and Junichi Inamoto together for the first time since their Bundesliga days. Sanfrecce Hiroshima are among a cluster of teams on seven points, but do have a game in hand after ACL commitments caused their meeting with Nagoya Grampus to be postponed until next month.

Elsewhere, Yokohama F Marinos dropped their first points since the return of Shunsuke Nakamura after Kazuma Watanabe�fs opener was cancelled out by a 95th minute free kick from Vissel Kobe midfielder Popó, while Vegalta Sendai also left it late to secure a point in a tale of three penalties at Gamba Osaka. Shoki Hirai looked to have secured the home side�fs first league win of a difficult campaign so far when he followed up his ACL hat-trick in midweek with a fine goal on 85 minutes, but a silly handball by Satoshi Yamaguchi in the final minute allowed Ryang Yong-Gi to move top of the goalscoring charts with his second spot-kick of the afternoon.

Shonan Bellmare beat Albirex Niigata 2-0 to secure a first top flight victory of the 21st century, while FC Tokyo kept up their promising start in winning by a similar scoreline at Omiya Ardija. Newly-promoted Cerezo Osaka and bottom side Jubilo Iwata are both still winless, however, after succumbing to 3-2 home defeats against Urawa Reds and Kyoto Sanga respectively.


J1 results (matchday 4)
Kawasaki Frontale 0-0 Shimizu S-Pulse
Shonan Bellmare 2-0 Albirex Niigata
Kashima Antlers 3-1 Montedio Yamagata
Vissel Kobe 1-1 Yokohama F Marinos
Jubilo Iwata 2-3 Kyoto Sanga
Cerezo Osaka 2-3 Urawa Reds
Omiya Ardija 0-2 FC Tokyo
Gamba Osaka 2-2 Vegalta Sendai
Sanfrecce Hiroshima P-P Nagoya Grampus


AFC Champions League results (Eastern section, matchday 3)
Group E
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 3-1 Beijing Guoan
Kawasaki Frontale 4-0 Melbourne Victory

Group F
Changchun Yatai 1-2 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Kashima Antlers 5-0 Persipura Jayapura

Group G
Singapore Armed Forces 2-4 Gamba Osaka
Henan Construction 0-2 Samsung Suwon Bluewings

Group H
Adelaide United 3-2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Pohang Steelers 1-0 Shandong Luneng

A spectacular 30-yard strike from national team star Shunsuke Nakamura helped Yokohama F Marinos on their way to a shock 4-0 thrashing of Kawasaki Frontale on Saturday afternoon.

Making only his second appearance after returning to Yokohama from Spanish side Espanyol, Nakamura needed just eight minutes to register his first J. League goal in as many years with a perfectly placed effort that looped agonisingly over the flailing arm of Frontale �ekeeper Eiji Kawashima. Two goals from Koji Yamase then made the Marinos lead virtually unassailable even by half time, before Nakamura�fs corner found the head of Yuzo Kurihara at the far post to complete the four-goal rout on the hour mark.

The win takes Yokohama above Kawasaki into fourth, with Shimizu S-Pulse the new leaders after a shot from even longer range gave them a 1-0 victory at home to Vissel Kobe. The match appeared headed for a goalless stalemate until Eddy Bosnar�fs low free kick somehow found its way through both wall and goalkeeper from around 35 yards with eight minutes left on the clock. S-Pulse are joined on seven points by Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who enjoyed an easy 3-1 win at newly-promoted Shonan Bellmare, and reigning champions Kashima Antlers, who needed a late goal from Yuya Osako to overcome Omiya Ardija.

Elsewhere, there were 0-0 draws for both Osaka clubs, but while Cerezo will have been reasonably happy with a point at ambitious FC Tokyo, Gamba�fs home stalemate with Albirex Niigata makes it six games without a win this season for the Emperor�fs Cup holders. The team�fs striking problems were compounded by an injury to Brazilian forward Lucas and doubts over the future of Pedro Junior, who reacted angrily to being substituted just 24 minutes after coming on to replace his stricken compatriot.

Vegalta Sendai�fs winning start on their J1 return was ended with a 2-1 defeat at Kyoto Sanga in Saturday�fs remaining match, while Sunday�fs fixtures saw Montedio Yamagata hold Urawa Reds to a 1-1 draw and Nagoya Grampus enjoy a 2-0 victory against Jubilo Iwata.


J1 results (matchday 3)
Shonan Bellmare 1-3 Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Shimizu S-Pulse 1-0 Vissel Kobe
Kyoto Sanga 2-1 Vegalta Sendai
Yokohama F Marinos 4-0 Kawasaki Frontale
Omiya Ardija 0-1 Kashima Antlers
Gamba Osaka 0-0 Albirex Niigata
FC Tokyo 0-0 Cerezo Osaka
Montedio Yamagata 1-1 Urawa Reds
Nagoya Grampus 2-0 Jubilo Iwata

An injury time winner from North Korean international Chong Tese gave Kawasaki Frontale a thrilling 3-2 victory over Nagoya Grampus at the Toyota Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Kawasaki were keen to bounce back quickly after their AFC Champions League troubles continued with a 3-1 home defeat to Beijing Guoan amidst heavy snow last Tuesday, and got off to a fine start when Renatinho wrong-footed Nagoya �ekeeper Seigo Narazaki with an excellent free kick after just three minutes. Winter signing Mu Kanazaki equalised moments later for the home side, but Frontale were back in front on the quarter-hour mark courtesy of another free kick – this time a heavily deflected effort by Chong Tese.

Nagoya�fs greater ambition in the second half brought rewards when Magnum connected with Igor Burzanović�fs crossed free kick to level the scores again, but Chong came up trumps once more with a powerful shot from 15 yards to clinch all three points in the final minute.

The result takes Kawasaki up to second in the embryonic J1 table behind newly-promoted Vegalta Sendai, who continued their impressive return to the top flight with a 3-1 win over Omiya Ardija thanks to goals from Ryang Yong-Gi, Elizeu, and Fernandinho.

In contrast, Gamba Osaka have now drawn all five of their competitive fixtures this year after following up a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Henan Construction in the ACL with a similar scoreline away to Cerezo Osaka in the first Osaka derby in four seasons. Tomokazu Myojin�fs shot somehow found its way past Kenya Matsui to give Gamba the lead midway through the second half, but Brazilian forward Adriano levelled from a tight angle just six minutes later.

There were mixed fortunes for the other two Kansai sides, as Vissel Kobe sank to a 2-1 defeat at home to Sanfrecce Hiroshima, but a dramatic late equaliser from Diego gave Kyoto Sanga a useful point at home to defending champions Kashima Antlers.

Elsewhere, Shimizu S-Pulse thrashed Montedio Yamagata 3-0, Urawa Reds took a promising 1-0 win at home to FC Tokyo, Albirex Niigata drew 1-1 with Jubilo Iwata, and returning hero Shunsuke Nakamura helped Yokohama F Marinos to a 3-0 victory over Shonan Bellmare with an assist for Yuzo Kurihara�fs opener midway through the first half.


J1 results (matchday 2)
Yokohama F Marinos 3-0 Shonan Bellmare
Albirex Niigata 1-1 Jubilo Iwata
Shimizu S-Pulse 3-0 Montedio Yamagata
Vegalta Sendai 3-1 Omiya Ardija
Nagoya Grampus 2-3 Kawasaki Frontale
Kyoto Sanga 1-1 Kashima Antlers
Urawa Reds 1-0 FC Tokyo
Cerezo Osaka 1-1 Gamba Osaka
Vissel Kobe 1-2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima


AFC Champions League results (Eastern section, matchday 2)
Group E
Melbourne Victory 0-2 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
Kawasaki Frontale 1-3 Beijing Guoan

Group F
Changchun Yatai 9-0 Persipura Jayapura
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1-2 Kashima Antlers

Group G
Gamba Osaka 1-1 Henan Construction
Singapore Armed Forces 0-2 Samsung Suwon Bluewings

Group H
Shandong Luneng 0-2 Adelaide United
Pohang Steelers 2-1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima