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