Football Japan Minutecast

A stunning strike from former Japan international Norihiro Nishi proved enough to give struggling Jubilo Iwata a shock 1-0 victory at Urawa Reds and help send their Shizuoka rivals Shimizu S-Pulse back on top of the J1 table on Saturday.

Urawa had gone into the game at the Saitama Stadium on the back of four straight league wins and were expected to extend the run to five against a Jubilo side that had only won once in their opening seven fixtures. The visitors, however, drew strength from an inspired back four, and after Nishi broke away on the counter attack to score from 25 yards early in the second half, the home side were unable to find a way back level despite dominating much of the proceedings.

The result allowed Shimizu to return to the head of the table after Masaki Yamamoto�fs cross-cum-shot had given them a slightly fortunate 2-1 win over Omiya Ardija earlier in the day. Urawa fall to third, two points behind the leaders and separated by goal difference from second-placed Nagoya Grampus, who recovered from a 1-0 defeat at Sanfrecce Hiroshima in midweek to beat Cerezo Osaka by a similar scoreline thanks to a deflected Keiji Tamada free-kick in second half stoppage time yesterday afternoon.

Kawasaki Frontale join Nagoya and Urawa on 16 points after a straightforward 3-0 win at home to Vissel Kobe, with Kashima Antlers a point behind in fifth after clinical finishing gave them a 3-1 victory at Yokohama F Marinos despite being outshot 20 to 10.

Further down the table, a last-minute equaliser from Satoru Yamagishi denied Albirex Niigata a first league win of the season as they drew 2-2 at home to Hiroshima, but Emperor�fs Cup holders Gamba Osaka finally recorded their first home victory at the fifth attempt against FC Tokyo. Goals from Lucas and 17-year-old wonderboy Takashi Usami gave Gamba a 2-0 success to take them into ninth position behind in-form Montedio Yamagata, who won 2-1 at Kyoto Sanga.

Shonan Bellmare picked up only their second three points of the season with a 1-0 win over fellow promoted side Vegalta Sendai in the remaining Sunday fixture.


J1 results (matchday 8)
Shimizu S-Pulse 2-1 Omiya Ardija
Kyoto Sanga 1-2 Montedio Yamagata
Kawasaki Frontale 3-0 Vissel Kobe
Urawa Reds 0-1 Jubilo Iwata
Yokohama F Marinos 1-3 Kashima Antlers
Gamba Osaka 2-0 FC Tokyo
Albirex Niigata 2-2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Shonan Bellmare 1-0 Vegalta Sendai
Cerezo Osaka 0-1 Nagoya Grampus


J1 results (matchday 4, rearranged match)
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-0 Nagoya Grampus

Urawa Reds took advantage of draws for most of the other leading clubs in J1 to go top for the first time since May last year with a thumping 3-0 win at home to Kawasaki Frontale on Sunday afternoon.

Saturday�fs results had left both teams knowing three points would take them to the summit as they went into the match, but it was the home side that raced out of the blocks with two goals in the opening eight minutes. Hajime Hosogai netted from the edge of the area to give Urawa the lead on seven minutes, before injury-plagued striker Tatsuya Tanaka fired home spectacularly just 60 seconds later to register his first goal at the Saitama Stadium for nearly three years.

Kawasaki were given a golden chance to get back into the game early in the second half, but Eiji Kawashima saved Renatinho�fs penalty and watched in relief as the Brazilian blasted the rebound over the crossbar. Satoshi Horinouchi�fs strike later put the result beyond doubt to complete a run of four straight league wins for the new leaders.

Previous pacesetters Shimizu S-Pulse had a 70th-minute goal from Shinji Okazaki to thank as they recovered from the concession of a Tomokazu Myojin penalty to draw 1-1 at Gamba Osaka, while champions Kashima Antlers are now winless in three after being held to a 0-0 draw by Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Nagoya Grampus can still go top if they win their game in hand at Sanfrecce on Wednesday, but it would only be on goal difference after Hideo Oshima�fs last-ditch equaliser denied Dragan Stojković�fs men victory at home to bottom side Albirex Niigata.

Vegalta Sendai suffered another setback with a 1-0 reverse at home to struggling Vissel Kobe, while Yokohama F Marinos bounced back from a brief run of poor results in winning by a similar scoreline away at Montedio Yamagata. FC Tokyo needed a second-half penalty from 19-year-old Kentaro Shigematsu to secure a point against Kyoto Sanga, while the sluggish starts for Jubilo Iwata and Omiya Ardija continued with a 1-1 draw in their meeting at the Yamaha Stadium.

In Sunday�fs remaining match, Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa was the star for Cerezo Osaka after his late heroics secured a 2-1 win over fellow promoted side Shonan Bellmare. The 21-year-old�fs first-half penalty looked to have given Cerezo all three points until Yutaka Tahara struck an unlikely equaliser in second-half stoppage time, but with the stadium clock showing 95 minutes, Kagawa weaved through the Bellmare defence to net his fifth goal of a promising campaign so far.


J1 results (matchday 7)
Vegalta Sendai 0-1 Vissel Kobe
Montedio Yamagata 0-1 Yokohama F Marinos
Nagoya Grampus 1-1 Albirex Niigata
Gamba Osaka 1-1 Shimizu S-Pulse
FC Tokyo 1-1 Kyoto Sanga
Jubilo Iwata 1-1 Omiya Ardija
Cerezo Osaka 2-1 Shonan Bellmare
Kashima Antlers 0-0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Urawa Reds 3-0 Kawasaki Frontale


AFC Champions League results (Eastern section, matchday 5)
Group E
Kawasaki Frontale 3-0 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
Melbourne Victory 0-0 Beijing Guoan

Group F
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 8-0 Persipura Jayapura
Changchun Yatai 0-1 Kashima Antlers (Kashima through)

Group G
Gamba Osaka 2-1 Samsung Suwon Bluewings (Gamba through)
Singapore Armed Forces 2-1 Henan Construction

Group H
Shandong Luneng 2-3 Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Sanfrecce eliminated)
Pohang Steelers 0-0 Adelaide United


Yamazaki Nabisco Cup (group stage, matchday 2)
Group A
Vegalta Sendai 1-1 Kyoto Sanga
Omiya Ardija 0-1 FC Tokyo
Cerezo Osaka 0-1 Albirex Niigata

Group B
Jubilo Iwata 2-1 Yokohama F Marinos
Vissel Kobe 1-3 Urawa Reds
Montedio Yamagata 0-0 Shimizu S-Pulse

J1 leaders Shimizu S-Pulse underlined their credentials for another title push with a crushing 5-1 victory at home to newly promoted high-flyers Vegalta Sendai.

The hosts took the initiative from the very beginning, and their fast attacking football was rewarded when Norwegian striker Frode Johnsen fired home from the edge of the box to open the scoring on 26 minutes. Takuya Honda scored from similar range to double the S-Pulse advantage right on half time, before two goals in three second-half minutes from Jungo Fujimoto and Yasuhiro Hiraoka destroyed any remaining hopes Vegalta may have had of following up their surprise win over Kashima Antlers last week.

Yuichiro Nagai added a fifth for Shimizu with ten minutes to play, before the visitors finally managed a consolation goal in injury time through Takayuki Nakahara.

Reigning champions Kashima fall down to fifth after being held to a 1-1 draw at FC Tokyo, with Urawa Reds now a point off the top in second after a brace from Yuki Abe gave them a 2-0 victory away to winless Albirex Niigata. Kawasaki Frontale are third on goal difference thanks to an impressive 3-0 win at Sanfrecce Hiroshima, while Nagoya Grampus are a point behind them with a game in hand after a closely fought 2-0 win against Kyoto Sanga.

Elsewhere, Gamba Osaka finally recorded their first league win of the season after coming from a goal down to win 3-1 away to Omiya Ardija. 22-year-old striker Shoki Hirai was the hero of the hour with goals either side of the interval to take him to a J1-leading five league strikes for the season and nine in all competitions, but the result was marred when both he and Japan midfielder Yasuhito Endo limped off injured in the second half.

Vissel Kobe replace Gamba in 17th position after an embarrassing 2-0 home loss to Montedio Yamagata, with Shonan Bellmare and Jubilo Iwata a point better off after their 0-0 draw in Hiratsuka. Yokohama F Marinos and Cerezo Osaka also drew a blank in a showing that Marinos manager Kazushi Kimura described as hetakuso (absolute rubbish) - an oft-used expression in a week where the Japanese national team lost 3-0 against an experimental Serbia eleven at Cerezo�fs home ground on Wednesday.


J1 results (matchday 6)
Shonan Bellmare 0-0 Jubilo Iwata
Kyoto Sanga 0-2 Nagoya Grampus
Omiya Ardija 1-3 Gamba Osaka
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0-3 Kawasaki Frontale
Yokohama F Marinos 0-0 Cerezo Osaka
Albirex Niigata 0-2 Urawa Reds
FC Tokyo 1-1 Kashima Antlers
Shimizu S-Pulse 5-1 Vegalta Sendai
Vissel Kobe 0-2 Montedio Yamagata