Football Japan Minutecast

Sanfrecce Hiroshima broke Vissel Kobe hearts with a 4-3 win at the Big Arch on Sunday afternoon as the J1 clubs returned to league action for the first time in four weeks. Goals at the very beginning and end of the first half from Kota Hattori and Tomoaki Makino had Sanfrecce looking comfortable at 2-0 going into the break, but the balance of the game swung dramatically immediately after the restart with a penalty by Yoshito Okubo, making his first start for Vissel after re-signing from VfL Wolfsburg. Further strikes from Yosuke Ishibitsu and Hiroto Mogi in the following 20 minutes completed an unlikely comeback to put the visitors on the brink of a dramatic victory.

The celebrating Kobe fans had reckoned without the goalscoring prowess of their hosts, however, as Yosuke Kashiwagi fired home an equaliser with six minutes left on the clock, before Hisato Sato flicked in the winner barely 60 seconds later to take last season�fs J2 champions up to fifth.

Elsewhere, it was a tale of struggles for many clubs welcoming back weary Japan stars after their loss in Australia on Wednesday. Nagoya Grampus fell to ninth after a shock 1-0 loss at home to JEF United Chiba, while both Gamba Osaka and Urawa Reds suffered the ignominy of being booed off the pitch by their own fans, after 2-0 defeats to Albirex Niigata and Yokohama F Marinos, respectively.

Kashima Antlers did manage a 1-0 win at home to Jubilo Iwata to extend their lead at the top to seven points with a game in hand over Albirex, who have leapfrogged Urawa into second. Kawasaki Frontale are a further point behind in fourth, having also played one game fewer than most others, after a 2-0 win against Oita Trinita. Despite not losing any of their six matches in the Nabisco Cup group stage, Peracles Chamusca�fs side have now suffered ten straight defeats in the league, and have conceded more in 14 games than they did in the whole of last season.

Shimizu S-Pulse move up to sixth after a 4-1 win at home to freefalling Montedio Yamagata, Omiya Ardija beat Kyoto Sanga 2-1, while Kashiwa Reysol remain on just nine points after a comprehensive 3-0 loss at home to FC Tokyo.


J1 results (matchday 14)
Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 Oita Trinita
Shimizu S-Pulse 4-1 Montedio Yamagata
Nagoya Grampus 0-1 JEF United Chiba
Gamba Osaka 0-2 Albirex Niigata
Kashima Antlers 1-0 Jubilo Iwata
Omiya Ardija 2-1 Kyoto Sanga
Kashiwa Reysol 0-3 FC Tokyo
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 4-3 Vissel Kobe
Yokohama F Marinos 2-0 Urawa Reds


World Cup qualifying results (Asia - 17 June)
Group A
Australia 2-1 Japan
Bahrain 1-0 Uzbekistan

Group B
South Korea 1-1 Iran
Saudi Arabia 0-0 North Korea