Football Japan Minutecast

Kashima Antlers returned to the top of the J1 table with two matches left to play after former leaders Kawasaki Frontale went down to a shock 1-0 defeat at relegated Oita Trinita on Sunday afternoon.

A goal midway through the second period from Brazilian forward Fernandinho, part of the title-winning Gamba Osaka team four years ago, proved enough to clinch all three points and seal Kawasaki�fs first league reverse in two months. Bottom club Trinita are now unbeaten in eight matches, but the defeat meant that Takashi Sekizuka�fs side were unable to reclaim pole position from Kashima, who had laboured to a 1-0 win at Kyoto Sanga 24 hours earlier with a first-half winner from Takuya Nozawa.

The result was also greeted warmly by Fernandinho�fs former teammates in Osaka, as Gamba kept up their title hopes with a 2-0 win at Shimizu S-Pulse with goals from Lucas and former S-Pulse striker Cho Jae-Jin. Akira Nishino�fs men are now just a point behind Kawasaki in second, and three points off the top with a crunch visit to Kashima Stadium to come next weekend.

Four defeats in a row mean that Shimizu have fallen from first to sixth in just over a month, and are now out of contention altogether for a spot in next year�fs AFC Champions League. Urawa Reds are the only team currently outside the top three with a chance of qualification after coming from 2-1 down to beat Jubilo Iwata 3-2 with a brace from Edmilson in the final 10 minutes, including a spectacular long-range effort with the last kick of the game. The result moves them up to fourth, but still five points behind Gamba with a vastly inferior goal difference.

At the bottom, Kashiwa Reysol kept their survival chances alive with a 1-0 victory at Albirex Niigata, as Montedio Yamagata and Omiya Ardija played out a 0-0 stalemate, and Vissel Kobe drew 2-2 with Yokohama F Marinos. Kashiwa have now won consecutive matches for the first time all season, but will need to keep winning if they are to bridge the four-point gap to Omiya or the five-point difference with either Yamagata, Kobe, or Kyoto.

Elsewhere, already-relegated JEF United Chiba picked up their first win since early July against FC Tokyo, Sanfrecce Hiroshima drew 0-0 with Nagoya Grampus, while down in J2, Vegalta Sendai are the new leaders after a 1-0 win over title rivals Cerezo Osaka. Both clubs are already guaranteed promotion, with Shonan Bellmare now favourites to join them in the top flight next year following a dramatic 3-2 win at fourth-placed Ventforet Kofu.


J1 results (matchday 32)
Montedio Yamagata 0-0 Omiya Ardija
Urawa Reds 3-2 Jubilo Iwata
Albirex Niigata 0-1 Kashiwa Reysol
Shimizu S-Pulse 0-2 Gamba Osaka
Kyoto Sanga 0-1 Kashima Antlers
Vissel Kobe 2-2 Yokohama F Marinos
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0-0 Nagoya Grampus
JEF United Chiba 2-1 FC Tokyo
Oita Trinita 1-0 Kawasaki Frontale


Selected J2 results (matchday 49)
Vegalta Sendai 1-0 Cerezo Osaka
Ventforet Kofu 2-3 Shonan Bellmare


2011 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers (Group A)
Hong Kong 0-4 Japan
Bahrain 4-0 Yemen