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Antlers dropped 2 very valuable points this round when they were surprisingly held at home by struggling Albirex. Although the home-team had the most of the chances, Albirex came close on a couple of occasions too. In the opening minutes Kisho Yano should have scored on point blank, but his shot flew high over the bar instead. It was an interesting start to the match, cause just minutes later Marquinhos hit the post with a thunderous drive from long-range. Most of Kashimas chances were long-distance shots, but Niigata’s keeper Kitano managed to parry them away, and kept an impressive clean sheet. Late in the 2nd half, Koroki came alone with Kitano after a splendid through pass from Danilo, but Kitano managed to block Koroki’s finish with a marvellous one-hand save. Kashima outshot Niigata 14-6, and the result means it’s even more open at the top of the table now as several of the teams in pursuit managed to win their matches.
0-0 is a result JEF should be most happy about, as they took a valuable point in a tough away match. That means JEF prolonged their unbeaten run against Oita to 13 matches, which is quite impressive. We didn’t see too many chances this match, and it was obvious neither of the teams wanted to risk too much going forward. Oita’s biggest chances fell to Ueslei, but the veteran brazilian didn’t got on the scoresheet this time. He came within a whisker though, as his beautiful overhead-kick effort just skipped the far post. JEF hit the bar on one occasion, through Yazawa, but overall Oita deserved to win. Oita had 14 shots to JEF’s 5.
Vissel had few problems beating a poor Verdy side away this round, and the win could have been much bigger too. The first big chance came already in the opening minutes, as a dreadful clearance from Tsuchiya fell to Yoshida, who hit the bar with his flailing shot. That set the tone for the rest of the match, as Vissel had pretty much the advantage for the entire match. Verdy had some long-range efforts though, but no-one that realyl troubled the goalkeepe. The first goal came after 64 minutes, when Yoshida’s well-placed shot flew into the goal. Shotly after, Suzuki were nicely set up by Leandro to score the 2nd, with a powerful strike fron long-range. Even two goals up, Vissel continued to attack, and the home team should consider themselves happy not to lose by a bigger margin in the end. Verdy had 10 shots to Vissel’s 13.
The derby-matches between Jubilo and Shimizu are always very intense, and this one was not an exception. There was alot of stake as well,atleast for Jubilo, who’s struggling against relegation. The win here takes them up to 16th place, but they still got a long way to go if they want to stay in J1. It was an evenly contested match, with few chances at both ends. Shimizu’s defence looked a bit shaky, and they gave away chances on several occasions to Jubilo. That was how the only goal of the match came as well, which led to Maeda running away with the ball, scoring with a powerful low-drive from a tight angle. Shimizu had the most of the possession later in the half, but their attempts on goal never really scared Kawaguchi in Jubilo’s goal . Jubilo had 7 shots to Shimizu’s 9.
N: Ogawa 33’
Nagoya had a golden chance to climb back to 1st place with a win here, but instead Reysol took 3 valuable points that pretty much secured their place in J1 next year as well. With 6 points down to 16th place, and 6 teams behind them, they should be safe considering how few matches are left to be played. But, it was a somewhat lucky win, as the visitors controlled most of the match. Nagoya should have taken the lead early on, when Johnsen placed the ball into the top-corner, but the goal were disallowed for off-side. Replays clearly shows Johnsen were on-side, so Nagoya were robbed on that occasion. It didn’t take long before Nagoya were on target again though, but this time Johnsen served as a passer instead of the finisher. He found Ogawa with a short pass, and the speedy winger hammered the ball home from close range. Nagoya had several other chances after that, and especially Tamada should have gotten on the scoresheet. Instead, with little time remaining, Reysol suddenly showed up and scored 2 quick goals to steal the win. Suganuma’s goal came after a scramble in the box, while Popo’s were a powerful drive that flew over Nagoya’s goalkeeper. Both teams had 10 shots each, but Nagoya deserved all points.
U: Tanaka 29’, Edmilson 54’
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Urawa climbed to 2nd place with a well-earned 2-1 away win over already relegated Consadole Sapporo. Only a few rounds ago, Urawa were written off with regards to winning the title, but they’ve fought back nicely and have to straight wins now that puts them only 1 point behind leading Antlers. They got off to a bad start here though, as Davi outrun Tsuboi to make it 1-0 already after 14 minutes. Davi has been the only positive thing about Consadole this season, and is expected to make a move to another J1 club as the season comes to an end. Urawa equalized in the 29th minute, through Tatsuya Tanaka, after he picked up the rebound from Robson Ponte’s shot that hit the post. Urawa played with 3 strikers this match, as Sergei Escudero got a rare start, and the little argentinian did his things well, and might get another chance next round. With both Takahara and Nagai on the bench, coach Engels shows great faith in Escudero, picking him instead of them. The 3rd striker this match, next to Tanaka and Escudero, were Edmilson, and shortly after the break he made it 2-1 for Urawa with a nice lob over the keeper. That was the last goal of the match, and Urawa could take 3 much-needed points. The win could have been bigger, but atlest Urawa got what they came for. Consadole had 8 shots to Urawa’s 20.
K: Mori 36’
Omiya’s win over Frontale takes them as high as 13th, and they’re save from relegation for now. It’s extremely close though, so anything can happen still. For Kawasaki’s sake, the loss is a huge blow to their title campaign, but they’re still only 3 points behind 1st.
It was an evenly contested match, and Omiya did a good job neautralizing the deadly trio Frontale has up front. Juninho, Chong Tese or Renatinho didn’t got much done really, and instead it was Omiya who attacked from start. Fujimoto came close after a dazzling run, and it was the same man that eventually gave Omiya the lead, after Kawashima in Frontale’s goal had to give a rebound to Lavric’s shot. Shortly after equalized Susue Mori, with a contender for goal of the month. From some 30-35 yards out, he volleyed the ball into the top corner to make it 1-1. Frontale took more over in the 2nd half, but created nothing that really worried the goalkeeper. 12 minutes from full-time, Klemen Lavric were on target to make it 2-1, with a clever volley-shot that made the homefans crazy.. A marvellous win for Omiya, and it might turn out to be a very important one as well. Both teams had 14 shots.
T: Cabore 20’, Ishikawa 36’, Hirayama 62’
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Newly-crowned Asia-Champions Gamba didn’t quite live up to that reputation against Tokyo, as they crashed at home losing 3-1. Perhaps the match were a bit of an anti-climax for Gamba, after they had played Adelaide in the ACL final just 3 days earlier. Fatigue might be another explanation. However, the result doesn’t give the correct picture of the match, as in fact it was Gamba that had the most of the chances, and in the end should have won it. Lucas,Bando and Roni all squandered big chances though, and when Tokyo were deadly-effective, the match ended as it did. Cabore gave Tokyo the lead after 20 minutes, when Ishikawa found him with a lovely cross that the brazilian striker headed home. Ishikawa were central in the 2nd goal as well, although this time as a finisher. When Hirayama made it 0-3 in the 62nd minute, with a clever turn, Gamba could have given up, but instead they continued to attack. Lucas reduced shortly after, and the home-team came close on several occasions as well after that. In the end Tokyo won it though, and that means they are only 3 points behind 1st place. For Gamba’s sake, they are too far behind with regards to that, but as ACL-champions their season hasn’t been that bad anyway. Gamba had 15 shots to Tokyo’s 7.
K: Yanagisawa 27’,87’, Sato 90’
After 6 matches without a win, Kyoto finally managed to take 3 points again, and with that passed Marinos on the table to go 11th. However both teams are still very much battling against relegation still, so no reason to relax in the next matches. Marinos got off to a great start when Kawai scored with a tricky back-heel already after 2 minutes. In-form striker Atsushi Yanagisawa equalized in the 27th minute after a cleverly taken free kick put him free, and with a difficult finish he made it 1-1 alone with Marinos’s keeper. After that neither of the teams looked too willing to go forward, and it was obvious alot were on stake. However, withj ust a few minutes remaining, Yanagisawa beat his marker in the air to make it 2-1 to the visitors. To make it even worse for Marinos, Yuto Sato scored with a powerful shot shortly after, which means the match ended 1-3. Marinos had 12 shots to Kyoto’s 11.
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