Kashima Antlers wrapped up first place in the East table of the MEIJI YASUDA J1 100 YEAR VISION LEAGUE on Sunday, claiming a 2-0 win away to JEF United Chiba as REGIONAL ROUND Match Week 17 concluded.
Goals two minutes before the end of each half from Ryotaro Araki and Shu Morooka leave Kashima five points clear at the summit with one game to play, at the same time condemning Chiba to a last place finish.
Things will go down to the final day of the REGIONAL ROUND in the West though, after Nagoya Grampus were hammered 6-1 by Cerezo Osaka and Vissel Kobe drew 2-2 with V-Varen Nagasaki, before losing 3-2 on penalties.
Shunta Tanaka opened the scoring for C-Osaka with a delicate finish in the 12th minute at YANMAR HANASAKA STADIUM, before a brace from Yumeki Yokoyama in the 22nd and 39th minutes put the home side 3-0 up.
Yudai Kimura pulled one back for Nagoya three minutes before half-time, but Thiago Andrade swept in for C-Osaka nine minutes after the restart, and substitute Solomon Sakuragawa compounded Nagoya’s misery with a pair of strikes in the 87th and 89th minutes.
That enabled Kobe to move one point ahead of Nagoya at the top of the rankings, despite finishing second best in their shoot-out with Nagasaki.
Former Kobe captain Hotaru Yamaguchi stroked Nagasaki into the lead after 21 minutes at PEACE STADIUM Connected by SoftBank, but Yoshinori Muto levelled with a header for Kobe six minutes later.
Both teams’ Brazilian centre-backs then got amongst the goals, as Matheus Thuler headed Kobe in front in the 32nd minute, only for his compatriot Eduardo to lash in and make it 2-2 in the last minute of the first half.
Kobe’s Muto, Rikuto Hirose, and Daiju Sasaki all failed to convert from the spot in the resultant decider from 12 yards, enabling Nagasaki to claim two points and climb to eighth place.
There were also four goals at SANGA STADIUM by KYOCERA, where visitors Sanfrecce Hiroshima brushed aside Kyoto Sanga F.C. to claim a dominant 4-0 victory.
Sota Nakamura got the scoring started when he slammed home in the 29th minute, and Akito Suzuki converted off the post to make it 2-0 four minutes into the second half. Mutsuki Kato then headed in two minutes later, and Taishi Matsumoto added the gloss in the 75th minute.
Hiroshima moved up to fourth as a result, while Kyoto dropped to the foot of the table.
In the day’s other games, a goal in each half from Kosuke Shirai and Leo Gaucho lifted Fagiano Okayama to fifth in the West after delivering a 2-0 win over Shimizu S-Pulse, who are now seventh, while back in the East, Kawasaki Frontale beat FC Machida Zelvia 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Yasuto Wakizaka’s 89th-minute penalty for Kawasaki-F cancelled out Tete Yengi’s header five minutes before half-time, with the hosts then edging things in the shoot-out.
JEF United Chiba vs Kashima Antlers - Game Highlights | MW17
Kawasaki Frontale vs FC Machida Zelvia - Game Highlights | MW17
Fagiano Okayama vs Shimizu S-Pulse - Game Highlights | MW17
Cerezo Osaka vs Nagoya Grampus - Game Highlights | MW17
V-Varen Nagasaki vs Vissel Kobe - Game Highlights | MW17
Kyoto Sanga F.C. vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima - Game Highlights | MW17
