Kotaro Omori and Shu Kurata were on target as Gamba Osaka defeated Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 in the fourth round of the Emperor’s Cup on Sunday.

The holders eased past their opponents into the quarter-finals as Omori opened the scoring right before the break, before Kurata struck less than 10 minutes in the second half to make the result safe.

Kashiwa Reysol made harder work of Ventforet Kofu in the other match of the day, needing extra time before triumphing 2-1.

Masato Kudo put Reysol in front in the second half but Takuma Abe was on hand to equalise for the plucky visitors.

Tatsuma Yoshida’s men then had their difficulties compounded when Daisuke Suzuki received his marching orders for a second booking.

However, Reysol ultimately prevailed when Cristiano struck the winner in the final minute of the second half of extra time.