While Urawa Reds, Vissel Kobe, and Yokohama F·Marinos were off in AFC Champions League knockout stage play, the Meiji Yasuda J1 League went on. Let’s dive into all the action from Matchweek 26.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 5, Gamba Osaka 2
Gamba had two leads, but Sanfrecce stormed back both times, led by a hat trick by Nassim Ben Khalifa to take all three points and leap up to second in the table.
Shonan Bellmare 1, Kashima Antlers 1
It looked like Everaldo’s goal would win it for Kashima, but Yusuke Segawa’s equalizer earned Shonan a crucial point in their bid to avoid the drop.
Avispa Fukuoka 1, Kawasaki Frontale 4
Marcinho was a terror driving in from the left, notching a hat trick to earn Frontale their second straight win and keeping their title push in top gear.
Shimizu S-Pulse 1, Kashiwa Reysol 1
S-Pulse struck early through Thiago Santana and Reysol struck late through Yuki Muto in a terrific contest that took Shimizu all the way up to 11th place.
Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo 1, Sagan Tosu 2
Consadole scored first, but Sagan owned the second half with headers from Hwang Seok-ho and Diego that found the back of the net and fired them to a fifth straight match without a loss.
Nagoya Grampus 1, Júbilo Iwata 0
Matheus notched the only goal of the match, but it was plenty deserving of the spotlight as the Brazilian hit a spectacular curving blast from more than 25 yards to hand Nagoya all three points.
