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There is a new team atop the Meiji Yasuda J1 League table but it's a familiar sight to J.League fans.Ayase Ueda’s 71st minute goal delivered a 1-0 win for Kashima Antlers over Avispa Fukuoka and thrust the eight-time champions into first place.Ueda has been spectacular all season and his match-winner put him all alone atop the league’s goal scoring cha…

Another Meiji Yasuda J1 League matchweek is in the books. Here's how the games went down...Júbilo Iwata 1, Kawasaki Frontale 1Kei Chinen scored in stoppage time to rescue a point for Frontale, but that was not enough to maintain their place atop the table as their dropped points opened the door for Kashima Antlers. Avispa Fukuoka 0, Kashima Antle…

Kashiwa Reysol have been the surprise team of the early season, rising to fourth in the table and sitting second in points per game. They’ve been tremendous, featuring the second-best defense in the league and an attack averaging 1.5 goals per game.On Tuesday, that Kashiwa side will take on arguably the hottest team in the entire Meiji Yasuda J.League - Cer…

As usual, here are our three things to watch for Matchweek 7...Who will be in first place?Kawasaki Frontale currently occupy the top spot of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League table, but only by a point. Yokohama F·Marinos and Kashima Antlers are right on their heels, and Kashiwa Reysol are only three points back themselves. Any of the top four could be top of the …

Kawasaki Frontale 1, Cerezo Osaka 4Takashi Inui scored Cerezo’s first two, then Hiroto Yamada their next two as the Sakura dominated in transition to thrash first place Frontale. Yokohama F·Marinos 2, F.C.Tokyo 1Takuma Nishimura won an aerial battle for Marinos’ first goal, only to have Shuto Abe answer, but Anderson Lopes’ goal early in the second ha…

Eight excellent matches will be broadcast on the J.League International YouTube channel for the month of April, with two J.League YBC Levain Cup contests and six Meiji Yasuda J2 League clashes being shown around the world.Kyoto Sanga will host Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo on April 13 in Matchday 4 of the J.League YBC Levain Cup, as Peter Utaka takes on the Co…

Japan know their path at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Friday’s official draw placed the Samurai Blue into Group E alongside Spain, Germany, and the winner of the intercontinental play-off between Costa Rica and New Zealand.Japan will open their World Cup campaign on November 23 in Qatar against Germany before meeting the play-off winner on November 27. They wra…

It's rare for defeat to feel good, but F.C.Tokyo began their season with a hard-fought loss to defending champions Kawasaki Frontale that most felt was an impressive showing from an improved side. Since then, confidence has only grown in the capital. The Blue and Red have won three straight, buoyed by a stingy defense that has only allowed one goal in …

After 14 matches, Japan’s 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign came to an end on Tuesday with a 1-1 draw against Vietnam. The Samurai Blue had already clinched qualification last week with an impressive 2-0 win in Australia, and now they have finished their entire qualifying slate.A heavily rotated side took the pitch at Saitama Stadium 2002 and they str…

Cerezo Osaka 6, Oita Trinita 1Cerezo’s spectacular cup form continued with Trinita in town. Not only did they cruise to victory, they did so with six different goalscorers as they improved to three wins from three matches in the group stage and opened up a five-point lead atop Group A.Kashima Antlers 4, Gamba Osaka 1Gamba scored four minutes in and kept tha…

Japan will be at the 2022 FIFA World Cup! The Samurai Blue defeated Australia, 2-0, in Sydney to clinch their spot in the final tournament thanks to a late brace by Kaoru Mitoma.Japan were on the front foot for most of the match and nearly scored in the first half, but a header by Cerezo Osaka product and current Liverpool star Takumi Minamino hit the bar. …

Japan are on the verge of qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and could clinch their spot in Qatar this week. The Samurai Blue square off against Australia and Vietnam in the final two matches of the third round of qualifying and do so with a team full of Meiji Yasuda J.League stars present and past in search of that all-important World Cup place.Kawasak…

Yuto Suzuki and Ayase Ueda have been off to red hot starts in 2022 and that continued in Matchweek 5. The Júbilo Iwata striker scored his fourth goal of the season to take the sole lead on the scoring chart, while Ueda scored his third to stay on Suzuki’s heels.Suzuki’s goal came in a losing effort, but it was still an impressive headed finish off a Júbilo …

Yokohama F·Marinos 0, Sagan Tosu 0Park Il-gyu played spectacularly and the Sagan defense kept Marinos at bay to earn a good draw in Yokohama. Kyoto Sanga 0, F.C.Tokyo 1Diego Oliveira scored the lone goal as F.C.Tokyo made it nine points from four matches to continue their strong start to the season and climb up the table. Gamba Osaka 2, Avispa F…

Sagan Tosu are in a bit of an odd spot to start the season. As expected, an excellent defense has showed up but their attack has managed just three goals from four matches. They are undefeated to start the season, but with three draws and only one win, their six points has them in sixth place.So how good are Sagan? We’ll get a good idea this weekend.Kenta K…

Will AFC Champions League football propel Vissel?Vissel Kobe are still winless in the Meiji Yasuda J1 League with three draws and three losses from their first six matches of the season. That has them second from the bottom in the table, an especially troubling position considering they’ve played two more matches than most other teams in the league. But Vis…

Vissel Kobe are into the group stage of the 2022 AFC Champions League thanks to a 4-3 victory over Australia’s Melbourne Victory in the play-off round. Andrés Iniesta scored the opening goal, but Lincoln was the hero with a stoppage time winner that fired Vissel on in the continental championship.Iniesta gave Vissel the lead after six minutes when he was ab…

Kawasaki Frontale have lost a slew of top players to Europe in recent years so when they went in search of an attacking player to step in and continue their front line excellence, they knew they had to aim high.Enter: Chanathip Songkrasin. The Thai star was brought over from Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo to keep the Frontale attack humming, and on Saturday the…

The J.League prides itself on its ability to develop the best young Japanese talent and no teams did it better than Kashiwa Reysol and Shonan Bellmare, who were named the Best Youth Development Clubs for 2021.Honored with two world-famous delicacies from Miyazaki — one head of beef and five kilograms of ripe mangoes — Reysol and Bellmare were presented with…

Vissel Kobe 0, Kashima Antlers 2Kento Misao put Kashima in front when he won a fight for a header between two defenders then a Yuma Suzuki rocket wrapped up an impressive win in Kobe to put them on nine points from four matches to start the season. Júbilo Iwata 1, Gamba Osaka 1Kotaro Omori’s early goal had it looking like a Júbilo win, but Leandro Per…