J.League, Week 10
Still Neck-and-Neck

As the season moves into the final stretch, it has turned into a tight race between two teams, Jubilo Iwata and Kashima Antlers, who have a great tradition as both champions and rivals. In a week of afternoon matches, played under sparkling clear October skies, both teams fought narrowly to victory, to remain even on points, while several iother contenders fell further out of the race. Lets begin by loking at this week's results.

Kickoff	Home	.	Away
13:00		0-1
13:00		1-2
15:00		2-0
15:00		3-0
15:00		1-0
15:30		2-1
16:00		2-3 (ET)
16:00		1-1

0 - 1

Kashima Antlers managed a narrow escape against their local rivals, Kashiwa Reysol, after striker Atsushi Yanagisawa was dismissed in the 56 minute for what the referee judged to be a flagrant foul. Down to ten men in a scoreless match, the Antlers nevertheless needed victory to stay even with Jubilo Iwata in the championship race. Salvation came just ten minutes before the end of the match, on a brilliant indiuvidual run by Akira Narahashi. The right wing back carried the ball up the sideline, and cut back past his defender, racing for the post and unleashing a perfectly placed shot that curled just inside the far post and gave Kashima the victory

1 - 0

Jubilo Iwata also enjoyed a bit of good fortune in their match against Consadole Sapporo. Not only was Jubilo the beneficiary of some very harsh calls by the referee, who ignored multiple assault and battery infractions on Consadole striker Will ; they also got some fortunate bounces that sent the Sapporo team down to a painful defeat. After playing excellent defence against Jubilo for the entire first stanza, Sapporo slipped up just seconds before the break, when a defender failed to clear a weak header by Jubilo's veteran striker, Masashi Nakayama. The ball bounced right back into Nakayama's path, and this time he struck the ball far more cleanly, driving it over the keeper and into the roof of the net.

Consadole tried to shake off the disappointment and come back in the second half, but as was noted above, their ace striker was manhandled by Jubilo defenders all afternoon, and didnt have the space needed to create his usual magic. With fifteen minutes to play, Jubilo produced another goal, once again on an errant clearance by a Consadole defender, who handed the ball right back to Toshiya Fujita on the left flank. Fujita immediately sent a through ball to reserve midfielder Jo Kanazawa who broke into the penalty box unmarked, and slammed the ball into the low corner.

Consadole refused to call it quits, and managed to secure a consolation goal in injury time, but it was not enough to stop the Jubilo Juggernaut.

2 - 1

In one of the highlight matches of the day, two teams that were still in the race as of last week went head to head in Shimizu's Nihondaira stadium. S-Pulse got off to a quick lead, on a pretty header by Baron off a cross from left wing back Daisuke Ichikawa, who lofted a ball for the far post that Baron drilled home.

However, Nagoya's ace striker Ueslei equalised just before the half, as he pounced on a loose ball in the penalty box and. slammed it into the low corner.

Thereaftre, the match turned into a defensive battle , with both teams doing a very effective job of fending off any dangerous opportunities by their opponent. The match remained deadlocked at 1-1 until late in the second overtime period, when a Grampus defender was called for a fould when battling for a ball in the penalty box. Alex converted the PK and sent S-Pulse through to victory, but with only two points for the win in extra time, S-Pulse have basically dropped out of contention. Nagoya's chances for a titel also went out the window with the loss.

2 - 3

In another match that went to extra time, two teams which fact the threat of relegation, Cerezo Osaka and Yokohama Marinos, battled for 111 minutes before the match was decided. Neither of the two teams were able to score for the first 55 minutes, but thereafter the match broke wide open, and the crowd of 21,000 were treated to quite a show of attacking football. Cerezo captain Hiroaki Morishima, in his first appearance since a knee injury sidelined him this summer, got Cerezo on the board first. The team's new signing, Marcelo, took a free kick from about 40 meters and found the head of striker Issei Okayama. Okayama headed the ball toward the right post, and Morishima raced in to put the ball into the nylon. Yokohama's woes were doubled just two minutes later, when defender Naoki Matsuda deflected a Cerezo cross directly into his own goal.

However, despite their two goal lead, Cerezo showed why they are on their way to relegation this season, giving away their margin of victory in the final ten minutes, with two stunning goals by Brito. The Brazilian striker got his first tally after midfielder Yasuhiro Endorounded his defender and reached the end line, then crossed the ball to Brito at the penalty spot for an easy tap-in. Six minutes later, Brito completed his brace with a leaping header to bang home a corner kick from the left side.

But Cerezo, fighting for survival, would send the crowd in Yokohama International Stadium home unhappy, thanks to a 35-meter rocket from the foot of veteran Yasuo Manaka. Manaka collected a bounding ball that had been weakly cleared by the Marinos defence, and sent it screaming past keeper Kawaguchi to close out the match.

Elsewhere

Tokyo Verdy kept their hopes of avoiding relegation alive, with a 2-0 victory over Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Veteran Hideki Nagai, who has battled injuries all season, came back to score Verdy's first goal after dribbling almost the length of the field and then firing a shot into the top right corner. Naoto Sakurai added another in the second half to give Verdy a much-needed three points

At Fukuoka's Hakatanomori stadium, Avispa Fukuoka took a lead in the 2 minute and then held on to defeat FC Tokyo.

Vissel Kobe knocked JEF United out of the championship race with a 3-0 victory, including the fourth goal in as many matches from striker Masayuki Okano, who was recently acquired from Urawa Reds.

The Reds, meanwhile, edged a bit further out of the relegation zone, but were only able to pick up one point in a 1-1 draw with another struggling team, Gamba Osaka.

And so, the battle for the second stage championship has been effectively narrowed down to two traditional powerhouses -- Kashima Antlers and Jubilo Iwata. Jubilo leads on goal difference, but faces a slightly more difficult schedule than the Antlers in its final five matches, including games against Kashiwa Reysol, FC Tokyo and JEF United. If Jubilo takes the crown, it will be the first time ever that a team has captured both legs of the two-stage season, and preclude a championship playoff. If the Antlers are victorious, the two teams will play a home-and-away series in December to decide the league championship.

.	Team	Pts	GP	W (90/ET)	D	L	GD	GF	GA
1	Jubilo Iwata	25	10	9 (7-2)	0	1	+14	21	7
2	Kashima Antlers	25	10	9 (7-2)	0	1	+10	22	12
3	Shimizu S-Pulse	18	10	7 (4-3)	0	3	+10	28	18
4	JEF United Ichihara	17	10	5 (5-0)	2	3	+1	18	17
5	FC Tokyo	15	10	4 (4-0)	3	3	+1	21	20
6	Yokohama Marinos	14	10	5 (3-2)	1	4	+0	14	14
7	Nagoya Grampus	13	10	4 (4-0)	1	5	-2	17	19
8	Avispa Fukuoka	13	10	4 (3-1)	2	4	-2	15	17
9	Kashiwa Reysol	12	10	3 (3-0)	3	4	+5	21	16
10	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	12	10	4 (4-0)	0	6	+2	24	22
11	Consadole Sapporo	12	10	4 (3-1)	1	5	+0	22	22
12	Vissel Kobe	11	10	3 (3-0)	2	5	-4	18	22
13	Gamba Osaka	11	10	3 (3-0)	2	5	-4	13	17
14	Tokyo Verdy	10	10	3 (3-0)	1	6	-5	13	18
15	Urawa Reds	5	10	1 (1-0)	2	7	-8	11	19
16	Cerezo Osaka	4	10	2 (0-2)	0	8	-18	11	29

Note: Scoring is three points for a win in regulation time, two points for a win in extra time and one point for a draw

Rumours and Rumblings

The Animal That Ate Tokyo

Verdy Tokyo has announced that Brazilian striker Edmundo, also known as "the Animal", has been signed to a one-year contract. Although initial reaction has been mixed about the value of signing such a "physical" player, there is little doubt that Edmundo should add a bit of spark to Verdy's offense. Edmundo was very polite in his first meeting with the Japanese press, and said that he wanted very much to assist the team in its struggle to avoid relegation. Edmundo also suggested that he planned to stay in Japan for some time, noting that "I think I can help the team stay in the J1, and then challenge for the championship next year",

Although Verdy downplayed "the Animal"s past history of mayhem and disciplinary problems, they did indicate that they plan to keep him on a short leash. Edmundo will be paid by appearance, not based on a season-long contract. Therefore "if he decides to take a trip to Rio for Carnival, he will not be paid"

Antlers Strikers On Target Against Persija

Kashima Antlers fielded a three-forward offense in their Asian Club Championship match against Persija Jakarta, and the alignment paid off as Tomoyuki Hirase hit a brace and Atsushi Yanagisawa added a goal in a 4-1 drubbing of the Indonesian club champions. Kashima will now progress to the second round match against BEC, a Thai club.

Back Numbers

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J.League, Week 10 Still Neck-and-Neck

0-1

1-2

2-0

3-0

1-0

2-1

2-3 (ET)

1-1