Choi scores hat-trick for second straight game in J-League

South Korean international Choi Yong-Soo scored a hat-trick for a second straight game to lead JEF United Ichihara to a 5-1 thrashing of Kyoto Purple Sanga in J-League football.

The 29-year-old striker, who marked his first hat-trick in the league only three days ago, netted in the 21st, 52nd and 58th minutes.

"I just tried hard to score a goal. I always try to do my best and give a win to my team. It just resulted in a hat-trick (twice in a row)," said Choi calmly.

Choi was the first player to score a hat-trick for a second straight game since Masashi Nakayama, Japan's only goal scorer in the France World Cup, did it shortly before going to Paris.

Ichihara stood with four wins against one defeat and a draw for 13 points to trail front-runners Kashima Antlers by two points.

Brazilian striker Euller struck home a decider in injury time on a penalty to give Kashima a 2-1 victory over Gamba Osaka.

J-League champions Jubilo Iwata, Yokohama Marinos and Vegalta Sendai followed them with an identical 11 points, ahead of Cerezo Osaka and Kashiwa Reysol with 10 points.

Iwata were held to a 1-1 draw by Sendai, while Yokohama Marinos drew with Nagoya Grampus Eight 0-0.

In other games, Kashiwa Reysol notched up a third straight win when they downed Shimizu S-Pulse 2-0, while FC Tokyo edged past Vissel Kobe 1-0 thanks to rookie Yoshiro Abe's sole goal in the 73rd minute.

Urawa Red Diamonds whitewashed Verdy Tokyo 2-0, and Cerezo Osaka defeated Oita Trinita 2-1.