Vissel Kobe won promotion to the J-League top-flight on away goals after a 1-1 draw against Avispa Fukuoaka in the second leg here on Saturday.
The first leg had finished scoreless. Takanori Nunobe equalised for Avispa who finished 16th in the 18-team table and were forced into the playoff after Yusuke Kondo had opened the proceedings for Vissel.
Fukuoaka coach Ryoichi Kawakatsu announced his retirement after the game. "I signed the contract with the intention of keeping the team in the first division so I now feel it is my responsibility to step down," Kawakatsu said.
Fukuoka are back in the second division after just one season in the top-flight along with Kyoto Purple Sanga and Cerezo Osaka, who were automatically relegated.
07 December 2006
There is still all to play in the J-League promotion/relegation playoff as J-2 team Vissel Kobe drew scoreless with Avispa Fukuoka in the first leg on Wednesday.
Vissel Kobe finished third in the J-2 this season after Yokohama FC and Kashiwa Reysol gained promotion to the top-flight after capturing the top-two positions. Avispa Fukuoka, who were promoted last season, were left fighting for their place in the first division after ending 16th ahead of relegated Kyoto Purple Sanga and Cerezo Osaka.
Vissel Kobe coach Hiroshi Matsuda told reporters: "I want to thank my players for their performance today. They kept to the plan and the young players played well."
His counterpart Ryoichi Kawakatsu said: "I think my players played as well as I expected though their condition was not so good. I'm not disappointed with this result at all."
The return leg takes place on December 9.
26 November 2006
AFC Champions League top scorer Magno Alves hit a hat-trick as defending J.League champions Gamba Osaka edged Kyoto Purple Sanga 3-2 in the penultimate round of the 2006 season on Sunday to keep their title hopes alive.
League leaders Urawa Reds, who haven't won the title since the inception of the J.League in 1993, missed out on sealing the 2006 championship after being held to a goalless draw by FC Tokyo on the same day.
A win at the Ajinomoto Stadium would have guaranteed Guido Buchwald's side the title but their draw means that the championship will be settled next week when Urawa host Gamba in the final round of the 2006 J.League next Saturday
"We really wished we could have decided today," said the German. "But we still hold the upper hand over Gamba. We are three points ahead with a plus-five goal difference while we also have 21-game winning streak at home."
The 1990 World Cup winner continued: "FC Tokyo beat Gamba Osaka and Kawasaki Frontale (5-4) earlier in the season, so I knew this would be a difficult game to play. We tried to attack hard, especially from the wings, but the Tokyo players didn't let us do that with their wonderful performance and strong determination. I think the draw was probably fair for both sides."
Urawa's draw and Gamba's win kept alive the Osaka side's hopes of retaining the title after they did their part with a 3-2 win over Kyoto Purple Sanga, which also consigned the 2002 Emperor's Cup champions to second division football next season.
Brazilian striker Paulinho put Kyoto ahead after ten minutes before his compatriot Magno Alves levelled the tie ten minutes before half-time.
Three minutes into the second half the former Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors star put Gamba ahead, firing home Takahiro Futagawa pass but Paulinho netted the equaliser with nine minutes left on the clock.
However, with the J.League title at stake there was no let up from Gamba who picked up the victory after Magno Alves headed home an Akihiro Ienaga cross in the 89th minute.
The team that joins Kyoto in J2 next season will also be revealed on the final day of the season after 16th place Cerezo Osaka lost 2-0 at Omiya Ardija while Avispa Fukuoka lost to an identical score line at Nagoya Grampus Eight
In Sunday's other matches Kawasaki Frontale held off 10-man Kashima Antlers 3-2 at home while JEF United Chiba snapped their five-game losing streak by coming from a goal down to beat Ventforet Kofu by an identical result.
Jubilo Iwata edged Shimizu S-Pulse 1-0 thanks to Ryoichi Maeda's second-half penalty, Sanfrecce Hiroshima beat Albirex Niigata 2-1 while Omiya Ardija beat Yokohama F. Marinos 1-0 at home.
12 November 2006
Urawa Red Diamonds skipper Nobuhisa Yamada scored the sole goal to beat Yokohama Marinos 1-0 and stretch their lead in the J-League standings on Saturday. Brazilian midfielder Ponte produced the last pass for Yamada in the area, who right-footed a six-metre shot in the 33rd minute.
"It's always close whenever we play Yokohama, so it's really important to score one goal. Everybody worked hard and I'm really glad we shut them out," said Yamada. "We moved another step towards winning the title. We just need to concentrate on our game one by one, never waiting for our rivals to lose."
Urawa have now 20 wins, five draws against five defeats for 65 points, stretching their lead to six points over defending champions Gamba Osaka and seven points over Kawasaki Frontale with four more games left in the season. Both Osaka and Kawasaki suffered miserable defeats.
Osaka gave away an own goal to lose the lead before falling victim to the Kashima Antlers 3-1, while Kawasaki lost their two-goal lead and then the match surrendering two goals in injury time to go down to FC Tokyo 5-4.
In exciting relegation battles, bottom placed Kyoto Purple Sanga gained one point after drawing with Ventforet Kofu 1-1, while Sanfrecce Hiroshima were almost safe by beating third to bottom Avispa Fukuoka 2-0. Second to bottom team Cerezo Osaka bowed to Jubilo Iwata 2-3.
The last two teams will be relegated to the second division next season, and the third bottom team will have to play the third team of the second division in a playoff.
In other games, Albirex Niigata downed JEF United Chiba 3-1, Nagoya Grampus Eight blanked Oita Trinita 1-0, and Shimizu S-Pulse drew with Omiya Ardija 1-1.
29 October 2006
Jubilo Iwata downed J.League front-runners Urawa Reds 3-2 on Saturday giving Kawasaki Frontale and defending champions Gamba Osaka a chance to cut their lead with five rounds of the season left to play. Frontale capitalized on the Reds' defeat by beating basement-dwellers Kyoto Purple Sanga 2-0 at home to move up to second with 58 points, four shy of Urawa, while Gamba, third on 56 points, host fourth place Shimizu S-Pulse on Sunday.
Playing at a sold-out Yamaha Stadium, the home team raced to a two-goal lead with just six minutes on the clock when right-back Yusuke Inuzuka headed home a second minute corner before forward Robert Cullen pounced on a Yoshiaki Ohta rebound four minutes later. Urawa were without suspended centre-back Marcus Tulio Tanaka while Keisuke Tsuboi was playing for the first time in a month after returning from a knee-injury. The Japan international played alongside Brazilian defender Nene and Satoshi Horinouchi and the new line-up looked confused and nervous when faced by Jubilo's aggressive attack.
However, the Reds gradually came into the game and after Nobuhisa Yamada had a 38th minute effort ruled out for off side and Brazilian striker Washington was denied by Japan keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi on the stroke of half-time, the visitors pulled a goal back three minutes after the interval. Washington, the J.League's leading scorer, volleyed home Makoto Hasebe's pass to reduce the deficit only for Jubilo to restore their two-goal cushion four minutes later. Former international midfielder Takashi Fukunishi collected a Makoto Tanaka cross with his left foot and casually shifted to beat his marker before blasting the ball home with his right.
Urawa scored again in the 71st minute when Washington connected with a Yamada corner to head in his 22nd of the season but it Jubilo still had control of the match and were denied a fourth when Ryoichi Maeda's strike hit the woodwork before wrapping up their 11th home win. "We made too many mistakes in the first 30 minutes; giving the ball away where we shouldn't have and leaving an opponent unmarked when we shouldn't have," said Reds manager Guido Buchwald after his side failed to win their second successive game.
"But we fought back hard and scored twice, which was a positive part of our game today," continued the German. "We'll fix our problems and play well in the remaining five matches to make sure we lead the league standings at the end." In Kawasaki, Japan forward Kazuki Ganaha headed the opener in the 39th minute before Brazilian midfielder Magnum added a second four minutes from time in Frontale's win over Kyoto, who remained last on 21 points while fellow strugglers Avispa Fukuoka and Cerezo Osaka both collected priceless away wins.
Fukuoka, who surprised Jubilo 2-1 at home last weekend, maintained their good momentum, beating Albirex Niigata 1-0 thanks to a second-half goal from midfielder Seiji Koga. It was Fukuoka's first back-to-back victory this season. Cerezo also won 1-0, edging Ventforet Kofu through Brazilian midfielder Ze Carlos' 78th minute effort although their victory was sullied slightly when former Japan striker Yoshito Okubo was sent off in the last minute after picking up second booking of the day.
In Hiroshima, Brazilian forward Ueslei scored twice and set up Hisato Sato as Sanfrece hammered Yokohama F. Marinos 3-0 to take their tally to 33 points to keep ahead of 16th placed Avispa. The team that finishes 16th will have to play-off against the third placed side from J2 to maintain their J.League status. In the remaining J.League matches on Saturday, Nagoya Grampus Eight came from behind to beat 10-man JEF United Chiba 2-1 at home while FC Tokyo midfielder Yasuyuki Konno scored the game's only goal in the second minute to help the visitors beat Omiya Ardija 1-0 at Komaba Stadium.
22 October 2006
Brazilian midfielder Ponte struck home an equalizer as front-runners Urawa Red Diamonds drew 2-2 with Kawasaki Frontale to keep top place in the J-League football on Saturday. Urawa took the lead in the 19th minute when another Brazilian, Washington, fired a sizzling 16-metre right-footer, his 20th goal of the season, to stay top in the goal standings. But Kawasaki's Brazilian forward Joninho made it even on a penalty in the 35th minute and then Kengo Nakamura nodded home a Yusuke Mori cross in the 50th.
Urawa, however, evened it again when Nobuhisa Yamada sent a difficult pass to produce Ponte's goal from short range. Urawa now have 19 wins and five draws against four defeats and stand on 62 points, six points above defending champions Gamba Osaka, who will play FC Tokyo on Sunday. Kawasaki trail them with 55 points, followed by Shimizu S-Pulse with 50 points and Kashima Antlers with 46 points. Shimizu were held to a 1-1 draw by Albirex Niigata, while Kashima crashed to a 2-1 defeat to Yokohama Marinos.
Daisuke Sakata and Koji Yamase took an early 2-0 lead for Yokohama in the sixth and 18th minutes and kept Kashima under pressure, allowing only one goal through Masaki Fukai in the 29th minute. "I really needed a good result for both myself and the team. I'm glad I was able to score in an early minute," said Sakata. Yamase said: "Tatsu (Tatsuhiko Kubo) gave me an easy ball to score. But we appeared defensive after the 2-0 lead. We must control the game better when we take a lead." In other games, Ventforet Kofu defeated Nagoya Grampus Eight 2-1, Omiya Ardija downed JEF United Ichihara 3-1, and Avispa Fukuoka outclassed Jubilo Iwata 2-1. Kyoto Purple Sanga drew with Oita Trinita 1-1.
01 October 2006
Japan internationals helped Urawa Red Diamonds down Kyoto Purple Sanga 5-1 on Saturday, to take them to the top of the J-League football table alongside defending champions Gamba Osaka. International defender Tanaka Marcus Tulio scored the opener in the 14th minute with striker Tatsuya Tanaka adding another in the 40th, while Tadaaki Hirakawa, Nobuhisa Yamada and Takahito Soma were also on target.
"We needed three points from a win at any cost to hang in there against Osaka, and needed many goals to better the goal differential," said Urawa's German coach Guido Buchwald. "My players did their 100 percent of what I demanded. They really played well and aggressively. Osaka haven't yet won the title and we showed today that we are determined to hang in there," he said.
Urawa have 17 wins, four draws against four defeats for 55 points, identical with Osaka, who will play Ventforet Kofu on Sunday. They are followed by Kawasaki Frontale with 48 points, Kashima Antlers with 46 points, Shimizu S-Pulse with 44 points. Meanwhile, another international striker, Hisato Sato of Sanfrecce Hiroshima, and Keita Sugimoto of Nagoya Grampus Eight both scored a hat-trick.
Sato scored in the 22nd, 55th and 67th minutes as Hiroshima drew with Kawasaki 3-3, while Sugimoto struck home in the 30th, 58th and 66th minutes to give Nagoya a 4-1 win over Omiya Ardija. In other matches, Japan international goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi saved Naoki Matsuda's penalty shot in the 75th minute, before Jubilo Iwata went on to defeat Yokohama Marinos 1-0 thanks to Ryoichi Maeda's decider in injury time.
Kashima drew 2-2 with Cerezo Osaka, while Albirex Niigata powered past FC Tokyo 4-1. JEF United Chiba were 2-1 winners over Oita Trinita thanks to Yuki Abe's game-deciding penalty shot with four minutes left on the clock.
17 September 2006
In-form striker Ryuji Bando scored both goals as Gamba Osaka defeated Oita Trinita 2-0 away on Saturday to extend their unbeaten run to eight games although manager Akira Nishino admits that the J.League leaders were made to work hard from their victory. "It was a hard game but we knew it would be like this in Oita," said Nishino. "Things got harder halfway through the game [when it started raining heavily] but our players did well."
Bando opened the scoring with just two minutes gone when he tapped home the rebound from Takahiro Futagawa's shot before the two combined again for the second, two minutes after the interval. The 27-year-old received a pass from Futagawa with his back to goal and turned his marker before firing in his second of the night and his 12th in the last ten games to take his tally to 13, three shy of current top scorer, Urawa Reds' striker Washington. "Bando is keeping his good shape and that has probably come from his attitude, with his hunger and eagerness to improve his game. And the more praise he gets the better he becomes so I hope that people will continue to praise him."
Despite the two-goal winning margin it was far from easy for Gamba who were put under pressure for spells from an aggressive Oita. Trinita thought they had equalised three minutes after Bando had opened the scoring when midfielder Yoshihiro Uchimura sneaked into the space behind the Osaka backline and slotted home from ten meters out. However, it was disallowed after referee Hiroyoshi Takayama adjudged there was a handball in the build up to the goal. The home side continued to put pressure on Gamba's somewhat shaky back four and came close to finding the net in the 24th minute when forward Shota Matsuhashi hit the post in the 24th minute before Yuki Fukaya headed a corner into the side net five minutes later.
Shortly after halftime a superb header from forward Daiki Takamatsu forced a save from Gamba goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya but it was another missed chance for Oita as their seven-game unbeaten streak came to an end at the hands of the reigning J.League champions. Also seeing their unbeaten run come to an end on Saturday was Shimizu S-Pulse who had gone eight games without a loss until they went down 2-1 to Kashima Antlers at the National Stadium in Tokyo. Kashima, with forward Atsushi Yanagisawa and Alex Mineiro on the bench, took the lead a minute from half-time through Brazilian Fernando before fellow midfielder Takuya Nozawa made it 2-0 with a skillful 61st minute lob.
Shimizu pulled a goal back nine minutes later thanks to Takuma Edamura and the Shizuoka side rallied hard during the closing stages with Brazilian forward Marquinhos repeatedly threatening the Kashima goal but their efforts went unrewarded. Nabisco Cup holders Urawa Reds defeated a tenacious Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-1 with Nobuhisa Yamada scoring the winning goal with four minutes left to play. Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka fired the ball into the top corner to give Urawa the lead after 36 minutes but the advantage didn't last long with Brazilian striker Uelsei's curling shot from the left palmed into the net by Reds keeper Norihiro Yamagishi four minutes later.
Sanfrecce missed a number of scoring chances on the counter and they were to be punished when Urawa midfielder Yamada latched on to an Alessandro Santos pass at the far post to tap in the decisive goal. Yokohama F. Marinos beat hosts Avispa Fukuoka 3-1 with former Japan striker Tatsuhiko Kubo scoring the opening goal in the 15th minute before being sent off 12 minutes later. Daisuke Sakata and Koji Yamase extended Yokohama's lead in the 66th and 69th minutes respectively before Kazunori Iio scored a consolation goal with a minute left to play.
In other matches, Kyoto Purple Sanga collected their fourth win of the season by beating FC Tokyo 1-0 at home, Nagoya Grampus Eight downed Albirex Niigata 3-1 to snap their winless run at four games while Cerezo Osaka edged JEF United Chiba 3-2 thanks to striker Yoshito Okubo's 77th minute strike. On Sunday, Kawasaki Frontale will host Jubilo Iwata, while Omiya Ardija will visit Ventforet Kofu.
10 September 2006
Striker Ryuji Bando struck twice and Japan midfielder Yasuhito Endo added a third as Gamba Osaka downed cross-town rivals Cerezo Osaka 3-1 on Saturday to maintain their lead at the top of the J.League standings. The deadlock was broken at Gamba's Expo Memorial Stadium in the 40th minute when Bando latched on to a through ball from Takahiro Futagawa and beat two Cerezo defenders before blasting home the opener with his left foot.
But Cerezo leveled the tie on the stroke of half-time thanks to a 45th minute header from Kota Fujimoto, prompting Gamba manager Akira Nishino to ring the changes in the second half, moving from a flat back four to a more attack-mind three-man defence by bringing in playmaker Yasuhito Endo and defender Akira Kaji, who had returned on Friday after playing for Japan in the continental champions' 1-0 Asian Cup qualifying win over Yemen. The move paid off as the reigning J.League champions regained the lead in the 78th minute.
Futagawa drove up on the left flank and hit a shot, which was deflected off the post but Bando, known for being fast fleet of foot, reacted sharply to tap home the rebound. Six minutes later Endo added Gamba's third with the Japan international charging into the area to collect a Magno Alves rebound and score from close range. "I just found the net thanks to the assistance from my teammates," said two-goal hero Bando, whose double took his personal tally for the season to 11.
"Futa gave me a fine pass for my first one, and my second one came after his scoring attempt," the 27-year-old Gamba striker added. Gamba manager Nishino remarked: "We didn't play so well in the first half. We had ten days to prepare for this game [due to the national team' s Asian Cup campaign] and I've got a feeling that our players might be able to play better without having such a long break. Our players may not be happy with that, though."
Kawasaki Frontale stayed two points behind leaders Gamba thanks to an impressive 2-1 away win over 2003 and 2004 J.League champions Yokohama F Marinos. After a goalless first half Kawasaki left winger Marcao headed home a Magnum corner kick in the 52nd minute before his compatriot Juninho slotted the home team's second past advancing Yokohama goalkeeper Tatsuya Enomoto after latching on to Yusuke Mori's through ball.
The Marinos replied in the 85th minute when Ryuji Kawai headed home a Koji Yamase corner but it was too little too late as Yokohama manager Takashi Mizunuma endured his first loss after taking over from predecessor Takeshi Okada on August 24. Shimizu S-Pulse were also keeping pace with the front-runners as the Shizuoka side moved up to third place by extending their unbeaten run to eight games with a 3-1 win over hosts JEF United Chiba.
Right-back Daisuke Ichikawa's fifth minute strike was cancelled out Chiba midfielder Yuto Sato a minute later but Brazilian forward Marquinhos restored Shimizu's lead in the 56th minute before midfielder Jungo Fujimoto scored the third with 12 minutes left to play. Elsewhere, Jubilo Iwata forward Ryoichi Maeda scored twice as Shimizu's Shizuoka rivals ran riot with a 7-0 win over visiting Albirex Niigata while Ventforet Kofu collected their first ever win from FC Tokyo with a 3-1 victory in Tokyo.
Nagoya Grampus Eight drew 0-0 at Sanfrecce Hiroshima to extend their run of games without a win to four while the Kyushu derby between Oita Trinita and Avispa Fukuka also ended goalless. The result meant that Avispa manager Ryoichi Kawakatsu is still without a win since taking helm of the club in early June while Oita took their unbeaten run to seven. On Sunday, Urawa Reds will visit neighbours Omiya Ardija, while Kashima Antlers will host Kyoto Purple Sanga at home.
31 August 2006
Brazilian striker Magno Alves scored twice to help defending champions Gamba Osaka to a 3-0 win Wednesday that took them two points clear at the top of the J-League. Magno Alves opened the scoring against Albirex Niigata in the 17th minute with a shot from close range and wrapped up the win 18 minutes from time. Ruji Bando was the other scorer, driving home a Yasuhito Endo free kick four minutes before the break.
Osaka, who drew 3-3 with Nagoya Grampus Eight on Sunday, had been level on points with Urawa Red Diamonds before the kick off and trailing in the table due to a worse gold difference. Wednesday's win -- taking them to 46 points after 14 wins, 4 draws and three losses -- saw them go three ahead of Urawa who crashed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Oita Trinita.
Despite Urawa's loss, their Brazilian striker Washington scored his 15th goal of the season to maintain his lead in the goal standings ahead of compatriots Magno Alves and Juninho on 14 each. Kawasaki Frontale, 2-1 winners over JEF United Chiba, leapt into second place on 44 points, overtaking Urawa but still trailing Osaka by two points.
Shimizu S-Pulse, on 41 points, were hot on the heals of Urawa after a 1-0 win over Kyoto Purple Sanga thanks to a goal by South Korea's Cho Jae-Jin. Kashima Antlers were in fifth place on 36 points thanks to a deciding penalty from Brazilian Fabio Santos in the 80th minute that saw them through to a 2-1 defeat of Nagoya.
In other games, Cerezo Osaka beat FC Tokyo 3-2 to climb off the bottom at last at the expense of struggling Avispa Fukuoka, who grabbed a point in injury time in a tense 2-2 draw with Omiya Ardija. Former champions Yokohama Marinos enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 win over Ventforet Kofu 3-0, while another former J-League winning outfit, Jubilo Iwata, lost 2-1 to Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
