Six out of nine games were drawn in the last weekend of J1 play, including Gamba 1-1 Sanfrecce and Urawa Reds 0-0 Cerezo Osaka. The top three teams drawing, then, allowing Shimizu S-Pulse to take advantage and move to within one point of Reds in that 3rd ACL spot.

Working from the top down, Gamba went ahead against Sanfrecce but were pegged back from the win they desperately needed by the top team, while 2nd-placed Vegalta Sendai were denied a win by Jubilo Iwata. Gamba’s goal was a gem from the fancy footwork of Yasuhito Endo, a goal truly deserving of a win, but Kazuyuki Morisaki earned the away team a point.

Urawa Reds, in 3rd place continued their run of games without a home win, and failed to take advantage of the team above them dropping points, allowing S-Pulse to move within a point of them in 4th spot. Nagoya Grampus are now in 5th, and must have thought they’d won the match with a late goal from Tamada, but Nakamura did what he does best – scoring a 95th minute free kick to secure a point for Yokohama F.Marinos. Marinos lie in 7th position, still with hopes for that ACL spot.

In between Grampus and Marinos lie Kashiwa Reysol, who were put to the sword by Omiya Ardija – who annihilated the Sun Kings 4-1 to earn three very valuable points in their fight against relegation. Grampus coach Stojkovic is almost getting used to dropping points late on?

FC Tokyo made their final four games relatively pressure-free with a 5-0 win over relegated Consadole Sapporo, while Sagan Tosu pushed Albirex Niigata further into trouble, dispatching the relegation-threatened club by a 2-0 scoreline, leaving Albirex trailing Gamba Osaka, and with a five point gap to the safety of Omiya in 15th place.

Only just above the relegation zone, Vissel Kobe and Kawasaki Frontale fought out a 3-3 draw sharing the points and leaving Vissel in 14th, just goal difference separating them from Omiya Ardija. Frontale are not much higher and not yet safe – 40 points not seeming to be a safe total for this season, yet!

At the bottom, as at the top, J1 looks to be going down to the final day – enjoy J.League with JSoccer.com and JSoccer Magazine.

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