Wins for Cerezo and Antlers, coupled with Gamba’s loss means that Cerezo can still pop into the top three at the expense of Gamba or Antlers if they slip up next week. Meanwhile, at the bottom, a win for Vissel is vital, while Tokyo will go down if Vissel win and they do not manage a win – only problem for Vissel – they are away at eds, while Tokyo have Sanga to hand them the points!? Vegalta are also in trouble, though. If Vissel and Tokyo win, then it goes down to goal difference if Vegalta lose. Vissel need a 3-0 win while Vegalta lose 4-0 (or any combination of seven goals going against Vegalta or for Vissel!) for that to happen, though!1 Nagoya Grampus 69 33 22 3 8 52 36 +16 2 Kashima Antlers 59 33 16 11 6 50 30 +20 3 Gamba Osaka 59 33 17 8 8 62 44 +18 4 Cerezo Osaka 58 33 16 10 7 52 30 +22 5 Shimizu S-Pulse 54 33 15 9 9 60 46 +14 6 Kawasaki Frontale 53 33 15 8 10 60 46 +14 7 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 51 33 14 9 10 44 36 +8 8 Yokohama F･Marinos 51 33 15 6 12 43 37 +6 9 Urawa Reds 48 33 14 6 13 48 37 +11 10 Albirex Niigata 46 33 11 13 9 45 44 +1 11 Jubilo Iwata 44 33 11 11 11 36 43 -7 12 Montedio Yamagata 41 33 11 8 14 28 41 -13 13 Omiya Ardija 39 33 10 9 14 37 45 -8 14 Vegalta Sendai 38 33 10 8 15 39 45 -6 15 F.C.Tokyo 36 33 8 12 13 36 39 -3 16 Vissel Kobe 35 33 8 11 14 33 45 -12 17 Kyoto Sanga F.C. 16 33 3 7 23 28 60 -32 18 Shonan Bellmare 16 33 3 7 23 30 79 -49

Gamba Osaka 2-1 Shonan BellmareKawasaki Frontale 1-2 Cerezo OsakaOmiya Ardija 2-2 Vissel KobeYokohama F Marinos 1-4 Urawa RedsKashima Antlers 1-2 Jubilo IwataShimizu S-Pulse 2-1 Sanfrecce HiroshimaNagoya Grampus 0-1 FC TokyoAlbirex Niigata 1-1 Vegalta SendaiMontedio Yamagata 1-0 Kyoto Sanga

Gamba almost seal Champions League place, Antlers lose at home to Jubilo (big smile here), while Cerezo take out Frontale away to move within a point of Antlers in 4th.At the bottom, FC Tokyo record a BIG win at listless, hungover, waste of space Nagoya – why bother coming out today lads? – while Omiya and Kobe fight out a 2-2 draw. Looking tight down there (ooer!) and ominous for Kobe?

Kashiwa and Kofu are up … Avispa are five points clear of JEF with nine points available … looking good for Avispa. There is no relegation from J2 but Kitakyushu are in desperate need of some help for next season!

Nagoya are champions.Kyoto and Shonan are down ….Gamba and Antlers are four points clear of the pack for the ACL places …At the bottom Vissel look in need of a miracle but FC Tokyo also in trouble. And Montedio, Ardija and Vegalta are not yet safe … all the play for at the bottom with three to go.1 Nagoya Grampus 66 31 21 3 7 50 34 +162 Kashima Antlers 56 31 15 11 5 47 27 +203 Gamba Osaka 56 31 16 8 7 60 41 +194 Cerezo Osaka 52 31 14 10 7 46 29 +175 Kawasaki Frontale 52 31 15 7 9 58 43 +156 Shimizu S-Pulse 51 31 14 9 8 58 44 +147 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 48 31 13 9 9 42 34 +88 Yokohama F･Marinos 48 31 14 6 11 40 33 +79 Urawa Reds 44 31 13 5 13 43 35 +810 Albirex Niigata 44 31 11 11 9 42 41 +111 Jubilo Iwata 41 31 10 11 10 33 40 -712 Vegalta Sendai 37 31 10 7 14 38 43 -513 Omiya Ardija 37 31 10 7 14 33 41 -814 Montedio Yamagata 37 31 10 7 14 26 40 -1415 F.C.Tokyo 32 31 7 11 13 34 38 -416 Vissel Kobe 31 31 7 10 14 30 43 -1317 Kyoto Sanga F.C. 16 31 3 7 21 27 57 -3018 Shonan Bellmare 16 31 3 7 21 29 73 -44

Vissel Kobe 0-0 Kashima Antlers 11,462Urawa Reds 0-2 Gamba Osaka 40,071F.C.Tokyo 1-2 Kawasaki Frontale 28,480Shonan Bellmare 0-1 Nagoya Grampus 12,650Vegalta Sendai 1-3 Shimizu S-Pulse 17,050Jubilo Iwata 0-0 Montedio Yamagata 10,118Cerezo Osaka 2-0 Yokohama F･Marinos 13,473Sanfrecce Hiroshima 4-0 Albirex Niigata 11,961Kyoto Sanga F.C. 0-2 Omiya Ardija 6,904

While Nagoya were busy taking the Championship elsewhere, Gamba took out Urawa to stay four points clear of the chasing pack in 3rd place – three games to go, looking good for that target of an ACL place.

Gamba leveled the game late but went on to nail Reysol with a three goal win!

Gamba pull four points clear of 4th place as Cerezo draw, and Marinos and Frontale lose. Looking good for an ACL place!

Daniel’s take on Yokohama’s capitulation to a struggling FC Tokyo.