J-League: Cerezo Osaka 3 Kawasaki Frontale 3

A late equaliser from Brazilian midfielder Martinez helped Cerezo Osaka salvage a point at home in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Kawasaki Frontale.

Things had looked dire early for the home side, with strikes from Koji Yamase and Takuro Yajima helping Frontale to a 2-0 lead inside the opening half hour of their J-League clash.

Cerezo responded well, however, and were back on level terms nine minutes after the break when Hiroshi Kiyotake and Rodrigo Pimpao scored within two minutes of each other.

Yu Kobayashi put the visitors ahead after 72 minutes, but there was one more twist left in the tale and Martinez levelled proceedings with nine minutes left to delight the crowd at Kincho Stadium.

The draw lifted Cerezo to 12th place in the J-League standings, although they are still winless so far in 2011 with five draws and a loss from their opening six matches while Frontale climbed to sixth with the result.