Kawasaki fail to keep J-League lead

Kawasaki Frontale failed to keep their J-League top spot when they crashed 1-0 to second division-bound Oita Trinita on Sunday.

The only goal came in the 61st minute when midfielder Mu Kanazaki broke through the left field into the area and sent a cross for Brazilian striker Fernandinho, who flicked in the decider.

“It was the best game for me since I joined Oita. I just touched the ball with my left foot, because Mu gave me really a nice pass,” said a jubilant Fernandinho.

Oita’s Austrian coach Ranko Popovic agreed with Fernandinho, saying it was “a wonderful game, because we won against a wonderful team.”

“My players are the heroes of the game today. Although we are in a difficult position, they continued to work hard and played an excellent game today. They showed our fighting spirit,” he said.

The result left Kawasaki on 58 points in the standings with only two more games each left this season, two points behind defending champions Kashima Antlers, who defeated Kyoto Purple Sanga 1-0 on Saturday.

Gamba Osaka trailed them on 57 points after beating Shimizu S-Pulse 2-0 on Saturday to keep their hopes of winning the title alive.

“I’m very disappointed that we couldn’t give a win to our so many supporters who came to Oita today,” said Kawasaki coach Takashi Sekizuka.

“We changed our system to a 4-2-3-1 formation and started to keep the ball, but Oita checked our players severely and we were often isolated. Oita were quicker than us today,” he added.

In the other game on Sunday, JEF United Chiba, also relegated to the second division next year, saved some face by beating FC Tokyo 2-1 thanks to Brazilian Neto Baiano’s decider in the 46th minute.