Nagoya Grampus Eight 2 Albirex Niigata 0
Top of the table Nagoya did not disappoint although it took some time to get started. Keita Sugimoto, who came in for Magnum just before the break and seemed to inject a bit of life into the Nagoya attack. Three minutes after the break Yoshizumi Ogawa gave them the lead and while Albi fought hard trying to level the match, they couldn't break through Grampus defense. Keita Sugimoto added a final goal a minute before regulation.
Nagoya Grampus Eight
Seigo NARAZAKI ,Akira TAKEUCHI,BAJALICA,Takahiro MASUKAWA,Shohei ABE,Yoshizumi OGAWA,Naoshi NAKAMURA,Keiji YOSHIMURA(Atsushi YONEYAMA 73'),MAGNUM(Keita SUGIMOTO 44'),Keiji TAMADA(Kei YAMAGUCHI 79'),JOHNSEN
Albirex Niigata
Takashi KITANO ,Jun UCHIDA,Mitsuru CHIYOTANDA,Mitsuru NAGATA,Naoto MATSUO,Kazuhiko CHIBA,Fumiya KOGURE(Yoshito TERAKAWA 43'Kazuhisa KAWAHARA 79'),MARCIO RICHARDES,Toshihiro MATSUSHITA,ALESSANDRO,Kisho YANO
Urawa Red Diamonds 1 Omiya Ardija 0
The Japanese international Naohiro Takahara goal at the 27th minute was enough for Urawa to claim the full three points in a closely guarded match. The victory keeps their title hopes alive as they stayed abreast Nagoya Grampus Eight
Urawa Red Diamonds
Ryota TSUZUKI,Keisuke TSUBOI,Marcus Tulio TANAKA,Yuki ABE,Tadaaki HIRAKAWA,Hajime HOSOGAI, Nobuhisa YAMADA (Satoshi HORINOUCHI 89',Takahito SOMA,PONTE,EDMILSON(Yuichiro NAGAI 79'),Naohiro TAKAHARA (Sergio ESCUDERO 88')
Omiya Ardija
Koji EZUMI,Yusuke MURAYAMA,Yosuke KATAOKA,Daisuke TOMITA,Yasuhiro HATO,Chikara FUJIMOTO(Naoto SAKURAI 76'),Naoya SAEKI ,Masato SAITO,Daigo KOBAYASHI(Tomoya UCHIDA 69'),DENIS MARQUES (Hiroshi MORITA 85'),LAVRIC
Oita Trinita 2 Tokyo Verdy 1969 0
This match started slowly but Ōita slowly broke down Verdy's defense and just before break Ueslei gave them the lead. Verdy was sitting back after the break and Taikai Uemoto doubled the lead at fifty-eight minutes. To Verdy's credit, they threw everyone forward in a effort to get back in the match but they still couldn't break through.
Tokyo Verdy 1969
Yoichi DOI,Takumi WADA(Kensuke FUKUDA 63'),Masaki IIDA,Yukio TSUCHIYA,Toshihiro HATTORI,Takashi FUKUNISHI,Daisuke NASU,Kosei SHIBASAKI,DIEGO,Kazuki HIRAMOTO(Kazunori IIO 82'),Masashi OGURO (Hiroki KAWANO 63')
Oita Trinita
Seigo SHIMOKAWA,Yuki FUKAYA,Masato MORISHIGE,Taikai UEMOTO,ROBERTO(Yoshiaki FUJITA 54'),EDMILSON, Mu KANAZAKI,Shingo SUZUKI,Daisuke TAKAHASHI,Yasuhito MORISHIMA (Hiroshi KIYOTAKE 80'),UESLEI (Shunsuke MAEDA 86')
Kashiwa Reysol 1 Kashima Antlers 1
Antler fans are likely to be very troubled by this match if it wasn't for a final minute goal by Marquinhos they would have been lost the match. Reysol was holding on tightly to the lead but with the Antlers throwing everyone forward they finally broke through and leveled the match. However the Antlers once strong offense continues to be absent and seem to lack attacking flourish. Veteran Brazilian Popo gave Reysol the lead in this very physical Kashiwa-derby at the twenty-second minute.
Kashiwa Reysol
Takanori SUGENO,Yohei KURAKAWA,Masahiro KOGA,Yuzo KOBAYASHI,Naoki ISHIKAWA,Keisuke OTA (Jiro KAMATA 89'),Iwao YAMANE,Ryoichi KURISAWA(Minoru SUGANUMA 74'),ALEX(Kota SUGIYAMA 74'),POPO,FRANCA
Kashiwa Antlers
Hitoshi SOGAHATA,Atsuto UCHIDA,Daiki IWAMASA,Masahiko INOHA,Koji NAKATA,Takeshi AOKI,Mitsuo OGASAWARA (Masaki CHUGO 18'),Takuya NOZAWA,MARCINHO (Shinzo KOROKI 76'),Yuzo TASHIRO (Ryuta SASAKI 84'),MARQUINHOS
FC Tokyo 1 Kawasaki Frontale 0
This was the surprise of the day for me as Kawasaki Frontale were on the constant attack but somehow could not break through Gas Men's #1 Hitoshi Shiota and held the lead after a early goal by Shingo Akamine only five minutes into the match. This is a very tough loss for Frontale as the top three clubs pull away.
In other J-League action:
Gamba Osaka 2 Kyoto Purple Sanga 1
Shimizu S-Pulse 1 Vissel Kobe 0
JEF United Ichihara-Chiba 3 Consadole Sapporo 2
Yokohama F. Marinos 1 Jubilo Iwata 0
| J-League: week 25 | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | Pts |
| Nagoya Grampus | 25 | 15 | 3 | 7 | 38 | 26 | 48 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 25 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 40 | 25 | 45 |
| Oita Trinita | 25 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 27 | 16 | 45 |
| Kashima Antlers | 25 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 45 | 26 | 43 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 25 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 42 | 34 | 41 |
| FC Tokyo | 25 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 32 | 30 | 39 |
| Gamba Osaka | 25 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 34 | 33 | 37 |
| Kyoto Purple Sanga | 25 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 26 | 29 | 35 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 25 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 31 | 33 | 34 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 25 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 31 | 29 | 33 |
| Omiya Ardija | 25 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 28 | 31 | 32 |
| Albirex Niigata | 25 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 24 | 37 | 32 |
| Vissel Kobe | 25 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 26 | 27 | 31 |
| Tokyo Verdy 1969 | 25 | 9 | 4 | 12 | 34 | 38 | 31 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 25 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 26 | 26 | 30 |
| Jubilo Iwata | 25 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 28 | 36 | 26 |
| JEF United Ichihara-Chiba | 25 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 23 | 40 | 24 |
| Consadole Sapporo | 25 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 29 | 48 | 17 |
