KASHIWA, Chiba (Kyodo) — Kawasaki Frontale’s hopes of winning three straight J-League first-division titles took a hit on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw away to Kashiwa Reysol.
Yu Kobayashi’s first-half opener was canceled out by Douglas in the second half at Sankyo Frontier Stadium Kashiwa, with the result leaving Kawasaki on 54 points, four behind leaders Yokohama F Marinos who play their game on Sunday.
Reysol No. 10 Matheus Savio shot just wide on the turn from the edge of the box midway through the first half, while Kento Tachibanada had a shot saved for Kawasaki from a similar range before Kobayashi struck.
Veteran midfielder Akihiro Ienaga, who leads Frontale in scoring with 10 goals, was the provider as the 36-year-old combined with Ten Miyagi to drift in from the left and showed a tricky control to lay the ball off for Kobayashi to guide home.
Douglas came close seven minutes after the interval following a good passing move involving Tomoya Koyamatsu, although the Brazilian’s left-footed curler from the edge of the area again sailed just wide for Kashiwa.
Hiromu Mitsumaru had a promising shot deflected wide before the defender’s clever looping pass into the box led to the 63rd-minute leveller, with Mao Hosoya holding the ball up to set up Douglas to steer low into the net.
Hosoya could have grabbed the winner in the 81st minute as another flowing move released the Kashiwa forward inside the area, but his shot was tame, while Kawasaki substitute Daiya Tono forced Masato Sasaki into a diving save late on.
“We were facing a quality opponent, but we had the onus to win at home,” said Douglas as Kashiwa stayed sixth on 45 points and without a win in six games.
Third-place Sanfrecce Hiroshima were held to a 0-0 draw at Nagoya Grampus to stay three points behind Kawasaki. Cerezo Osaka threw away a two-goal lead at bottom side Jubilo Iwata to draw 2-2 and remained fourth, further three points behind.
Shonan Bellmare and Urawa Reds played out a goalless draw, while Avispa Fukuoka moved out of the relegation zone with a 3-2 home win over Shimizu S-Pulse as Yuya Yamagishi bagged a brace.
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