J League results - 20 November

Oita Trinita 1 - 1 Kashima Antlers
Kashiwa Reysol 1 - 2 Shimizu S-Pulse
FC Tokyo 2 - 1 JEF Utd Chiba
Yokohama FM 3 - 1 SF Hiroshima
Jubilo Iwata 2 - 3 Albirex Niigata

Nagoya Gr Eight 2 - 1 Gamba Osaka
Cerezo Osaka 2 - 0 Kawasaki Fr
Vissel Kobe 0 - 1 Omiya Ardija
Urawa Reds 4 - 1 Tokyo Verdy

Gamba Osaka is continuing to have problems down the stretch as they lost to bottom half of the table Nagoya Gr Eight. They have now dropped 4 of their last 8. Cerezo Osaka was able to make use of the defeat and move ahead of Kashima Antlers who tied with Oita Trinita. There are now three weeks left in the season and it looks like at least four teams are still challenging for the top spot.

On another note, Kawasaki Frontale will keep their coach Takashi Sekizuka for at least one more year. This is bad news for Kashima Antlers who were hoping to bring him over to their side. Sekizuka lead his team to promotion last season and they currently sit in sixth place.


Table
Pos - Team - GP - Pts
1 Gamba Osaka 31 - 57
2 Cerezo Osaka 31 - 56
3 Kashima Antl 31 - 55
4 Urawa Reds 31 - 53
5 JEF Utd Chib 31 - 50
6 Kawasaki Fr 31 - 49
7 Jubilo Iwata 31 - 45
8 SF Hiroshima 31 - 43
9 Yokohama FM 31 - 43
10 FC Tokyo 31 - 42
11 Oita Trinita 31 - 39
12 Albirex Niig 31 - 39
13 Nagoya Gr Ei 31 - 38
14 Omiya Ardija 31 - 37
15 Shimizu S-Pu 31 - 35
16 Kashiwa Reys 31 - 31
17 Tokyo Verdy 31 - 26
18 Vissel Kobe 31 - 21