3 Dec 2008(Wed)

In any competition but the J League this would be a ridiculous choice of phrase, but as we finally head into the last round of matches this Saturday, the number of remaining candidates for the J1 title is down to just three. Heading into injury time at Kashima Stadium last weekend, the Antlers had failed to break down a Jubilo Iwata side battling desperately to allay their relegation fears, and it looked for a while as if the top five teams would be separated by just three points going into the final day. However, Daiki Iwamasa’s headed goal right at the death allowed Kashima to somehow scramble the win, and provided that Nagoya Grampus do not manage to hammer Oita Trinita by an unlikely 13 goals, a draw with bottom club Consadole Sapporo will now be enough to secure the Antlers’ second successive league title.

 

Of course, this being the J League, nobody will be tying the ribbons to the trophy just yet, and the experience of Urawa Reds from a near-identical position last year serves to remind us why. Top of the table, Urawa would have been champions with a win on the final day but conspired to lose against already-relegated Yokohama FC, leaving the door open for Kashima to squeeze in and deny the Reds a second straight crown. With two draws and 13 defeats from their last 15 games, Sapporo have a record that is just as desperate as Yokohama FC’s was last year, but the side from Hokkaido has caused real problems both for Tokyo Verdy and for Nagoya in their last two outings and, in what will be their final J1 appearance for a while at least, they will be looking to go out with a similar bang.

 

However, while Urawa’s capitulation came partly as the result of a punishing schedule brought about by success in the ACL, Kashima’s season will finish on Saturday with not even the Emperor’s Cup to prepare for, and really, they should have more than enough fuel in the tank to see them across the time. Second-placed Nagoya (58 points, goal difference +13) and Kawasaki Frontale (57 pts, GD +21) in third will not have given up all hope of overhauling the Antlers (60 pts, GD +25), but their first priority will be to protect their ACL spots from Oita (55 pts, GD +9) and FC Tokyo (55 pts, GD +6) immediately below them. Even then, Nagoya have a sufficient goal difference advantage going into their trip to Oita to know that their place on the Asian stage is safe as long as they do not lose by more than two goals.

 

Iwamasa’s goal affected things greatly at the bottom end of the table as well, and with many squeaky bums still remaining here, the relegation battle is now arguably more interesting than those at the top. For 15th-placed Jubilo (37 pts, GD -7), the timing of the strike was yet more of the same bad luck after a similar fate befell them away to Gamba Osaka the previous month. I was at the ‘Clasico’ to see 16th-placed Tokyo Verdy (37 pts, GD -10) visit Yokohama F Marinos, and as is again often the way with clubs facing the drop, Tetsuji Hashiratani’s side played rather well for an hour until they lost the opening goal, after which they never recovered their rhythm and ultimately conceded another. Since JEF United Chiba (35 pts, GD -19) had been defeated in a game that kicked off an hour earlier, both Verdy and Jubilo knew that a single point would be enough to stave off automatic relegation, but their failure to do so has given 17th-placed Chiba a stay of execution at least until their meeting with FC Tokyo this Saturday.

 

Ironically, since Verdy play Frontale in what was once the Kawasaki derby (until the former moved home to Tokyo), both sides from the capital will be therefore looking for the other to help them towards their respective aims. Jubilo, meanwhile, will host 13th-placed Omiya Ardija (40 pts, GD -10), who along with Albirex Niigata (39 pts, GD -15) a place below them, are now safe from automatic relegation but are not quite out of the woods as far as 16th place and the promotion/relegation play-off is concerned.

 

Incidentally, though Christmas shopping will mean my first trip to see Gamba at the Big Swan Stadium in Niigata has had to be postponed, I do plan to make a very rare trip to the Nagai Stadium this Saturday lunchtime. With Vegalta Sendai, currently third in J2, losing to Sagan Tosu last Sunday, fourth-placed Cerezo Osaka have managed to close the gap to just one point and keep alive their hopes of a return to J1 via the playoff. My feelings on this issue are mixed as a Gamba supporter, and I shall certainly not be sitting in the home end, but a revived Osaka derby would indisputably be a real highlight in next year’s calendar.