A 79th minute header by Masato Morishige saved the day for J. League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup holders Tokyo in their quarter-final clash with Shimizu but they now face a difficult away leg to continue their defence of the title they won at the National Stadium in Tokyo last November. Kashima, Iwata and Gamba all won their first leg matches but each by only a single goal, so all eight remaining clubs still have everything to play for in next Wednesday's second leg games.

Play resumed on Wednesday evening in the J. League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup as the four teams involved in 2010 AFC Champions League action joined the four group qualifiers for the knock-out stage. The quarter-finals are being played over two legs, this week and next, with the AFC Champions League teams paired against each other and the group winners playing the group runners-up. The two-legged semi-finals will take place on September 29th and October 10th and the final at the National Stadium on November 3rd.

Tokyo's match with Shimizu at the Ajinomoto Stadium also gave players on both teams an early golden opportunity to impress new national team manager Alberto Zaccheroni, who was watching his first J. League game since taking up his appointment. Besides Shimizu's Shinji Okazaki and Tokyo's Yasuyuki Konno, who both played at the World Cup, Tokyo striker Masashi Oguro must surely have felt the gaze of his former club manager from his days at Torino.

Shimizu came without Shinji Ono and Daisuke Ichikawa, both suffering from leg injuries, but it was Shimizu who took the early initiative with quick passing and strong movement by the front three of Okazaki, Frode Johnsen and Jungo Fujimoto, with Akihiro Hyodo also lively in midfield and fullbacks Kosuke Ota and Shinji Tsujio pressing down the wings. As the first half progressed, however, Tokyo created the best scoring chances. Tatsuya Suzuki was popping up everywhere in attack and defence and Ricardinho's incisive running and deft ball skills were also causing Shimizu problems.

Tokyo defender Kim Young Gwon nearly broke the deadlock a quarter of an hour into the second half with a header at a Suzuki corner that bounced tantalisingly over the bar. Shimizu seemed for a while to be creating very little but the goal was a beauty when it came in the 68th minute. Keisuke Iwashita played wide to Shimizu skipper Hyodo on the wing and Hyodo delivered a pinpoint cross for Okazaki to nod in with a powerful header that gave Shuichi Gonda no chance. It appeared that Shimizu's patient game had reaped a rich reward but that goal was cancelled out only eleven minutes later by Morishige's header at another Suzuki corner. Tokyo pressed hard for the winner and Shimizu's Eddy Bosnar blasted a long free kick narrowly wide in additional time but the two teams will start again all square next Wednesday evening in Shimizu.

Tokyo and Shimizu have played each other a lot in the last couple of years and, counting this latest result, Tokyo are now unbeaten against Shimizu in eight consecutive games – three in the league, four in the J. League Yamazaki Nabisco and one in the Emperor's Cup. The record reads five wins and three draws. Shimizu may be third in J1 and have home advantage in next week's match but they won't be taking anything for granted. Tokyo defeated Shimizu three-two on aggregate in last year's semi-finals on their way to their second J. League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup triumph (their first was in 2004). Shimizu S-Pulse won the cup in 1996 and have been runners-up three times: in the inaugural tournament of 1992, 1993 and two years ago in 2008.

Kashima Antlers defeated Kawasaki Frontale 2-1 in the first leg of their rematch of last year's quarter-final. Marquinhos opened the scoring directly from a free kick in the 31st minute and also played the last pass for Shinzo Koroki to add the second ten minutes into the second half. Masaru Kurotsu kept Kawasaki's hopes alive with a 68th minute goal set up by Yusuke Mori's cross and Hiroyuki Taniguchi's header. It was, though, a particularly welcome win for Kashima who had a hard month of August in the league with a record of no wins, three draws and two losses.

Kashima manager Oswaldo Oliveira gave high praise to Marquinhos. "I think his performance was outstanding. His mere presence places pressure on the opponents and makes them more cautious. When he is in form, it gives us a psychological boost as well, so I think we can also be pleased for that."

"It's a pity that we had to lose 2-1," said Kawasaki manager Tsutomu Takahata, "but that away goal can be very significant if the scores are level after the second leg. I hope we won't have to rely on the away goal but we'll treat it with due importance and mean to fight hard in Todoroki."


Kashima certainly know that they still have a battle on their hands in Kawasaki next week. Kashima also won last year's first leg by the single goal, one-nil that time, only to fall three-nil in extra time in Kawasaki after Juninho levelled almost on the stroke of full time. Kashima have won the J. League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup three times, in 1997, 2000 and 2002, and also finished runners-up three times, in 1999, 2003 and 2006. Kawasaki have never won the cup but have been runners-up three times, in 2000 (when they lost to Kashima in the final), 2007 and last year.

Jubilo Iwata also took a two goal lead in their home leg against quarter-final debutantes Vegalta Sendai before being pulled back to a final score of 2-1. Gilsinho received from Park Joo Ho to shoot Iwata in front in the 32nd minute and was also involved in the second, passing for Kosuke Yamamoto to dribble and provide the final ball for Norihiro Nishi to shoot home only two minutes later. Sendai fought back with a goal in the 76th minute that started from a Ryang Yong Gi free kick, Junya Hosokawa playing on for Yoshiaki Ota to find the net.

Sendai were the only unbeaten team in this year's qualifying groups and this is their very first time to reach the knock-out stage of the Yamazaki-Nabisco Cup. Iwata also qualified in style, impressively romping to a five-nil win over Montedio Yamagata in their final qualifying game to finish above Shizuoka rivals Shimizu at the top of Group B. Iwata won the cup in 1998 and were runners-up in 1994, 1997 and 2001.

Gamba Osaka are enjoying their visits to Sanfrecce Hiroshima this year. Having won two-nil in the league in August, this time Gamba will take a 1-0 advantage into next week's home leg. Takashi Usami and Takahiro Futagawa set up Lucas's 66th minute match winner from the edge of the box. Gamba won the J. League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup three years ago in 2007 and were also runners-up in 2005. Hiroshima, like Kawasaki and Sendai, are still chasing their first triumph.

"We came looking for the away goal advantage," said Gamba manager Akira Nishino. "It was important to win, of course, but first we came looking for the away goal. It's no good to think in terms of drawing away and then winning at home. I wanted to play this game aggressively, in Gamba's own style, because this first match was going to be important."