Unbeaten Kashima Antlers kept their hopes of a back-to-back domestic treble alive with a 3-1 win over JEF United Ichihara on Saturday to preserve their lead at the top of the second-stage standings in the J. League first division.
Former Japan defender Yutaka Akita headed the 15th goal of his career to open the scoring on the half hour and Brazilian Augusto extended the lead by nodding home in the 59th minute from a Bismarck free kick.
J-League 1st-division GPWDLGFGAPts. Kashima 5 5 0 0 13 6 14 Nagoya 5 4 0 1 13 8 12 Iwata 5 4 0 1 9 4 10 FC Tokyo 5 3 1 1 13 9 10 Ichihara 5 3 0 2 8 8 9 Kashiwa 5 2 1 2 12 7 7 Kobe 5 2 1 2 7 7 7 Yokohama 5 3 0 2 6 7 7 Hiroshima 5 2 0 3 13 11 6 Fukuoka 5 2 1 2 10 9 6 Tokyo V 5 2 0 3 8 10 6 Osaka G 5 2 0 3 6 8 6 Shimizu 5 2 0 3 9 9 5 Urawa 5 1 0 4 6 10 3 Sapporo 5 1 0 4 11 16 2 Osaka C 5 0 0 5 4 19 0