Vissel Kobe secures 1st place in Group WEST! And more | MW18

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:01]Welcome to the weekly highlight show for the Meiji Yasuda J1 100 Year Vision League. The regional round split between east and west has now reached its final weekend.

[00:00:12]And we still didn't know which team would emerge on top in the west. Would it be Vissel Kobe or Nagoya Grampus?

[00:00:19]Elsewhere, Gamba Osaka returned triumphantly as winners of the AFC Champions League, too.

[00:00:30]Here are all the fixtures for match week 18.

[00:00:34]These games will determine the final standings in both east and west.

[00:00:42]We start with the battle for first place in the west, which came down to the final match day. Nagoya Grampus was sitting in second place, but just one point behind the league leaders Vissel Kobe, as they faced off against Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

[00:00:57]Grampus needed a win to leapfrog into top spot, but it was Sanfrecce who struck first in the 33rd minute.

[00:01:05]Shota Nakmura scoring in consecutive matches to make it 1-0 to the home side, who were coming into the game off the back of two straight wins.

[00:01:17]Grampus fought back in first half added time. A cross from the left finding Yuya Yamagishi.

[00:01:23]His 10th goal of the season made the score 1-1. A crucial equalizer in a game Grampus could not afford to lose.

[00:01:32]But Sanfrecce struck back immediately.

[00:01:35]Akito Suzuki held the ball up before Shuto Nakano's flick found Hayao Kawabe.

[00:01:41]Sanfrecce restoring their lead before half time.

[00:01:45]The momentum stayed with Sanfrecce into the second half.

[00:01:50]Nakano scoring from outside the box as the home side extend their lead just a minute after the restart.

[00:01:57]>> [cheering] >> Sanfrecce kept their foot on the pedal.

[00:02:02]In the 56th minute, this cross from the left found Akito Suzuki.

[00:02:09]A superb trap and turn to shoot. Suzuki scoring in back-to-back matches, and Sanfrecce were now 4-1 in front.

[00:02:16]>> [cheering] >> The visitors did get one back in the 67th minute. Tsukasa Morishima smashing the ball home from 18 yards to bring the deficit back to two.

[00:02:28]But, that was as close as they would get.

[00:02:31]Nagoya Grampus were unable to add to their points tally.

[00:02:40]League leaders Vissel Kobe kicked off at the same time as Nagoya Grampus.

[00:02:45]They faced Avispa Fukuoka away from home.

[00:02:49]>> [screaming] >> A win would have sealed first place in the west for Vissel, regardless of the Grampus result. But, it was Avispa who set the early tempo.

[00:02:59]Kazuki Fujimoto going close after 23 minutes.

[00:03:05]From the resulting corner kick, Kaoru Yamawaki fired this superb shot from outside the box.

[00:03:14]An incredible strike to give Avispa the lead, or so we thought. A VAR review revealed that the ball had deflected in off the arm of a teammate, and so the goal was disallowed.

[00:03:28]Having been saved by the officials, it was Vissel who really did take the lead deep into first half added time.

[00:03:35]The cross by Yoshinori Muto converted from close range by Matheus Thuler.

[00:03:41]Goals in consecutive matches for Thuler, and Vissel took a 1-0 lead into the second half.

[00:03:48]Avispa pushed hard after the restart. In the 64th minute, Fujimoto had this shot parried out and the second chance fell for Shosei Miyamoto.

[00:04:00]Avispa kept coming. On 72 minutes, the West Player of the Month for April, Tomoya Miki, had a go, but he too was denied by the goalkeeper.

[00:04:12]In the end, Vissel shut out Avispa's attack completely.

[00:04:17]They picked up all three points and made sure of first place in the West on their own terms.

[00:04:28]Kashima Antlers had made certain of the top spot in the East a week earlier, taking the pressure off their meeting with second placed FC Tokyo.

[00:04:39]Antlers came into this game off a four-match winning run.

[00:04:42]Leo Ceara was the league's top scorer with 10 goals so far, and he had the best chance of the first half with this header in the 42nd minute.

[00:04:51]Kein Sato of FC Tokyo was the East Player of the Month for April.

[00:04:56]He had this opportunistic attempt 2 minutes into the second half.

[00:05:02]The match stayed goalless until the 80th minute, when Keiji Inan won the ball in midfield and Antlers broke forward.

[00:05:09]Shu Miyamoto burst through the gap between the defenders to finish.

[00:05:15]A lovely strike as Miyamoto scores in back-to-back matches and breaks the deadlock for Antlers.

[00:05:23]FC Tokyo came roaring back after going behind, raining in a succession of shots on the Antlers goal.

[00:05:31]But the veteran 34-year-old goalkeeper, Yuji Kajikawa, kept everything out to preserve his clean sheet.

[00:05:40]Antlers won the game 1-0 to close out the regional round with five straight victories.

[00:05:49]There was an MUFG Kokuritsu Day at the National Stadium in Tokyo on Friday night as FC Machida Zelvia took on Urawa Reds.

[00:05:59]>> [cheering] >> Zelvia had emerged victorious the last time the two sides met and took the lead after 10 minutes here when a cross from the left ran out to Erik.

[00:06:09]>> [cheering] >> A lovely strike to find the net and an ideal start as Zelvia looked to complete the double over their opponents.

[00:06:20]Reds had their best chance of the first half after 39 minutes when this cross found Yoichi Naganuma.

[00:06:28]Kosei Tani was named as the best goalkeeper in the AFC Champions League Elite and pulled off another fine save here.

[00:06:37]Into the second half and Zelvia pushed for a second goal in the 52nd minute.

[00:06:42]The chance falling to Teteh Bangoura who had scored the previous weekend.

[00:06:47]Bangoura had another chance from this cross in the 68th minute.

[00:06:52]In the end, Machida Zelvia couldn't quite add to the scoreline but they did see the game out at 1-0 for victory with a clean sheet to boot making it a season double for them over Urawa Reds.

[00:07:05]Next up, a quick look at four other matches.

[00:07:18]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> This weekend featured another game at the MFG National Stadium. Shimizu S-Pulse took on Gamba Osaka, the winners of the AFC Champions League 2.

[00:10:33]The best chance of the first half fell to S-Pulse in time added on.

[00:10:37]A cross from the left found Olajuwon, but his effort just missed the target.

[00:10:43]S-Pulse continued to press in the second half, and in the 58th minute, Yutaka Yoshida's cross found Masaki Yumiba. The substitute met the ball cleanly, and S-Pulse took the lead.

[00:10:55]Gamba looked to hit back quickly, and did so just 3 minutes later.

[00:11:00]It was another substitute, Harumi Minamino, who found the net. Minamino perfectly placed it on the end of Leo Hatsuse's cross, and Gamba were level immediately. The away side pushed on, and a quarter of an hour from the end, Minamino was there again at a cross from Gaku Nawata.

[00:11:17]The ball deflected into the goal via a defender, and that turned out to be the winner. The ACL 2 champions, Gamba Osaka, defeating Shimizu S-Pulse 2-1 in their triumphant homecoming match.

[00:11:32]We wrap up today's highlights with the Chiba Derby, a high-scoring affair between Kashiwa Reysol and JEF United Chiba.

[00:11:41]Reysol opened the scoring in the 35th minute when a cross from Yoshio Koizumi found Yuki Kakita.

[00:11:50]A cool finish for his second goal of the season.

[00:11:53]Reysol struck again just 4 minutes later.

[00:11:57]This time it was Kakita returning the favor to tee up Koizumi.

[00:12:01]The two of them making it look easy as Reysol doubled their advantage.

[00:12:06]JEF did get themselves back into the game from a corner kick in added time at the end of the first half. The ball eventually coming to Ryota Kuboniwa to bundle it in and pull one back before the break.

[00:12:19]But Reysol pulled away again on 75 minutes.

[00:12:22]Mao Hosoya receiving the ball in the center and rifling in a powerful shot to make the score 3-1.

[00:12:30]JEF kept on fighting and got back in it again with 5 minutes remaining.

[00:12:35]The loose ball worked back for Issei Takahashi to fire in from outside the box. The deficit brought back to one.

[00:12:44]But Reysol finally put the result beyond doubt in the 89th minute.

[00:12:48]The captain Taiyo Koga heading home the rebound after a set piece.

[00:12:53]Kashiwa Reysol emerging victorious in a goal fest of a Chiba Derby, winning out by four goals to two.

[00:13:02]Here are all the results from match week 18.

[00:13:06]With their manager Cho Kwi-jae set to leave at the end of the season, Kyoto Sanga pulled off a victory over V-Varen Nagasaki.

[00:13:14]Kawasaki Frontale won 3-1 away to Mito HollyHock thanks to a hat-trick from the rookie Kyosuke Mochiyama.

[00:13:22]Next up, the final standings in the regional round. Starting with the East where Kashima Antlers finished up on top.

[00:13:29]The reigning J1 champions opening up an eight-point gap over second place.

[00:13:36]In the West, it was Vissel Kobe who confirmed first place on the final weekend. They will now play off against Antlers for the overall championship.

[00:13:46]The playoff round kicks off next week, and we'll be back then for another highlight show. From me, Ben Mabley, and the rest of the team, thank you for watching, and bye for now.

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