Frontale stay afloat in Nabisco Cup

KAWASAKI – A brace from little-used Shohei Otsuka just kept Kawasaki alive in the Nabisco Cup as Frontale defeated Group B leaders Vegalta Sendai 2-1 on Wednesday.

Otsuka opened the scoring in the 43rd minute before doubling Kawasaki’s lead early in the second half. Substitute Ramon Lopes converted a penalty with five minutes remaining, but goalkeeper Shunsuke Ando denied the Brazilian a second in the 89th minute, handing Kawasaki all three points.

Frontale, who moved level on points with Vegalta on eight, are the first team in the group to finish the first round. The six others complete the group phase on June 5.

Also in Group B, Albirex Niigata and Yokohama F. Marinos fought to a 1-1 draw, as did Avispa and Sagan Tosu in Fukuoka.

Vissel Kobe overtook idle Omiya Ardija at the top of Group A with a 4-0 home win over Nagoya Grampus. Ventforet Kofu beat Shonan Bellmare 1-0 at home, while Antlers and Jubilo Iwata drew 1-1 in Kashima.

Shanghai eliminates FC Tokyo on late goal in Asian Champions League

SHANGHAI – FC Tokyo missed out on its first Asian Champions League quarterfinals at the death, losing 1-0 away in injury time to Shanghai SIPG in the second leg of the last 16 on Tuesday.

Wu Lei struck in the 91st minute as Tokyo was eliminated on away goals after winning the home leg 2-1 last week. Urawa Reds, who face FC Seoul in South Korea for a quarterfinal berth on Wednesday, are now the only J. League club remaining in the continental championship.

“We have to accept the fact that we couldn’t win tonight,” Tokyo captain Masato Morishige said. “The game just ended so I can’t recollect all the details, but I think we let them dictate the game a little too much.

“That shows where we are as a team at the moment.”

Before a crowd of more than 56,000, the visitors fought an uphill battle throughout against Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men, who outshot Tokyo 16-5 and allowed it only one shot on target in each half.

Ryoichi Maeda was denied in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Yan Junling early in the second half and from thereon, Tokyo was left to ward off waves of pressure from Shanghai.

Hiroshi Jofuku’s side thought it had escaped into the next round as the match headed into three minutes of stoppage time, but Wu pounced on the rebound of an Elkeson strike from outside the box as Shanghai Stadium erupted in joy.