Former J. League champions Kashiwa Reysol avoided a potential banana skin and edged non-league Yokogawa Musashino 1-0 on Saturday to advance to the last eight of the Emperor's Cup.
Yokogawa had knocked out holders FC Tokyo en route to the fourth round and the absence of Kashiwa's influential Brazilian duo Leandro Domingues (suspended) and Jorge Wagner (injured) further fueled the JFL club's optimism ahead of a mist-enshrouded tie in north Chiba.
But Junya Tanaka deservedly fired Kashiwa in front on 24 minutes with what proved to be the decider, setting up a quarterfinal meeting with Omiya Ardija on the Emperor's birthday in Kumagaya on Dec. 23. Milivoje Novakovic scored twice as Omiya came from 3-0 down to beat Kawasaki Frontale 4-3.