FUKUROI, Shizuoka Pref. –

Takashi Fukunishi celebrated his 25th birthday in style by grabbing two early goals to send Jubilo Iwata on its way to a 3-1 win over Shimizu S-Pulse in Saturday's only J. League first division match.

J-League 1st-division GPWDLGFGAPts. Kashima 3 3 0 0 7 3 9 Yokohama 3 3 0 0 5 2 7 Hiroshima 3 2 0 1 9 4 6 Iwata 3 2 0 1 5 2 6 Nagoya 3 2 0 1 7 6 6 Ichihara 3 2 0 1 5 4 6 Kobe 3 2 0 1 5 4 6 FC Tokyo 3 1 1 1 8 6 4 Kashiwa 3 1 1 1 7 5 4 Fukuoka 3 1 0 2 6 6 3 Tokyo V 3 1 0 2 5 7 3 Osaka G 3 1 0 2 4 6 3 Urawa 3 1 0 2 4 6 3 Shimizu 3 1 0 2 4 6 2 Sapporo 3 0 0 3 5 10 0 Osaka C 3 0 0 3 3 12 0

Brazilian striker Baron briefly raised hopes of a Shimizu comeback in the local derby with a goal four minutes from time but second-half substitute Ryoichi Maeda quickly replied with a fine individual effort to settle the game at Ecopa Stadium Shizuoka.

First-stage winner Iwata opened the scoring in just the third minute with Fukunishi taking advantage of some woeful Shimizu marking, drifting in to the edge of the box unmarked to nod in a Hiroshi Nanami free-kick.

After 12 minutes, Shimizu keeper Keisuke Hada could only palm a Daisuke Oku free-kick onto the crossbar and Fukunishi was the first to react as he pounced on the rebound to double the lead.

Alex missed a penalty for Shimizu on the stroke of halftime but Iwata thoroughly deserved the three points after controlling the game from midfield, with Japan international Nanami putting in an impressive showing.