Japan defender Yuji Nakazawa had a bad day at the office as Yokohama F. Marinos squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to Tokyo Verdy on the opening day of the J. League second stage on Saturday.
Daisuke Saito of Kyoto Purple Sanga avoids the tackle of a
Kashiwa Reysol player during Saturday's J. League second-stage match at Kashiwa Stadium. Reysol won
2-1.
First-stage winner Yokohama looked to be cruising as strikes in the 28th and 39th minutes from Brazilian forward Marquinhos gave Takeshi Okada's men a two-goal halftime cushion in monsoon-like conditions at International Stadium Yokohama.
But within four minutes of the restart Verdy had pulled one back through Naoto Sakurai and the former Urawa Reds forward completed the simplest of tasks to earn his side a share of the spoils on the hour after some sloppy defending from Nakazawa.