Urawa Reds booked its place in the quarterfinals of the J. League Nabisco Cup after a comfortable 3-1 victory over crosstown rivals Omiya Ardija in their first-round Group A clash Saturday.
Shimizu S-Pulse also reached the knockout phase after coming back from two goals down to salvage a 3-3 draw away to Kashima Antlers in Group D. Gamba Osaka also qualified from Group B despite a 2-1 loss to Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
At Saitama Stadium 2002, Keita Suzuki opened the scoring after 11 minutes before a spot kick from Emerson and a Tatsuya Tanaka strike gave Urawa a 3-0 halftime lead.
Tuto pulled one back for Omiya with a second-half goal but it was too little, too late to end Urawa's 100 percent record.