Japan striker Seiichiro Maki dented Urawa Reds' hopes of reaching their fourth consecutive Nabisco Cup final with a first-half double to put JEF United Chiba on the way to a 3-1 away win in Wednesday's semifinal first leg.
Gabriel Popescu added a third with a clinical finish to give Chiba a healthy advantage to take home for the second leg Oct. 5 while Gamba Osaka edged defending J. League champions Yokohama F. Marinos 1-0 in the other semifinal.
At Komaba stadium, Maki silenced home fans when he headed home a free kick from Yuki Abe to give Chiba the lead after just two minutes and doubled the visitors' advantage in the 18th with a superb header from Masataka Sakamoto's left-wing cross.
Robson Ponte reduced the deficit when he pulled one back for Urawa with a header in first-half stoppage time and Alessandro Santos went desperately close to equalizing with a free kick that rattled Tomonori Tateishi's cross bar early in the second period.