SAITAMA (Kyodo) Urawa Reds and Vegalta Sendai both needed second-half own goals to avoid defeat as the teams produced a less-than-stellar 1-1 draw Tuesday night in the J. League first division.
Reds and Vegalta had both lost five of six since J1 action resumed following the World Cup, and were looking to end their summer drought in front of a crowd of 32,231 at Saitama Stadium 2002.
Reds clearly saw more time on the ball in the first half at a sparsely filled ground, but the dominance didn't translate into goals for the former Asian champions.
In other J1 games, second-place Shimizu S-Pulse were embarrassed 4-1 at the hands of Albirex in Niigata, where Cho Young Cheol struck once in each half for Hisashi Kurosaki's side.
Third-place Kashima Antlers and surging Gamba Osaka shared the points in a battle of the heavyweights at Expo Stadium, playing to a 1-1 draw.