SAITAMA — Omiya Ardija put a crimp on Shimizu S-Pulse's title ambitions and boosted their own hopes of first-division survival with a 3-0 win on Saturday.
S-Pulse headed into the match at Nack5 Stadium five points behind league-leader Nagoya Grampus in third place, and with Omiya beginning the day in the relegation positions and Nagoya not in action, the stage seemed set for Kenta Hasegawa's side to cut the gap.
Instead Omiya blew a sluggish S-Pulse out the water. Rafael started the rout with a well-taken opener on the stroke of halftime, before Mato Neretljak headed in a second and South Korean World Cup striker Lee Chun Soo put the result beyond doubt in the 73rd minute.