J. League front-runners Kashiwa Reysol fought back from a goal down to keep their title destiny in their own hands going into the final week of the season with a 1-1 draw with Cerezo Osaka on Saturday.
Reysol went into the match at Hitachi Stadium with a three-point lead over second-place Nagoya Grampus, knowing that four points from their final two games would be enough to claim their first-ever championship just a year after winning the second division.
But the Chiba side also knew that Nagoya's superior goal difference would make any slip-ups potentially lethal, and with Grampus ahead 3-0 at halftime in their game against Montedio Yamagata, Cerezo's Taikai Uemoto took the title initiative away from Reysol with a goal in the 48th minute.