Despite dominating possession and completing twice as many passes as their opponents, Cerezo Osaka needed a late equalizer from Spanish defender Osmar to salvage a 1-1 draw against Jubilo Iwata on Friday night.
Jubilo came into the match five spots below fifth-place Cerezo following an embarrassing 6-1 loss to Nagoya Grampus in the previous round.
Having been forced to play defense for most of the first half, they went ahead 10 minutes after the break when midfielder Taishi Taguchi set up Nagisa Sakurauchi with an opportunistic assist.