MACHIDA, Tokyo (Kyodo) — Leaders Machida Zelvia were held to a scoreless draw at home by strugglers Consadole Sapporo in the J-League first division Saturday.
Machida moved to 59 points, three clear of second-place Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who play Yokohama F Marinos on Sunday.
Zelvia clearly had more chances to break the deadlock against Sapporo, 19th in the 20-team table, taking three shots at goal in the first 15 minutes.
Shortly before the full-time whistle, Daiki Sugioka’s header off a corner kick from Japan midfielder Yuki Soma hit the right post in front of 10,596 fans at Machida Gion Stadium.
“We created a lot of chances, so I wanted to see one goal,” said Machida manager Go Kuroda, who guided Zelvia to top-flight promotion in his first season in charge in 2023 after a 28-year career coaching high school football.
Asked to comment on Machida’s next match on Sept. 28 at their closest title rivals, Hiroshima, the 54-year-old said, “We might feel a lot of pressure. We’ll tell ourselves the winning team will go on to claim the title and prepare very well for the encounter.”
Elsewhere, FC Tokyo won 2-0 at Urawa Reds. The day’s other two matches — Kashima Antlers against Kashiwa Reysol, and Avispa Fukuoka at Jubilo Iwata — also ended in goalless draws.
Football: J1 leaders Machida held to home draw by Sapporo
