Football: Kawasaki beat Kashima 3-1 at home in first leg of J League Cup semi-finals

Kawasaki Frontale defeated the Kashima Antlers 3-1 in their opening leg J.League Cup semifinal in Kawasaki on Wednesday. Visiting Kashima opened the scoring in the 10th minute through Ryohei Shirasaki to take a 1-0 lead. But Kawasaki equalised on a goal by Hidemasa Morita in the 27th minute, then added two more in a span of four minutes after halftime on goals by Yasuto Wakizaka in the 82nd minute and substitute Hiroyuki Abe in the 86th to clinch a 3-1 win. The second leg will be played at Kashima on Sunday with the final scheduled for October 26th. Gamba Osaka defeated Consadole Sapporo 2-1 in the other opening leg semifinal on Wednesday.