KOBE - Yuya Osako grabbed a hat-trick as Group West winners Vissel Kobe hammered Group East champions Kashima Antlers 5-0 at home on Saturday in the playoffs' first leg of the J-League first-division tournament.
The one-off competition, named the "100 Year Vision League," is held in the first half of this calendar year, before the Japanese domestic season starts, in parallel with top club competitions in Europe and Asia.
The 20 J1 teams were divided into two groups of 10 by region, with each team playing a total of 18 home-and-away round-robin matches to determine the standings in its group.
The ongoing playoffs pit two clubs with the same standings against each other to determine the final overall rankings from first to 20th, with no relegation.
Kobe, the 2023 and 2024 J1 winners, hosted 2025 champions Kashima after the two powerhouses topped their respective regions, and it was the former Antlers striker Osako who came back to haunt his old side at Noevir Stadium.
The 36-year-old curled in a 28th-minute free-kick over the wall, and doubled Kobe's lead five minutes after the break when a quick throw-in on a counter from his former Japan teammate Yoshinori Muto left Osako one-on-one with Kashima keeper Yuji Kajikawa.
Brazilian left-back Diego drilled home off the far post from the edge of the box in the 69th minute, and Ren Komatsu netted an 89th-minute penalty before Osako buried a difficult header off the post in the second-half stoppage time to put the icing on the cake.
"We mustn't slack off whatsoever," Kobe manager Michael Skibbe said. "It's also possible for us to concede five in 90 minutes. We have to be aware of the atmosphere away at Kashima, we'll be under pressure like they were here today, so we'll look to prepare well."
Among other matches, Cerezo Osaka and FC Tokyo, who finished second in their respective groups, played out a 2-2 draw, while third-place finishers Nagoya Grampus and Machida Zelvia also drew their 1st leg 2-2.
