The first match of the 2017 MEIJI YASUDA J1 League Round 12 took place on Friday night with Kashima Antlers hosting Kawasaki Frontale as both teams prepared for their upcoming AFC Champions League Round of 16 ties.

The visitors took the lead after 19 minutes when Hiroyuki Abe scored in his third straight match, doubling the lead before half-time thanks to Tatsuya Hasegawa’s effort.

Frontale continued to dominate in the second half, with Kyohei Noborizato’s shot finding the back of the net to make it 3-0 just after the hour mark.

The result pushed Frontale to provisional third place in the standings, with the rest of the round scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 20.