Iniesta, Villa lead Vissel Kobe over Nagoya in J-League

Posted June 30, 2019 7:00 am

The Associated Press

KOBE, Japan (AP) - David Villa and Andres Iniesta scored two goals each as struggling J-League side Vissel Kobe beat Nagoya Grampus 5-3 on Sunday.

Villa opened the scoring with his eighth goal of the season in the 27th minute and Iniesta made it 2-1 in the second half after Ryuji Izumi equalized for the visitors.

Kazuya Miyahara leveled the score for Nagoya but Iniesta restored the lead on a penalty kick in the 69th.

Nagoya equalized once more before Villa gave the hosts the lead for good on a penalty kick with 15 minutes left in regulation. Keijiro Ogawa added a late insurance goal to seal the win.

Despite boasting one of the league's most expensive rosters, Vissel has just six wins this season, along with three draws and eight losses and is currently 11th in the standings.

In other matches, Kawasaki Frontale beat Jubilo Iwata 3-1 to improve to 31 points, five behind leaders FC Tokyo which beat third place Yokohama F Marinos 4-2 on Saturday. Oita Trinita is one point behind Yokohaama after beating Shonan Bellmare 2-0.

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