Ayub Timbe assists former Arsenal defender in Vissel Kobe draw

Kenyan international Ayub Timbe set up former Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen with a last gasp equalizer to salvage a point for Vissel Kobe against Cerezo Osaka.

The former Reading FC winger started from the bench in the Japanese J1 League clash as he failed to start in three previous league games.

The match was a slugfest in the first half with little goalmouth action as both teams went into the break locked on a barren draw.

The second half has a mirror start to the first half as both teams failed to threaten each other with the two coaches dipping into the bench to effect some necessary changes.

Kobe head coach Atsuhiro Miura brought on former Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta for Shion Inoue and new signing Douglas for Daiju Sasaki.

The game finally sprung to life in the 75th minute when Tatsuhiro Sakamoto broke the deadlock for Cerezo to bag his third league goal this season.

Timbe was given the nod in the 79th minute replacing Tetsushi Yamakawa as Kobe went for the jugular in search of getting back to the game.

With Cerezo seemingly headed for all three points, Timbe had other ideas in the 96th minute as he set up Vermaelen to smash home the equalizer.

Timbe has now provided two assists for Kobe with the first coming on his first start for the club as they grabbed a point in the 1-1 draw against Kashima Antlers. 

Ismael Dunga

Kenyan forward Ismael Dunga was handed the final four minutes in Sagan Tosu’s 1-1 draw against relegation-threatened Oita Trinita in the Japanese J1 League.

Keita Yamashita opened the scoring for Tosu in the seventh minute while Shun Nagasawa equalized for Oita in the 82nd minute.

Kazuki Fujimoto missed a glorious chance to seal all three points for Oita in the 86th minute but he failed to convert his spot-kick.