Lee nets on return to Jubilo team

South Korea international Lee Keun-ho scored on his return to Jubilo Iwata but his J. League side were held to a 1-1 draw by Yokohama F. Marinos.

Taking to the pitch for Jubilo for the first time since May 24, Lee displayed some of his strengths in and around the area to give the hosts an early lead in the seventh minute.

The 24-year-old Korean striker latched on to a fine cross from Shuto Yamamoto and blasted home from the edge of the box with a neat first-time finish.

That was Lee's seventh strike in his ninth appearance and the first since May 2, before he left the west-Shizuoka Prefecture club in his attempt to negotiate a move to Paris St Germain.

After the break, Marinos rallied with the help of fresh-legged half-time substitutes Daisuke Sakata and Takanobu Komiyama and equalised five minutes into the second half.

Yokohama midfielder Koji Yamase cut into the box from the left to send a cross to Kim Kun-hoan and the South Korean forward connected with a low header to level the scores.

''I got a very good pass from Shuto, which was too good to miss,'' Lee said of his goal. ''But I couldn't run as much as I usually do, and that made my team-mates work harder.

''Since I got back to Jubilo, I forget what happened in the past and want to put full focus on my work here. I will train hard again to build up my fitness.''

Jubilo manager Masaaki Yanagishita said: ''Lee is not fully fit yet but he still scored a goal. He has some great skills that the others cannot really copy.

''But we made too many easy mistakes and couldn't shift from defence to offence as much as we wanted.''

Elsewhere, Brazilian midfielder Diego struck twice as Kyoto Sanga downed Kawasaki Frontale 3-1 in Kyoto.

Kawasaki went ahead in the sixth minute when Takuro Yajima headed home a Kengo Nakamura corner.

But Diego cancelled that strike out with a penalty in the 19th minute, which was awarded after Kawasaki defender Hiroki Ito committed a foul in the box.

Five minutes after the break, Kyoto midfielder Jun Ando broke the tie by slotting home a Diego pass.

The 25-year-old Brazilian then took his turn again eight minutes later, firing home to make it 3-1 for the hosts.

Finally, hosts Albirex Niigata were held to a 1-1 draw by Montedio Yamagata.