Reigning J. League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima reached the final of the Nabisco Cup despite a 2-1 second-leg defeat to holders Kashiwa Reysol on Sunday.

Leandro struck twice as Reysol erased their two-goal, first-leg deficit, but Naoki Ishihara rifled home with 16 minutes left to give Hiroshima a 3-2 aggregate win and a meeting with Gamba Osaka in the final in Saitama on Nov. 8.

Gamba lost 3-2 away to Kawasaki Frontale, but advanced 5-4 on aggregate.

“Even when it was 2-2 (on aggregate) we were attacking and making chances and I always felt that if we could keep that up then a goal would come,” said Hiroshima manager Hajime Moriyasu.

“Even though we won the first game 2-0, we always knew it was going to be tough and never thought it would be easy to get to the final by sitting on our (first-leg) lead. Reysol were really up for it. The atmosphere the Kashiwa fans create at this stadium always increases the pressure and we were on the back foot for long stretches. But my players kept plugging away and got us to the final.”

Two fine strikes from 2012 J. League Player of the Year and Golden Boot winner Hisato Sato had given Hiroshima a deserved two-goal cushion at Big Arch on Thursday, and the visitors were forced to withstand some early pressure and Kashiwa tried to claw its way back into the tie.

Reysol’s first clear opening arrived on 15 minutes, but Sanfrecce goalkeeper Takuto Hayashi produced an excellent save to deny Brazilian striker Leandro, and Kashiwa was fortunate not to concede in the 18th as Hirofumi Watanabe nearly put through his own net.

Leandro got a second bite at the cherry in the 38th minute and the former Gamba hitman made no mistake this time, stealing in to head in a fine cross from Wataru Hashimoto before quickly picking the ball out of the net and running back to place it on the center spot.

Six minutes into the second half, Kashiwa drew level. Masato Kudo picked up a poor clearance from Hayashi and quickly fed Leandro, who kept his head to slot home, triggering barmy celebrations on the Reysol bench.

Kashiwa started to increase the pressure, and Hayashi had to be alert to save another header from lively Leandro in the 64th minute before making a crucial block from Kudo.

Sanfrecce had chances of their own, though, and the home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief as Ishihara lashed over the bar from a promising position in the 70th minute.

But that relief turned to despair as Reysol keeper Kazushige Kirihata fumbled a routine shot from Yoshifumi Kashiwa, and Ishihara made amends for his earlier miss when he pounced to smash home in front of Hiroshima’s purple army of traveling fans.

“We knew it would not be easy to win but were ready. I missed a big chance and wanted to put that right by scoring. It didn’t matter how it went in,” said Ishihara.

“Reysol really came at us and put us under a lot of pressure and I imagined that is how the game would pan out. But we didn’t panic and all pulled in the same direction.”