Milligan was given his marching orders on 64 minutes after a second bookable offence, leaving his side down a man as they searched to level Kota Yoshihara's 41st-minute strike.

There would be no response from United, who have now lost three of their past four matches and slide down to fifth in J2.League.

JEF United, who were relegated from the J.League in 2009, were one of the favourites to go up this term but are three points out of the top three promotion places with eight games to play.

Elsewhere, Jade North's FC Tokyo extended their lead at the top after a 1-0 win at Yokohama FC. However North was not involved.

Meanwhile, in China's FA Cup semi-finals, Joel Griffiths's Beijing Guoan missed out on a spot in the decider after losing 4-3 on penalties to Shandong Luneng following a goalless draw.