Reds net wild win to keep pace with Sanfrecce
TOKYO — Urawa Reds kept pace at the top of the J.League on Saturday, emerging as 4-3 victor from a slobberknocker with fellow high-flier FC Tokyo.
The win kept Reds level on points with overall league-leader Sanfrecce Hiroshima — which kept its nose in front on goal-difference after a 2-0 triumph over Ventforet Kofu — with just two matches of the regular season to play.
First-stage champion Urawa raced into a two-goal lead within 14 minutes at Ajinomoto Stadium thanks to strikes from Yosuke Kashiwagi and Yuki Muto, before Keigo Higashi pulled one back for the hosts.
Takahiro Sekine and Tomoaki Makino found the net to maintain Reds’ control of the match, but a late brace from Hideto Takahashi meant Mihailo Petrovic’s side was hanging on as the clock ticked down.
Reds’ coach was relieved to ultimately escape with the three points.
“In Germany there is the mentality for the team in the lead to go for five or six goals, I’d like my team to also have that approach,” he said.
“It’s like boxing. If you get the opportunity to finish the opponent off, you have to take it. At 4-1, the opposition was on the ropes and we should have sent them down to the mat.”
Reds started brightly and took the lead in the 11th minute, Kashiwagi sidefooting home after Tokyo keeper Vlada Avramov palmed the ball into his path.
Three minutes later Muto bent a beauty into the top corner from just outside the box to double Urawa’s lead.
Higashi halved Tokyo’s deficit in the 16th minute — converting from an improbable angle after an inch-perfect Takuji Yonemoto through-ball — but Sekine re-established Reds’ two-goal lead in the 27th minute, rifling home from inside the penalty area after his first attempt had been blocked.
Makino then made it 4-1, firing into the top corner to finish off a wonderful Reds passing move after receiving from Zlatan Ljubijankic just outside the penalty area.
“A game against Tokyo is one of the most important of the season, and to win at their ground in front of so many people is really important and gives us a lot of confidence,” Ljubijankic said.
It looked like the game was up for Tokyo at that point, but Massimo Ficcadenti’s men launched a late surge — Takahashi thumping a header home from a Kosuke Ota cross in the 74th and then lashing in from close-range after Nishikawa fumbled the ball into his path with six minutes to play.
Japan’s goalkeeper more than made up for that mistake at the end of the match, pulling off an instinctive double-save in injury time to make sure of the victory for his side.
Sanfrecce extend stage lead
Elsewhere, Sanfrecce kept themselves on top of the overall rankings, downing Ventforet Kofu thanks to goals from Douglas and Kohei Shimizu.
That leaves the Purple Archers level with Reds on 68 points but 10 goals better off with six points to play for.
Hajime Moriyasu’s side also leads the second-stage table, and now three points clear of Kashima Antlers after the Ibaraki outfit lost 2-1 to Shonan Bellmare.
Meanwhile, Montedio Yamagata was relegated back to J2 after losing 3-1 to fellow struggler Vissel Kobe — whose own J1 status was preserved thanks to Kazuma Watanabe’s hat-trick.
Hiroshima secures place in J-League championship
Sanfrecce Hiroshima beat Ventforet Kofu 2-0 on Saturday to widen its lead in the second-stage standings and secure a place in the J-League championship.
Kohei Shimizu scored a goal and set up another as Hiroshima improved to 34 points, three ahead of Kashima Antlers which lost 2-1 to Shonan Bellmare.
First-stage winners Urawa Reds beat FC Tokyo 4-3 while Montedio Yamagata joins Shimizu S-Pulse as the second team to be relegated after a 3-1 loss to Vissel Kobe.
Also, Yokohama F Marinos beat Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 and Sagan Tosu edged relegation-threatened Matsumoto Yamaga 2-1.
Kensuke Nagai scored twice as Nagoya Grampus beat Albirex Niigata 4-2.
The winner of each stage and the top three clubs of the aggregate table qualify for the championship which starts in late November.
Petrovic to remain Reds manager in 2016
Urawa Reds announced on Sunday that Mihailo Petrovic will stay on as manager for next season.
The 58-year-old Petrovic, who in his fourth year as boss is the club’s longest-serving manager, steered Reds to the J. League first-stage title this season.
Reds’ 4-3 win over FC Tokyo on Saturday guaranteed them a top-two finish in the overall standings and a place in the post-season championship.
The Serbian-born Petrovic, who also holds an Austrian passport, joined Urawa in 2012 after managing Sanfrecce Hiroshima from 2006-2011.
J-League
| StandingsJAPAN: J-League - Second stage | |||||
| Round 32 | |||||
| 25.10. 02:00 | Vegalta Sendai | G-Osaka | 1 : 3 | ||
| 24.10. 02:00 | FC Tokyo | Urawa | 3 : 4 | ||
| 24.10. 02:00 | Kawasaki Frontale | Yokohama M. | 0 : 1 | ||
| 24.10. 02:00 | Kobe | Montedio Yamagata | 3 : 1 | ||
| 24.10. 02:00 | Kofu | Hiroshima | 0 : 2 | ||
| 24.10. 02:00 | Nagoya | Albirex Niigata | 4 : 2 | ||
| 24.10. 02:00 | Shimizu | Kashiwa | 0 : 3 | ||
| 24.10. 02:00 | Shonan | Kashima | 2 : 1 | ||
| 24.10. 02:00 | Yamaga | Tosu | 1 : 2 | ||
| Round 31 | |||||
| 17.10. 07:00 | Montedio Yamagata | Kofu | 0 : 1 | ||
| 17.10. 06:30 | Albirex Niigata | Yamaga | 2 : 0 | ||
| 17.10. 06:30 | Tosu | Nagoya | 0 : 0 | ||
| 17.10. 02:00 | FC Tokyo | Shonan | 1 : 2 | ||
| 17.10. 02:00 | G-Osaka | Urawa | 2 : 1 | ||
| 17.10. 02:00 | Hiroshima | Kawasaki Frontale | 2 : 1 | ||
| 17.10. 02:00 | Kashima | Kashiwa | 3 : 2 | ||
| 17.10. 02:00 | Shimizu | Vegalta Sendai | 0 : 1 | ||
| 17.10. 02:00 | Yokohama M. | Kobe | 2 : 1 | ||
| Show more matches |
| StandingsJAPAN: J-League - Second stage | |||||
| Round 33 | |||||
| 07.11. 02:00 | Albirex Niigata | Shonan | |||
| 07.11. 02:00 | G-Osaka | Hiroshima | |||
| 07.11. 02:00 | Kashima | Yokohama M. | |||
| 07.11. 02:00 | Kashiwa | FC Tokyo | |||
| 07.11. 02:00 | Kobe | Yamaga | |||
| 07.11. 02:00 | Montedio Yamagata | Shimizu | |||
| 07.11. 02:00 | Nagoya | Kofu | |||
| 07.11. 02:00 | Tosu | Vegalta Sendai | |||
| 07.11. 02:00 | Urawa | Kawasaki Frontale | |||
| Round 34 | |||||
| 22.11. 01:30 | FC Tokyo | Tosu | |||
| 22.11. 01:30 | G-Osaka | Montedio Yamagata | |||
| 22.11. 01:30 | Hiroshima | Shonan | |||
| 22.11. 01:30 | Kashima | Nagoya | |||
| 22.11. 01:30 | Kashiwa | Albirex Niigata | |||
| 22.11. 01:30 | Kawasaki Frontale | Vegalta Sendai | |||
| 22.11. 01:30 | Kofu | Shimizu | |||
| 22.11. 01:30 | Urawa | Kobe | |||
| 22.11. 01:30 | Yokohama M. | Yamaga | |||
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