Tokyo take top spot, Kawasaki hold Urawa
FC Tokyo moved top of the J League following a narrow 1-0 victory over Shonan Bellmare on Sunday. Yoshinori Muto's 64th-minute effort proved enough as Tokyo recorded their third win of the season to overtake Urawa Red Diamonds and take top spot.
Diamonds sit in second - level on points with the leaders - after Zlatan Ljubijankic netted a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Kawasaki Frontale, who had taken a first-half lead through Ryota Oshima. A point further back in third, Gamba Osaka edged a 3-2 victory at Shimizu S-Pulse thanks to a goal in each half from Takashi Usami.
Usami and Anderson Patrick put visitors 2-0 up but second-half goals from Peter Utaka and Genki Omae levelled matters before Usami completed his brace with ten minutes remaining.
Vegalta Sendai held on for a point from their 1-1 draw away to Yokohama F. Marinos, who equalised in the final minutes through Fabio Aguiar to cancel out Jiro Kamata's opener. The point sees Sendai drop down a spot into fourth, while their opponents sit seventh. Yohei Toyoda's 80th-minute goal was enough for Sagan Tosu to seal a 1-0 victory over second-bottom Montedio Yamagata and move up to fifth.
Kashima Antlers and Albirex Niigata shared the spoils from a 1-1 draw after Shoma Doi's second-half effort cancelled out Rafael Silva's goal just before the break. Kashiwa Reysol claimed a comfortable 3-1 win at Matsumoto Yamaga thanks to goals from Hidekazu Otani, Tetsuro Ota and Masato Kudo before home substitute Yoshiro Abe netted a late consolation.
Kengo Kawamata and Kisho Yano were on target as Nagoya Grampus Eight secured their first win of the season - a 2-0 victory over Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Bottom side Vantforet Kofu suffered a 4-1 defeat away to Vissel Kobe, who went ahead thanks to a brace from Daisuke Ishizu. Second-half goals from Masatoshi Mihara and Keijiro Ogawa completed their score before Adriano struck a consolation for the basement boys with seven minutes remaining.