Urawa Reds brought Sanfrecce Hiroshima crashing back to earth with a 3-1 win over the J.League leaders on Saturday night.
Defending champions Sanfrecce went into the game at Saitama Stadium three points clear of second-place Omiya Ardija having won eight and drawn one of their previous nine matches, but goals from Shinzo Koroki and Genki Haraguchi sent fourth-place Urawa into halftime with a well-deserved two-goal lead.
Koroki added another to make the game safe in the 55th minute before Hiroki Mizumoto notched a consolation goal for Sanfrecce in injury time, as the leaders saw their cushion at the top slashed to one point with Yokohama F. Marinos jumping into second after a 2-1 win over Shonan Bellmare.