The high-flying Urawa Reds maintained their grip on top spot in the J. League first division with a comprehensive 4-1 win at home to Nagoya Grampus on Friday.

Nagoya's Swedish striker Robin Simovic canceled out Yosuke Kashiwagi's opener with a blistering effort shortly before the break, but Reds turned on the style in the second half, with Tadanari Lee, Shinzo Koroki and Yuki Muto all netting to keep Mihailo Petrovic's men two points clear at the top of the table.

With nine first-stage matches played, Reds have 22 points, while Kawasaki Frontale remained in second with 20 after a 1-0 win at Gamba Osaka, as all-time J1 leading scorer Yoshito Okubo grabbed the clincher on the half-hour mark to extend his record with the 162nd goal of his career.