SAITAMA -- Urawa substitutes Toshiya Ishii and Brazilian Tuto scored for the Reds, helping the home team rally past Shimizu S-Pulse 2-1 in extra time at Saitama Stadium 2002 on Saturday afternoon.
FC Tokyo forward Amaral (middle) heads in the first goal of Saturday's game against Yokohama F. Marinos at International Stadium Yokohama. The Marinos won 2-1.Tuto, returning from a leg injury for his first game since Aug. 31, struck the winner in the 98th minute as the Reds remained unbeaten over the last five games in the J. League Division One second stage.
"I'm happy to be back on the team and have scored the goal for our team," Tuto said.
The Reds moved up from third to the top of the 16-team standings with 13 points. Jubilo Iwata, which was atop with 12 points before Saturday's game, will play on Sunday.
But it was Shimizu's fourth straight loss and newly signed Ahn Jung Hwan, South Korea's World Cup forward, failed to celebrate his J. League debut after coming off the bench.
After a slow and quiet first half, the game started rolling after Ahn replaced midfielder Masaaki Sawanobori in the 57th minute. With Ahn playing as an attacking midfielder, his forwards Alex Santos and Kohei Hiramatsu started moving better, which helped the visitors create chances.
In the 74th minute, Hiramatsu dribbled up on the right to pass the ball to Alex, who turned around to feed the ball to the space behind Urawa's defenders. Junpei Takaki dashed for the ball to slot home the opener.
But as the home team was rallying hard, Shimizu defender Toshihide Saito was sent off in the 83rd minute after challenging Emerson five meters outside the box.
Urawa midfielder Nobuhisa Yamada curled the free-kick, which was cleared by Shimizu 'keeper Masanori Sanada and then by a Shimizu defender. But Tuto headed the ball to Ishii, who fired home the equalizer.
Seven minutes into the first half of extra time, Yamada sent a cross from the right for Tuto, who struck a blast into the net to wrap up the game.
"It was my first game at Shimizu and I couldn't communicate well enough with my teammates," Ahn said. "I also need to improve my fitness too as I hadn't played for the last two months. But I'm sure I can get better from next game."
Antlers bounce back
The Kashima Antlers bounced back from last week's surprise 1-0 reverse at Kashiwa Reysol as the defending champions came from behind to defeat JEF United Ichihara on Saturday thanks to an 88th-minute winner from Brazilian midfielder Augusto.
In Tokushima Prefecture, former Japan striker Shoji Jo scored his first goal of the season in extra time lead Vissel Kobe to a 3-2 win over Gamba Osaka, which missed out on a chance to go top and slipped to fourth.
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