Tomislav Maric scored a second-half hat trick as Urawa Reds resurrected their fading title hopes with a 7-0 whipping of nine-man Kashiwa Reysol in the J. League first division on Saturday.

Robson Ponte, Tomoyuki Sakai, Tatsuya Tanaka and Takuya Yokoyama were also on the score sheet at Komaba Stadium, but the sheen was taken off Urawa's win after Tanaka was stretchered off with a broken right leg after a horror tackle by Yukio Tsuchiya midway through the second half.

"Tatsuya's injury was the only minus point in today's match," Urawa manager Guido Buchwald told reporters after the game.

"We were missing five regulars today due to injuries and suspensions, but the players that came in really played well and took their chances," added Buchwald, who was without the likes of Alessandro Santos, Nobuhisa Yamada and Marcus Tulio Tanaka.