Marcus Tulio Tanaka scored a hat-trick as Urawa Reds reclaimed top spot in the J. League with an entertaining 3-2 win at home to Tokyo Verdy on Thursday night.
Tulio wrapped up the scoring near the hour mark with his second header of the night to send the Asian club champions one point clear of Kashima Antlers, who were sunk 2-1 at Kyoto Sanga on Wednesday.
"We conceded top spot after our last game but Kashima lost yesterday and so we knew we had to win," said Tulio. "It was a lame performance at Oita (on Saturday) and gave us something to reflect on. Now our target is to keep the results coming game by game."
Nagoya Grampus spurned the chance to move level with Reds on 32 points at the halfway stage of the season after going down 2-1 away to Jubilo Iwata. Grampus, Kashiwa Reysol and Gamba Osaka, held 1-1 at FC Tokyo on Wednesday, all have 29 points.