SAITAMA (Kyodo) Urawa Reds spurned the chance to return to the top of the J. League Monday after suffering a stunning 3-1 defeat at home to Kawasaki Frontale.
Urawa got off to a fine start with Naohiro Takahara opening the scoring early on, but Hiroki Ito's header drew Frontale level and two goals in the space of two second-half minutes from substitute Chong Tese and impressive debutant Vitor Junior put the game away for the visitors.
The result means Urawa remains in second place on 32 points, two behind next weekend's opponents and defending champions Kashima Antlers, who won 2-0 at Yokohama F. Marinos on Sunday.