SAITAMA — Urawa Reds thrashed championship rival Kawasaki Frontale 3-0 on Sunday to move into first place in the J. League.
A win for either side at Saitama Stadium would have been enough to wrest top spot away from Shimizu S-Pulse, and the home team staked an early claim with two goals inside the first eight minutes from Hajime Hosogai and Tatsuya Tanaka.
Frontale captain Kengo Nakamura returned from a broken jaw to make his first league appearance of the season as a halftime substitute, but his attempts to inspire a comeback hit a brick wall when Reds goalkeeper Norihiro Yamagishi saved Renatinho's 55th-minute penalty and Satoshi Horinouchi added a third for a hungry-looking Urawa.