SAITAMA — Vissel Kobe secured their first-division survival and condemned FC Tokyo to an astonishing relegation with a 4-0 demolition of Urawa Reds on the final day of the J. League season on Saturday.
Vissel began the day a point behind Tokyo in the third and final relegation place, knowing only a win would be enough to stand a chance of staying up, and even then only if the capital-city side failed to beat second-from-bottom Kyoto Sanga.
But Takayuki Yoshida put Kobe on the way to fulfilling its end of the bargain with a well-taken 31st-minute opener at Saitama Stadium, and fortune spun further toward Masahiro Wada's side when Kyoto's Dutra put Tokyo on the back foot with a goal in the 34th minute at Nishikyogoku.