Kashiwa Reysol wrested leadership of the J. League away from Yokohama F. Marinos with a 2-0 win on Saturday night, just two days after the shock death of former Marinos defender Naoki Matsuda.
Marinos went into the match at Hitachi Stadium still reeling from the news that Matsuda, who spent 16 seasons with the Yokohama club, had died at the age of 34 two days after collapsing while training with his JFL team Matsumoto Yamaga.
But with first place in the table up for grabs, Kashiwa took an eighth-minute lead through Leandro Domingues and added another in the second half through Jorge Wagner to leapfrog Marinos after surrendering top spot to the Yokohama side on July 17.