Kawasaki Frontale continued its dominance of the J. League’s first division on Saturday, complimenting first-half goals by Kaoru Mitoma and Leandro Damiao with a smothering defensive shutdown of Oita Trinita in a 2-0 victory at Todoroki Stadium.
The flashy attack that has become Frontale’s trademark was on full display in front of the crowd of 4,735, as was a defense that showed improvement from Wednesday’s narrow 3-2 Levain Cup win over Kashima Antlers.
“Ahead of the game we prepared some things, but it didn’t really help and you could feel that the gap between the two teams was greater than the scoreline,” said Trinita manager Tomihiro Katanosaka. “It’s not easy to stop a winning streak like theirs. I definitely felt the gap between our strength and theirs.”