A largely uneventful first half led to fireworks in the second at Ajinomoto Stadium on Saturday, with Junior Santos scoring twice in quick succession to break open the floodgates in Yokohama F. Marinos’ 4-0 win over FC Tokyo.
Just over one month before the two sides were scheduled to resume their postponed Asian Champions League campaigns, both teams fielded strong lineups in a desperate effort to secure top-four finishes in the J. League’s first division and a return to continental soccer next year.
While Tokyo arrived with relatively fresh legs having last played on Sunday, Marinos manager Ange Postecoglou rued a tight schedule that has seen his players embark on a brutal stretch of midweek fixtures in order to allow the team to travel to Doha in November while still completing its J1 schedule.