Shonan Bellmare brought two new signings to Kawasaki Frontale on Wednesday evening and earned an impressive 2-1 win. 23-year old keeper Alex Santana made a series of spectacular saves and new centre forward Wellington contributed significant menace to the attack. Shonan weathered an early storm and seemed to be settling well until Okubo fired Kawasaki in front just before half time. Shonan then bounced back in the second half with goals by Wataru Endo and Kaoru Takayama and, even allowing for a late penalty scare, had every reason in the end to celebrate a convincing win.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima had edged past Omiya Ardija to go top of the table on goal difference in the last round and this time overcame Omiya directly 3-1 in Hiroshima. Eight wins and a draw since losing to Omiya on May 6th have turned the champions' hesitant start to the season into a distant memory. Naoki Ishihara headed Hiroshima in front in the third minute at Satoru Yamagishi's cross. Daigo Watanabe equalised in the 74th minute but Ishihara headed in again at Yojiro Takahagi's 81st minute free kick and clinched it in additional time by touching in Takahagi's cross. Omiya's Shin Kanazawa was handed a straight red card for serious foul play in the 84th minute.
Yokohama F-Marinos held onto third place but had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Kashiwa Reysol at the Nissan Stadium. Leandro Domingues returned for Kashiwa for the first time in two months. Manabu Saito made the opening for Marquinhos to net at the second attempt - he first volleyed acrobatically against the bar - in the 31st minute but Kashiwa equalised thanks to an own goal at a corner kick in the 89th minute, Yuji Nakazawa's header bouncing in off keeper Tetsuya Enomoto.
Fourth placed Urawa Reds survived a scare to win 2-1 at Jubilo Iwata and reclose the gap with Yokohama, who beat them in the last round, to just a single point. Yuichi Komano played a one-two with Takuya Matsuura to run through the middle and shoot Iwata in front in the 64th minute but Marcio Richardes flicked in with eight minutes left and Ryota Moriwaki then netted the winner with a long, wickedly deflected shot in the third minute of time added on. It was Iwata's first loss under new manager Takashi Sekizuka. The record till then was a win and three draws.
Cerezo Osaka stayed fifth but lost important ground by going down 1-0 at Albirex Niigata. Edno crashed a shot against the Niigata bar but it was Kentaro Oi who latched onto the loose ball and scored the only goal of the game in the 72nd minute after Kim Jin Hyeon first saved Kengo Kawamata's header spectacularly at a corner. Two straight wins for Niigata - they beat Shonan last time out - have lifted them into a much more comfortable lower mid-table position, now nine points clear of the relegation zone.
