Kawasaki Frontale were stunned by a sensational Diego Oliveira hat-trick as Kashiwa Reysol whipped the MEIJI YASUDA J1 League Second Stage leaders 5-2.
Yahiro Kazama’s men had entered the tie looking to extend their lead at the top of the standings on Saturday but were quickly blown away by the irrepressible Brazilian.
Oliveira stunned the crowd at Todoroki Stadium when he rose highest to net Cristiano’s corner in the fourth minute, and things went from bad to worse for Frontale when the same scorer struck against just a minute later.
The 26-year-old latched onto a pull-back after poor defending to net his second in five minutes, and though the hosts halved the deficit through Kentaro Moriya later, Reysol were 3-1 up by the half-hour mark when Akimi Barada scored.
Oliveira got his third of the evening after the break and the livewire Hiroto Nakagawa added his name to the scoresheet in what was proving to be a rout, as the visitors were 5-1 up by the 75th minute before Koji Miyoshi salvaged some pride with a consolation.
Frontale will be glad that Kashima Antlers were not able to capitalise on their home humiliation, as the First Stage winners could only draw 2-2 at Yokohama F.Marinos in what has been a dour start to the second half of their campaign.
Goals from Toshihiro Aoyama and Kosei Shibasaki sent Japanese champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima on their way to a 2-0 win at Vegalta Sendai, while Gamba Osaka battled back from a goal down to beat Shonan Bellmare 2-1 thanks to Shun Nagasawa’s double.
A Nagoya Grampus reeling from Takafumi Ogura’s departure were denied victory over FC Tokyo when Shoya Nakajima cancelled out Ryunosuke Noda’s opener in the 91st minute for a 1-1 draw.
Ventforet Kofu narrowly avoided slipping to a home defeat as Masato Kurogi’s last-gasp equaliser salvaged a 2-2 result against Omiya Ardija.
Urawa Reds slumped 2-1 at Vissel Kobe but still remain level on points with Frontale at the head of the standings, while Sagan Tosu rounded off Saturday’s action with a 1-0 win over Albirex Niigata.
