It’s only been six weeks, but the race at the top of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League is already heating up. Vissel Kobe are top of the table after picking up another win, but plenty of challengers also took three points to keep the fight for the Ushi’s place piping hot.
Let’s check in on all the action from Matchweek 6:
Kyoto Sanga 0, Vissel Kobe 3
The Ushi were utterly dominant in the second half, getting a pair of goals from Koya Yuruki before Yoshinori Muto undressed the Sanga defense then teed up Yuya Osako to finish for the final tally that has Vissel still two points clear at the top.
Albirex Niigata 1, Nagoya Grampus 3
Shusuke Ota put Albi in front, but a 39th minute red card to Michael Fitzgerald doomed the home side as Nagoya ran riot against 10 men with goals by Kensuke Nagai, Kasper Junker and Sho Inagaki keeping them second in the table.
Kashiwa Reysol 0, Urawa Reds 3
Shinzo Koroki, Alex Schalk and Takahiro Akimoto were all on the mark as Urawa won their fourth in a row and sixth straight in all competitions to stay red hot and take over third place.
Kashima Antlers 1, Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2
Sanfrecce were the comeback kids as Douglas Vieira scored in the 86th and 88th minute to turn a loss in Kashima into three points that takes them up to fourth place.
Yokohama FC 1, Avispa Fukuoka 1
Penalties defined this match as Yuya Yamagishi converted from the spot for Avi before Koki Ogawa scored his fifth goal of the season for the Fulie, also from the spot, to split the points.
Cerezo Osaka 2, Yokohama F·Marinos 1
Léo Ceará made the move from Marinos to Cerezo in the winter and, in his first match against his old club, scored the winner to knock the champions all the way down to seventh place.
Shonan Bellmare 4, Gamba Osaka 1
Shuto Machino became the first player in J1 history to score four goals in the first half in a spectacular performance that took the star striker to joint-top of the league in goals and earned Shonan three gleaming points.
Sagan Tosu 1, F.C.Tokyo 0
Sagan left it very late, but Atsushi Kawata capitalized on a bad play by Jakub Słowik to score five minutes into stoppage time for the game’s lone goal.
Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo 3, Kawasaki Frontale 4
Frontake went 1-0 down after seven minutes, equalized, then 2-1 down before scoring a pair to go 3-2 up, only to see Consa bring things level once again, but four minutes before full time, Yusuke Segawa found the back of the net to steal a thrilling victory for the visitors and take them up to 11th in the table.
