Yokohama F·Marinos are just four points back of Kawasaki Frontale for first place in the MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE thanks to Léo Ceará’s blinding hat trick in Saturday’s 5-0 victory over Vegalta Sendai.

Léo Ceará scored his first after 25 minutes when he beat a defender and goalkeeper to a header, which found the open net. On the other side of halftime, the Brazilian received a pass at 20 yards, took a touch to settle, then hit an unsavable shot into the top corner. Léo Ceará then finished off the hat trick by getting in behind the Vegalta defense and finishing easily 1v1 with the goalkeeper.

Marcos Júnior and Jun Amano added goals of their own in the dominating win for Marinos. The team now have Daizen Maeda with 13 goals on the season, then Léo Ceará and Marcos Júnior with seven each, giving them a variety of deadly goalscorers to lead the attack.

That attack has sent Marinos flying up the table and, with Kawasaki Frontale drawing Sanfrecce Hiroshima over the weekend, the Tricolor are now just four points off of first place. Frontale’s gigantic lead atop the table is gone and now there is a genuine title fight, with the season finale between the two teams in Yokohama looking like a potential mouthwatering title decider.