Daizen Maeda has been the top goalscorer in the 2021 MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE for months, and on Saturday he extended his lead with a sensational hat trick in Yokohama F·Marinos’ 8-0 win over F.C.Tokyo. Maeda has now scored 21 goals this season, three more than Kawasaki Frontale’s Leandro Damião, as the striker closes in on the Golden Boot.

Maeda scored the first goal after just 10 minutes, picking up a loose ball and running with it for 50 yards. His initial shot was stopped, but he got the rebound and buried it to start the Marinos’ onslaught. A pretty pass by Maeda then led to a penalty kick, which Marcos Júnior buried, and Ryuta Koike added a goal of his own to make it 3-0 before the 25th minute.

It went from bad to worse for F.C.Tokyo in the 39th minute when Masato Morishige was shown his second yellow card, putting them down to 10 men.

A penalty kick converted by Maeda made it 4-0 by halftime and the Golden Boot leader wrapped up his hat trick with a good header on the other side of the break. A Tokyo own goal was sandwiched by Koike’s second tally and a great strike by Kota Mizunuma to wrap up the scoring as Marinos kept bagging goals all the way to the end.

Marinos’ title challenge may be over, with Frontale having clinched the league, but they have secured second place and Maeda is on the hunt for the Golden Boot. A terrific season in Yokohama is still ongoing, and they look set to make it worth watching all the way to the end.