Sanfrecce Hiroshima emerged victorious in the 2025 J.LEAGUE YBC Levain CUP Final on Saturday, defeating Kashiwa Reysol 3-1 in front of 62,466 fans at Japan National Stadium.
All three of Hiroshima’s goals came in the first half and as a result of set-pieces, with Hayato Araki and Ryo Germain netting after long throws from Shuto Nakano and Shunki Higashi curling in a delicious free-kick, while Kashiwa’s late consolation came courtesy of substitute Mao Hosoya.
Both teams started the game brightly and looked to seize the initiative, with Germain sending an effort straight at Kashiwa goalkeeper Ryosuke Kojima in the fourth minute and Hiroshima’s Keisuke Osako catching a close-range header from Yuki Kakita five minutes later.
Yusuke Segawa then stung Osako’s palms with a left-footed shot from distance in the 13th minute, before Germain fired another warning shot just wide of the target from the edge of the area after 20 minutes.
Araki broke the deadlock for Hiroshima five minutes later, climbing higher than Yuki Kakita and Kojima to head home after Nakano hurled a throw-in into the area from the right.
Higashi doubled his side’s lead in the 38th minute, bending a terrific free-kick over the Kashiwa wall and into the net from 26 yards despite Kojima managing to get a hand to the strike.
Another long throw then caused chaos in the Kashiwa area in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, and after Sho Sasaki headed Nakano’s soaring delivery on to the back post Germain was on hand to convert with his left foot and make it 3-0.
Kashiwa made a triple substitution at half-time as they looked to pull off a remarkable comeback, and Tomoya Koyamatsu went close to pulling a goal back five minutes after the restart when he cut in from the left and worked a shooting angle, but his curling effort flew just wide of the far post.
Hiroshima’s defence refused to buckle despite the increasing pressure Kashiwa were applying though, and they instead almost added a fourth in the 68th minute when Hayao Kawabe saw a low shot saved by Kojima.
Hosoya - one of the trio introduced at the break by Kashiwa manager Ricardo Rodriguez - did finally find a way through with nine minutes left on the clock, shrugging off a challenge from Araki before stabbing past Osako with his left foot.
The Japan striker then almost pulled another one back for Kashiwa in the 85th minute, but prodded his attempt over from close range after stretching to meet Hayato Nakama’s dinked ball in behind.
That was to be as close as Kashiwa would come though, leaving Michael Skibbe and his Hiroshima players to celebrate their second J.LEAGUE YBC Levain CUP title in four years.
