Kashiwa defeats Urawa 1-0 for 8th straight win in J-League

By AP
Published

TOKYO (AP) Hiroto Nakagawa scored late in the first half as J-League leaders Kashiwa Reysol defeated Urawa Reds 1-0 on Sunday for their eighth straight win.

Nakagawa's header in first-half injury time allowed Kashiwa to improve to 30 points, two ahead of Cerezo Osaka, which thrashed Albirex Niigata 4-0.

Elsewhere, Leandro scored two goals and Atsutaka Nakamura added another as Kashima Antlers defeated Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3-1 to give Go Oiwa a win in his first game as head coach.

Japanese champion Kashima fired coach Masatada Ishii on Wednesday after the club was eliminated from the Asian Champions League.

Midfielder Nilton scored in the final minute of regulation to lift Vissel Kobe to a 2-1 win over Consadole Sapporo.

Yoshito Okubo scored both goals as FC Tokyo beat Shimizu S-Pulse 2-0.

In other matches, Vegalta Sendai beat Ventforet Kofu 3-0 while Jubilo Iwata defeated Gamba Osaka by the same score.