With two Matchweek 9 games done and dusted on Saturday, Sunday saw the rest of the matchweek being played out, with the highlight of the occasion being the latest edition of the Tamagawa Clasico between hosts FC Tokyo and defending champions Kawasaki Frontale. Kawasaki went across the Tama River in hopes of extending their unbeaten start to the season and that’s exactly what Toru Oniki’s men did, inflicting a 4-2 defeat on the Gasmen.
It took Kawasaki only 8 minutes to gain advantage in this clash between rivals, with Akihiro Ienaga taking advantage of some excellent passing from Brazilian teammates Joao Schmidt and Leandro Damiao to seize the ball from the latter and head home the opener past veteran keeper Tsuyoshi Kodama in the FC Tokyo goal. Nine minutes later veteran midfielder Ienaga made it 2-0 to Kawasaki’s advantage, being helped massively by some lax Gasmen defending and Damiao’s accurate through pass.
Adailton threatened an FC Tokyo comeback with a powerful close-ranged shot that left Kawasaki goalie Kenta Tanno utterly beaten in the 59th minute, however two minutes afterwards Kaoru Mitoma restored the two-goal advantage for Kawasaki after easily dispossessing Takumi Nakamura before sweeping home past Kodama. Damiao then ensured that FC Tokyo were dead and buried in the 75th minute with Kawasaki’s fourth goal of the game, rendering Takuya Uchida’s 84th minute effort for the Gasmen as mere consolation.
Nagoya Grampus also extended their unbeaten record in Matchweek 9, utterly demolishing Oita Trinita 3-0 at the Showa Denko Dome. Sagan Tosu also worked out a 3-0 win, with Kim Myung-hwi’s men recovering from a two-game losing streak with a comfortable win at the Ekimae Real Estate Stadium over strugglers Yokohama FC. Yokohama’s other J1 team in Yokohama F. Marinos played out a 0-0 draw away at Vegalta Sendai, while Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo and Kashima Antlers played out an exciting 2-2 draw at the Sapporo Dome that saw Consadole recovering from two goals down.
Ricardo Rodriguez managed to mastermind a win over his former side as the Spaniard’s Urawa Red Diamonds worked out a 1-0 win over Tokushima Vortis at the Saitama Stadium 2002, while Kashiwa Reysol stunned Gamba Osaka 1-0 at the Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium. Last but not least, both Vissel Kobe and Shimizu S-Pulse played out a 1-1 draw at the Misaki Park Stadium.