2021 J.League 1 champions Kawasaki Frontale and 2021 Emperor’s Cup champions Urawa Red Diamonds kicked-off the 2022 Japanese football season in some fashion on last Saturday’s 2022 Japanese Super Cup. Duking it out at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Urawa managed to stun their more favored opponents 2-0 thanks to an Ataru Esaka double.
For the 2022 Japanese football season curtain-raiser, Kawasaki deployed their strongest possible lineup with the likes of Miki Yamane, Leandro Damiao, and Akihiro Ienaga present, while new signing Chanathip Songkrasin was given his starting debut for Kawasaki by the team’s head coach Toru Oniki.
Urawa, on the other hand, were without their danger-man Kasper Junker, however, they were able to deploy the likes of Esaka, Takahiro Sekine, Hiroki Sakai, and captain Shusaku Nishikawa into the fray.
Despite Kawasaki having presented themselves as the dominant force in Japanese football in recent years, they shockingly went behind in the 8th minute after Sakai found Esaka with his pass, with the latter slamming home past Jung Sung-ryong in the Kawasaki goal moments afterward.
Ricardo Rodriguez’s Urawa then had to endure constant pressure and bombardment from Kawasaki, however, the league champions were unable to make any of their chances count to draw the scoreline level.
Oniki’s men were instead dealt a sucker punch in the 81st minute after Esaka completed his brace, this time taking advantage of a Takahiro Akimoto assist.
Urawa’s 2022 Super Cup win meant that the men from Saitama Prefecture had won their fifth title in the competition, having emerged out as Japanese Super Cup champions in 1979, 1980, 1983, and 2006 – the first three whilst playing underneath the Mitsubishi banner.
Both Kawasaki and Urawa will kick-off their 2022 J1 campaign this week – with Kawasaki starting their title defense at home in a Tamagawa Clasico clash with FC Tokyo on Friday, while Urawa are playing away at newly-promoted Kyoto Sanga on Saturday.