This midweek saw Matchweek 11 of the 2023 J.League 1 season being played out, that has top three Vissel Kobe, Yokohama F. Marinos, and Nagoya Grampus being separated by just three points.
League leaders Vissel took on 3rd placed Nagoya at the latter’s Toyota Stadium, with the men in crimson finding themselves 2-0 up after the hour-mark thanks to goals from Yuya Osako and Daiju Sasaki. However, Kaspar Junker pulled one back for the hosts in the 73rd minute, before Vissel’s Mizuki Saito saw red in the sixth minute of injury time, which gave Haruya Fujii the chance to salvage a single point for Nagoya as the match ends in a 2-2 stalemate.
2nd placed Yokohama enjoyed an emphatic 3-1 win away at Sagan Tosu. Fuchi Honda gave the hosts an early lead however Kevin Muscat’s Yokohama struck back with two goals from Yan Matheus and a goal from Elber, the three points ensuring that the defending champions still had Vissel within their sights.
Avispa Fukuoka moved up to 5th thanks to a 1-0 home win over FC Tokyo, while Cerezo Osaka edged out hosts Gamba Osaka 2-1 in the latest edition of the Osaka Derby thanks to a 90th minute strike from Mutsuki Kato. Kashiwa Reysol plundered a 2-1 win away at Shonan Bellmare, while there were 1-0 wins for both Kashima Antlers and Kawasaki Frontale away at Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo and Kyoto Sanga respectively.
Last but not least, bottom side Yokohama FC won their first game of the season, beating Albirex Niigata 1-0 in a battle between this season’s promoted sides.