Last weekend’s J.League 1 action saw a thrilling match at the Nissan Stadium between league leaders Yokohama F. Marinos and rock-bottom Kashiwa Reysol, with the former recovering from 3-2 down to clinch a hard-earned 4-3 win. The hero of Yokohama’s comeback was substitute Ryo Miyaichi, who scored a 97th minute winner to further cement the defending champions’ place in the league summit.
The match started off according to scenario for Kevin Muscat’s Yokohama side – Anderson Lopes had given them the lead in the 13th minute with a penalty before Kashiwa drew level in the 40th minute with an Eduardo own-goal. Hosts Yokohama regained their lead almost immediately, however, as vice-captain Eduardo made amends for his mistake by feeding a long ball towards Elber, who finished things off to ensure that Yokohama would have a 2-1 lead going into half-time.
The second half, however, was utterly shambolic for Yokohama as Kashiwa fought their way back into the game.
Sachiro Toshima made it 2-2 barely one minute into the second half before former Leeds United man Jay-Roy Grot gave Kashiwa the lead in the 73rd minute with a thumping header.
As Kashiwa seek to hang onto what would have been their third win of the season, Anderson splashed in a header of his own in the fourth minute of injury time, setting the stage for former Arsenal man Miyaichi, who had just recovered from a knee injury that kept him out from most of Yokohama’s 2022 J1 title-winning campaign, to score his late winner with a deflected shot from close-range.
Yokohama’s 4-3 win, combined with Vissel Kobe’s 2-1 defeat in the Hanshin Derby at the hands of Cerezo Osaka, extended Kevin Muscat’s men’s lead on the league table to three points, though Vissel had played one game fewer.