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LEAD: Soccer: Urawa down Yokohama to go top of the J-League+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)YOKOHAMA, March 25_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: UPDATES WITH QUOTES, LATE RESULTS)
Urawa Reds made a mockery of Yokohama F Marinos' perfect start to the season with a 3-1 away win that sent Guido Buchwald's men to the top of the J-League first division on Saturday.
Goals from captain Nobuhisa Yamada and Washington and a superb injury-time strike from Makoto Hasebe did the damage as Urawa maintained their unbeaten record while sentencing Yokohama to their first loss of the campaign.
The win moved Urawa onto 13 points from five games played, one point clear of F Marinos.
The damage could easily have been a great deal worse for Yokohama as Urawa dominated the second half at Nissan Stadium after an evenly balanced opening 45 minutes.
Urawa had the better of the chances in the first period and the visitors should have taken the lead on 22 minutes.
Washington lost his marker but the former Brazil striker headed wastefully wide after Yamada had lined up a pinpoint cross from the right.
Fuzzy-haired Japan defender Yuji Nakazawa headed over at the other end before Urawa got their noses in front a minute before the interval.
Robson Ponte whipped in a cross and Yamada won a challenge with Yuzo Kurihara before clipping the loose ball beyond Tatsuya Enomoto and into the right-hand corner.
Enomoto almost gifted Urawa a second at the start of the second half when his botched clearance landed straight at the feet of Washington, but the burly forward was again unable to capitalize.
However, Washington got it right at the third time of asking, collecting a pass from Ponte before bamboozling Naoki Matsuda and Nakazawa to slot home his fourth goal of the season.
Yokohama rarely looked like finding a way back into the game and Urawa might have had a third from Shinji Ono, who contrived to blaze over with the goal at his mercy.
Yokohama pulled one back with a late header from substitute Hideo Oshima but Hasebe put the icing on the cake with a rasping drive to wrap up a deserved three points for the Reds.
"The players did everything that was expected of them. We could have had two or three more goals in the second half and if it wasn't for their keeper making some super saves it could have easily been four or five nil today," said Urawa manager Buchwald.
"We have made a good start to the season but there is a long way to go yet. We have managed to put ourselves top of the table so now we have to make sure we stay there," added the German.
Elsewhere, defending champions Gamba Osaka completed an excellent week with a 3-1 win away to Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Brazilian striker Magno Alves scoring twice to add to the five he scored in the 15-0 Asian Champions League demolition of Vietnamese club Da Nang.
Daigo Kobayashi's 51st-minute strike completed a winning double for Saitama clubs as Omiya Ardija edged Shimizu S-Pulse 1-0 at home while Kawasaki Frontale returned to winning ways and moved into third in the table, Hiroyuki Taniguchi's 75th-minute header proving decisive in the 2-1 defeat of Jubilo Iwata.
At Nagai Stadium, Ze Carlos struck twice with a penalty and a free kick as Cerezo Osaka beat Albirex Niigata for their first win of the season.
In Saturday's late games, Kashima Antlers edged JEF United Chiba 1-0 away thanks to a late goal from Alex Mineiro while Avispa Fukuoka recorded their fourth draw out of five matches after holding Ventforet Kofu 1-1 away.
Sunday's matches see Nagoya Grampus Eight welcome Oita Trinita with Kyoto Purple Sanga traveling to FC Tokyo.
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