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Monday June 29, 2009

Takahara inspires Urawa Reds to victory

TOKYO: Former Japan international striker Naohiro Takahara scored his first goal of the season to help Urawa Red Diamonds to a 2-0 win over Vissel Kobe on Saturday, their first victory in five matches.

Brazilian forward Edmilson put Urawa one up on two minutes before Takahara fired in from the edge of the area in the 42nd minute to consolidate the lead.

And goalkeeper Ryota Tsuzuki pulled off some fine saves to keep a clean sheet in the J-League fixture.

“We had to play well after (our poor performance) against Yokohama Marinos last week. It doesn’t always mean we must win, but it’s important to play a high-quality game,” said Urawa’s German coach Volker Finke. “Although we gave them a few scoring chances, we defended really well to shut out Vissel Kobe.”

Urawa have now eight wins, four draws and three defeats for 28 points, leaving them four points behind leaders and defending champions Kashima Antlers.

In other games, Kashiwa Reysol came from behind twice to beat Jubilo Iwata 3-2, with Lee Tadanari scoring the decider in injury time.

Omiya Ardija beat JEF United Chiba 2-0 with two goals from Yoshihito Fujita in the 36th and 77th minutes.

Naohiro Ishikawa scored his eighth goal of the season in the 62nd minute to give FC Tokyo a 2-1 win over Shimizu S-Pulse. — AFP

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