Brazilian striker Emerson rifled home a superb late winner as Urawa Reds defeated Vissel Kobe 3-2 on Saturday, the opening day of the J. League second stage.
Jubilo Iwata midfielder Toshiya Fujita (left) battles Oita Trinita midfielder Takashi Umeda for the control of the ball during first half Saturday at Oita Stadium. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Urawa, which was without a number of first-team regulars on Olympic duty in Athens, took the lead through Makoto Hasebe and the 20-year-old midfielder doubled the visitors' advantage after 40 minutes.
Kobe hit back through Ryuji Bando just before the break and Hiroyuki Komoto pulled the home side level six minutes into the second half when he headed home a cross from Czech midfielder Pavel Horvath.