SAITAMA — Naohiro Takahara scored his first goal of the J. League season to help Urawa Reds get back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Vissel Kobe on Saturday.
Edmilson took just three minutes to open the scoring for an Urawa side looking to bounce back from last week's dismal loss to Yokohama F. Marinos, but the biggest cheer was reserved for Takahara's strike two minutes before halftime.
The former international striker has looked persistently out of sorts since moving from Eintracht Frankfurt at the beginning of the 2008 season, but his crisp drive from the edge of the area was just reward for an industrious and confident performance at Komaba Stadium.