FC Tokyo secured a 2-0 victory in the Tamagawa Clasico over Kawasaki Frontale on Saturday to continue remaining second in the MEIJI YASUDA J1 League.

Goals in either half from Kento Hashimoto and Masato Morishige helped Toru Oniki’s men claim local bragging rights over the reigning Japanese champions, who slipped into fifth place after defeat. 

Consadole Sapporo are right behind having beaten Gamba Osaka 2-0, leaving the latter 16th in the table and mired in the relegation fight.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima nevertheless retain their eight-point advantage at the top of the table though, with Toshihiro Aoyama and Patric striking in a 2-0 win over Vissel Kobe the next day.

Kashima Antlers look to be rebuilding some momentum as they picked up a second straight win seeing off Urawa Reds 1-0 with Mu Kanazaki’s first-half penalty.

It sees Kashiwa Reysol overtaken in the table after they surrendered 2-1 at home to Jubilo Iwata, but Cerezo Osaka avoided any shocks as they saw off V-Varen Nagasaki 3-1 as Nagoya Grampus battled to a 1-1 draw with Yokohama F. Marinos.

Takuma Nishimura’s brace got Vegalta Sendai back to winning ways as they emerged 3-1 victors at Shonan Bellmare, while Shimizu S-Pulse suffered a second straight loss slumping to 10-man Sagan Tosu by the same scoreline.