Soccer-Urawa go top, Kawasaki Frontale edge nine goal thriller

TOKYO, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Urawa Reds moved clear at the top of the J.League after a 1-0 win over defending champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima, while Kawasaki Frontale kept up the chase after edging a nine-goal see-saw against relegation-threatened Cerezo Osaka. New Japan coach Javier Aguirre was at the Saitama Stadium on Saturday to see his first J.League match as the Reds picked up their first win in four matches and moved clear after Sagan Tosu slumped to a second straight loss to fall back to third. Yosuke Kashiwagi thought he had put the Reds in front in the 22nd minute but his curling free kick struck the post and rebounded to captain Yuki Abe, who hit it straight into the unguarded net for his third goal of the season. The Reds could have added to their lead with the attacking trio of Kashiwagi, Tsukasa Umesaki and Tadanari Lee causing problems and no doubt catching the eye of Aguirre, who will take charge of his first match against Uruguay next month. "I was very impressed by what I saw from the game," the Mexican told Japanese media. "I thought both teams were very well organised. There were a few players who caught my eye and I've written their names down." The defeat left double defending champions Hiroshima, who struggled without their skipper and top scorer Hisato Sato, 10 points back in eighth with 14 matches left in the campaign. Kawasaki Frontale looked set for a comfortable afternoon after they raced into a 4-1 halftime lead over Cerezo, with J.League top scorer Yoshito Okubo notching his 12th of the campaign, only to crumble in the second period. Okubo's striking partner Yu Kobayashi slotted his second of the game with nine minutes left to put Kawasaki 5-3 up after the visitors had pulled two goals back. Uruguay striker Diego Forlan again cut the deficit to one with his seventh of the campaign to ensure a nervy finale, but Kawasaki hung on for their sixth win in seven matches to move onto 39 points, one back of the Reds. Cerezo are stuck in the relegation zone in 16th place after their winless run stretched to nine games. Former Germany striker Cacau, who signed for the club last week, will be hopeful of making his debut in the next round of matches after not featuring in Saturday's clash. Nagoya Grampus Eight pulled themselves out of the bottom three with their first win since the resumption of the league after the break for the World Cup, claiming a surprise 1-0 win away to seventh-placed Gamba Osaka. (Writing by Patrick Johnston; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)