Urawa Red Diamonds vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima
How the goals came
42' Shinzo Koroki opens the scoring for Urawa Red Diamonds → 45' Yuki Muto extends Urawa Red Diamonds's lead → 47' Yusuke Minagawa pulls one back for Sanfrecce Hiroshima → 54' Anderson Lopes equalises for Sanfrecce Hiroshima → 72' Anderson Lopes puts Sanfrecce Hiroshima ahead → 85' Zlatan Ljubijankic equalises for Urawa Red Diamonds → 90+2' Takahiro Sekine puts Urawa Red Diamonds ahead (the winner). Full time: 4-3, Urawa Red Diamonds win.
The match, goal by goal
5 of the 7 goals came after half-time. Urawa Red Diamonds came from 1 down to win. 1 goal in second-half stoppage time.
42' Shinzo Koroki (Urawa Red Diamonds) 1-0
The match had remained goalless for 42 minutes when Shinzo Koroki finally broke the deadlock. It was the first goal of the night at Saitama Stadium 2002, putting the home side, Urawa Red Diamonds, 1-0 ahead of Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Seven goals would follow in total, and this was where the sequence began.
45' Yuki Muto (Urawa Red Diamonds) 2-0
Three minutes after the opening goal, Yuki Muto added a second on the stroke of half-time, in the 45th minute. Urawa Red Diamonds had scored twice in a short span and went into the interval leading 2-0. At that stage the match appeared firmly under the home side's control.
47' Yusuke Minagawa (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) 2-1
Two minutes into the second half, in the 47th minute, Yusuke Minagawa pulled a goal back for Sanfrecce Hiroshima. The deficit narrowed from 2-0 to 2-1, and the pattern established before the break was interrupted almost immediately. It was the visitors' first goal of the match.
54' Anderson Lopes (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) 2-2
In the 54th minute, Anderson Lopes levelled the match at 2-2 for Sanfrecce Hiroshima. A two-goal cushion had disappeared within nine minutes of the restart, and the contest was back to square one. For the visitors, those seven minutes had turned the afternoon around.
72' Anderson Lopes (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) 2-3
Eighteen minutes after the equaliser, in the 72nd, Anderson Lopes struck again to put Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-3 in front. It was his second of the night and the culmination of a comeback that had begun from two goals down. With time running short, Urawa Red Diamonds found themselves behind for the first time.
85' Zlatan Ljubijankic (Urawa Red Diamonds) 3-3
In the 85th minute, Zlatan Ljubijankic drew Urawa Red Diamonds level at 3-3. Thirteen minutes after falling behind, the home side had restored parity deep into the second half. Both teams now had three goals apiece with the closing stages ahead.
90'+2 Takahiro Sekine (Urawa Red Diamonds) 4-3
Deep into stoppage time, in the 90+2nd minute, Takahiro Sekine made it 4-3. Having trailed 2-3 and then equalised, Urawa Red Diamonds completed the turnaround with what proved to be the winning goal. The seven-goal meeting at Saitama Stadium 2002 on 1 July 2017 ended with that strike.
