The Yomiuri Shimbun
Sanfrecce Hiroshima players celebrate after defeating Kashiwa Reysol in the final of the J.League YBC Levain Cup on Saturday at Tokyo’s National Stadium.
21:16 JST, November 1, 2025
A clinical first-half performance saw Sanfrecce Hiroshima beat Kashiwa Reysol 3-1 to win the J.League YBC Levain Cup at Tokyo’s National Stadium on Saturday.
Set pieces proved to be the difference between the two teams before a packed crowd of 62,466, with the long throws of Hiroshima’s Shuto Nakano in particular causing Kashiwa no end of problems. Hayato Araki rose highest to meet one in the 25th minute and head in the first goal.
Shunki Higashi then doubled the lead in the 38th minute with a curling free kick that keeper Ryosuke Kojima could only parry into the net.
Ryo Germain added insult to injury on the stroke of halftime when he fired into the roof of the net after Sho Sasaki beat everyone to another long throw at the front post.
While Kashiwa was determined to find a way back into the game, it was Hiroshima that looked more likely to score on the counter. It wasn’t until the 81st minute that Kashiwa finally managed to unlock the Hiroshima defense, when Mao Hosoya broke into the box, outmuscled a defender and put the ball past Keisuke Osako.
The win marks Hiroshima’s second league cup, having beaten Cerezo Osaka in the 2022 final. Kashiwa last won in 2013 and its attention will now turn to the league, as it aims to claim the championship for the first time since 2011.
In the league, Kashiwa is three places and seven points above Hiroshima in the standings and only trails leader Kashima Antlers by one point with three games to go. Both of the previous match-ups between Kashiwa and Hiroshima this season ended in draws.
