On the afternoon of February 12 (Hanoi time), Chanathip was allowed to play from the beginning and played as a left-wing striker in the 4-3-3 diagram of Kawasaki Frontale. This is the debut of the Thai midfielder in the new team shirt.

However, things did not go well for Chanathip. He left no mark in the home team’s 0-2 defeat . On the other side of the front line, Ataru Esaka shined brightly with a double.

Chanathip received defeat in his first title match with Kawasaki Frontale.

Right in the 7th minute, Urawa Reds opened the scoring. After a methodical attack arrangement, Esaka hit a dangerous finish in the penalty area, defeating goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong. Before that, defender Hiroki Sakai made a favorable cross.

After the goal, Urawa Reds actively defended with a low formation. Kawasaki Frontale controlled the ball a lot but played quite stalemate. It wasn’t until the 20th minute that they had their first shot and it was a long shot.

Meanwhile, Urawa Reds proved dangerous with counter-attacks as well as fixed situations. However, they ended up not being sharp enough to widen the gap. The first half ended with a score of 1-0.

In the second half, Kawasaki Frontale changed personnel and tactics. Joao Schmidt left the field to make way for Marcinho. Chananthip is pushed into the middle to play as a defender and moves quite freely.

However, this adjustment does not bring too much difference. Chanathip was substituted for Koyabashi Yu at 77 minutes. In addition, Kawasaki Frontale also used 2 more substitutions to turn the game around.

But when the changes were not effective, Kawasaki Frontale had to concede a second goal. 81 minutes into the match, Esaka completed a double, making it 2-0 for Urawa Reds after a quick counter-attack.