Daichi Kamada opened his account for Lazio in memorable fashion Saturday, scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory away to defending Serie A champions Napoli at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
The 27-year-old midfielder was among several Japanese scorers overnight in Europe, with Takefusa Kubo bagging a brace in Real Sociedad's first Spanish La Liga win of the season, while Bochum's Takuma Asano also had a double and Ko Itakura netted for Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany's Bundesliga.
The performances are a positive development for Samurai Blue manager Hajime Moriyasu ahead of friendlies against Germany on Sept. 9 and Turkey three days later.
Kamada buried the 52nd-minute winner in Naples after receiving the ball at the edge of the box and carrying it inside before pulling the trigger with his left foot. The well-taken shot traveled through the legs of a defender before finding the far bottom corner.
"It's an important goal and a win both for me and the team," said Kamada after Lazio secured their first points following two defeats to open their campaign.
The goal was set up with a clever dummy from Luis Alberto, who had given the visitors the lead with a back-heel in the 30th minute, two minutes before Napoli equalized on Piotr Zielinski's deflected shot from distance.
Kubo took his season's tally to three La Liga goals in another man-of-the-match performance as Sociedad overpowered Granada 5-3 at home.
The attacker broke clear of the visitors' high backline and slotted into the bottom corner for the ninth-minute opener, before making it 2-1 in the 44th minute when he cut inside and buried his shot inside the far post via a slight deflection off a defender.
Kubo's clever feet inside the box led to his team's third from Martin Zubimendi in the 59th minute, while the star performer's pass was deflected in for a 76th-minute own goal to give Sociedad a 5-1 lead before Granada pulled two back.
In the Bundesliga, forward Asano scored his first goal of the season before adding another as Bochum came from behind twice to draw 2-2 away to Augsburg.
Asano used the outside of his right boot to slot home in the air from close range in the 45th minute before scoring off a lofted ball into the area in the 64th minute, using the same part of his foot to sink a difficult volley in off the far post from a tight angle.
Defender Itakura got his second goal this term for Monchengladbach, his well-placed header off a flicked corner finding the far corner in the 30th minute of a 2-1 loss at home to Bayern Munich.
Leroy Sane scored the 58th-minute leveler for Bayern before Mathys Tel headed in the winner three minutes from time for the 11-time reigning champions.
Winger Kaoru Mitoma had an assist as Evan Ferguson's hat-trick gave Brighton a 3-1 home win over Newcastle in the English Premier League, while Stuttgart defender Hiroki Ito also set up a goal as his team demolished Freiburg 5-0 at home in Germany.
Takumi Minamino, overlooked for Japan's upcoming friendlies despite his flying start to the season, notched an assist as Monaco won 3-0 at home against Lens to move top in the French Ligue 1.
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