17 minutes into the encounter, Utaka got his first of the day. Left unmarked inside the visitors’ box, the Nigerian rifled a Shohei Takeda assist past goalkeeper Ko Shimura.
Six minutes later, he doubled his team’s advantage guiding a cross from Kosuke Taketomi past a stranded Muramatsu with his left foot.
In the goal-laden first-half, Takahiro Iida made it three goals for Sanga in the 26th minute having been teed up by Takumi Miyayoshi.
Knowing they were in for a torrid night, Kitakyushu stepped up their game and deservedly reduced the deficit through Takamitsu Tomiyama two minutes before the half-time break.