Second place Matsumoto Yamaga drew closer to leaders Consadole Sapporo following their 2016 MEIJI YASUDA J2 League Round 34 win at Kamatamare Sanuki on Sunday.
Despite falling behind to a first-minute Tetsuya Kjima goal, the visitors went into the locker room with a 3-2 lead at half-time and cemented the win with Kohei Kudo’s second goal of the match in the 76th minute.
They found themselves seven points behind Consadole after the northern side drew 0-0 at last place Giravanz Kiyakyushu in Honjo Stadium, despite leading their opponents 14 to 11 in shots on target.
A 94th-minute game-winner by Ryohei Shirasaki denied third place Cerezo Osaka the opportunity to keep up with the automatic promotion race as they fell 2-1 to Shimizu S-Pulse.
The result snapped a four-game winning streak, with the Kincho Stadium residents just two points ahead of Fagiano Okayama in fourth place and three above S-Pulse in fifth.
Kyoto Sanga, who in sixth place occupy the last Promotion Playoff spot settled for a scoreless draw against Zweigen Kanazawa.
They now hold a four-point lead over Machida Zelvia after Yuya Nakamura’s brace led them to a 2-1 win over Tokyo Verdy.
