Yuya Asano headed in the winner late in the second half as Consadole Sapporo won 2-1 at home to Kyoto Sanga in Friday's only J-League first-division match.
Mihailo Petrovic's men won their third straight match to move to 22 points from 14 games while handing Kyoto their fourth consecutive loss.
Asano headed home Takuro Kaneko's cross in the 72nd minute at Sapporo Dome for his eighth goal of the season, the second most behind Vissel Kobe striker Yuya Osako's nine.
Kaneko opened the scoring seven minutes into the match from the penalty spot before Brazilian striker Patric leveled the score for Kyoto in the 41st minute.
