Former Japan No. 10 Shinji Kagawa scored a fine chip to complete the scoring as clinical Cerezo Osaka cruised past Consadole Sapporo 4-1 away in the J-League first division on Saturday.
The former Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United attacker, who returned to his first professional club ahead of the season, netted with a first-time lob off Leo Ceara's low right-wing cross in the 76th minute at Sapporo Dome.
Cerezo moved up to 32 points after hitting three first-half goals while containing the potent attack from Sapporo, who had scored the most goals in J1 heading into the weekend fixtures.
"I was thinking the next goal would determine the outcome of the game," the 34-year-old captain said after scoring his second league goal of the season. "I knew they (Sapporo) could score two or three given their firepower, and the atmosphere was tense, but that goal sealed it."
Cerezo got off to a dream start with a second-minute opener as Mutsuki Kato peeled away from his marker down the left to provide a cross, and Leo Ceara buried a difficult volley into the bottom corner.
Kato doubled the lead in the 17th minute as Kagawa's pressure forced Sapporo midfielder Yuya Asano to misplace his pass back to their backline. It landed at Kato, and the forward squeezed his effort in from 30 meters out, past keeper Takanori Sugeno, who was way out of his goal.
Sugeno could not do much about Cerezo's third either, as Hinata Kida smashed a loose ball into the top corner from outside the box in the 38th minute.
Asano set up Takuma Arano's header from a corner as Consadole got one back on the stroke of halftime. But Cerezo hit the woodwork twice early in the second half through a Kato header and Jordy Croux's free kick before Kagawa put the tie to bed to keep Sapporo on 26 points.
