Defender Shintaro Kurumaya struck deep into stoppage time to secure Kawasaki Frontale a thrilling 1-0 Kanagawa Derby win over J-League leaders Yokohama F Marinos on Saturday.
The J1 grudge match at Yokohama's Nissan Stadium between the reigning champions and last year's runners-up appeared set to finish without a goal until Kurumaya bundled the ball across the line off a cutback from defensive substitute Takuma Ominami in the 94th minute.
Despite producing only one goal, the battle between the collective winners of the past six J1 titles saw no shortage of attacking.
Marinos goalkeeper Jun Ichimori produced a series of big stops late in the contest, including a stunning penalty save to redeem his foul that resulted in the spot kick.
While the visitors had much of the early momentum, Kevin Muscat's men looked dangerous on the counter before halftime and created multiple chances that ended with the ball in the side netting or the hands of Kawasaki keeper Naoto Kamifukumoto.
The hosts' failure to effectively clear a corner kick enabled Kawasaki to regroup in attack, with Yusuke Segawa playing a through ball into the area that Ominami gathered and squared to Kurumaya just inside the goal line.
The second consecutive win by Toru Oniki's side lifted them to sixth on the table, while snapping Marinos' unbeaten streak at seven games.
In the day's other J1 fixture, Albirex Niigata held on for a 1-0 win away to Consadole Sapporo despite a red card leaving the visitors with 10 men for the final 29 minutes.
