Vissel Kobe opened up a four-point lead Friday atop the J-League first division with a 2-0 away win against Yokohama F Marinos, who missed their chance to go top.
Thanks to goals from Yuya Osako and Yoshinori Muto, Vissel moved to 58 points. Third-place Urawa Reds are four points back after they were held 1-1 at home by 17th-place Yokohama FC.
At Yokohama's Nissan Stadium, the visitors got on the scoreboard via a penalty in the 23rd minute, Osako firing home from the spot after Brazilian defender Eduardo swung his leg upward to block a shot by Muto and clipped the forward's leg instead.
"Against such an extremely good opponent, we knew we'd have to give 120 percent or we couldn't win," Muto said.
Without being shown a yellow for the foul, Eduardo appeared emboldened. He once used both arms to wrestle Osako to the pitch as they went for a high ball, and then bowled the striker over from behind.
The Brazilian, however, suffered no consequences for his physical play, and was able to block a 42nd-minute rocket off Muto's boot with his chest.
Muto, however, had the last word, heading home from the ensuing corner.
"I haven't been contributing to the team for a long time, so winning the penalty and then scoring was quite a relief," Muto said.
In Friday's other game, Albirex Niigata won 3-2 at Kawasaki Frontale.
