Mao Hosoya struck twice before halftime to spur Kashiwa Reysol to a 2-1 win over Consadole Sapporo in the J-League first division Saturday.
Thailand star Supachok Sarachat pulled one back for the hosts in the second half at Sapporo Dome, where Mihailo Petrovic's men were looking for their first win in three games.
The victory was the third from the last four games for 16th-place Reysol, who look increasingly likely to avoid relegation after twice slumping to the bottom of the table.
Only the bottom side at the end of this season will go down, with three coming up from the second division to expand the J1 to 20 teams from next year.
Hosoya opened the scoring on a counterattack in the 21st minute, finishing precisely after Matheus Savio intercepted the ball and found the 22-year-old striker with an incisive pass through the middle of the pitch.
The visitors went up 2-0 on another counter 17 minutes later, with Hosoya taking one touch to control Diego's cross before slotting from directly in front.
Supachok made it 2-1 six minutes into the second half, volleying home after the ball rebounded off Kashiwa keeper Kenta Matsumoto as he tried to prevent Yuya Asano from scoring.
Hosoya, who is expected to be part of the Japanese men's team aiming for the 2024 Paris Olympics, brought his tally to 12 J1 goals with his first brace of the season.
"The first goal was thanks to a good ball from Savio. I was able to connect with it well. The second was something we've worked on in practice," Hosoya said. "I want to keep working hard toward scoring a goal every game."
In other results, Avispa Fukuoka played a scoreless draw against visiting Kashima Antlers.
