Daiju Sasaki hit a brace as leaders Vissel Kobe brushed aside Kashima Antlers 3-1 on Saturday to maintain a four-point cushion in search of their first J-League first-division title.
Second-place Yokohama F Marinos hammered Consadole Sapporo 4-1 at home, with former Arsenal winger Ryo Miyaichi rolling home the opener to improve to 57 points, another four points clear of third-place Urawa Reds.
At Tokyo's National Stadium, Kobe midfielder Haruya Ide set up Sasaki's 16th-minute opener after turning his marker inside out down the left to send in a cross. Sasaki, unmarked, did well to twist his body and bury his header beyond Kashima keeper Tomoki Hayakawa.
After giving Kashima virtually no chance, dominant Kobe doubled the lead in the 45th minute when forward Yoshinori Muto controlled a long ball inside the box and used the outside of his right foot to deliver a left-wing cross. Ide's header was touched by Hayakawa but had enough power to roll into the net.
Kashima had their first real chance through Naomichi Ueda's 58th-minute header, but it was comfortably smothered by Kobe keeper Daiya Maekawa, while striker Yuma Suzuki's 75th-minute shot from inside the box sailed narrowly over the bar before he shot straight at Maekawa to waste another decent opportunity.
Kobe, who had forwards Yuya Osako and Muto come close, killed the game off in the 83rd minute. Jean Patric, whose low drive hit the post minutes earlier, had his header off a corner again denied by the post, but the ball fell to Sasaki at the far post, with the forward smashing home a half-volley off the bar.
"As you saw, today's result is thanks to us all running and working hard," Sasaki said. "Haru showed his individual skill to send in the cross for my first goal, and the second (off a corner) makes me happy as it was something we'd worked on."
Kashima got some consolation a minute into stoppage time when midfielder Yuta Matsumura drove through the center of Kobe's defensive block before lashing home a fine goal from the edge of the box, but it came a little too late. The defeat left them on 47 points with no chance of winning a title with four games left for all teams.
Elsewhere, Nagoya Grampus won 1-0 away to Gamba Osaka to move up to fourth on 50 points. Albirex Niigata and Sagan Tosu played out a 1-1 draw. Yokohama FC remained rooted at the bottom of the table despite a 1-0 home win over FC Tokyo that kept them one point back of Shonan Bellmare, 1-0 winners away to Kyoto Sanga.
