Anderson Lopes' hat-trick boosted Asian Champions League runners-up Yokohama F Marinos to a 4-0 win over Kashiwa Reysol on Wednesday, their first victory in seven J-League first-division matches.
Four days after losing the ACL final to Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates, Marinos bounced back with a vengeance against Reysol at Nissan Stadium.
Lopes scored from the penalty spot early on, made it 3-0 just after the hour and completed his hat-trick in the final seconds of added time.
"It was a great performance, especially in the first half, the way we moved the ball," Marinos manager Harry Kewell said. "We got our chances and got our goals. In the second half, we know Kashiwa have ability, and they worked really hard to create chances."
"Tonight, my players showed me that there is something special in this team. I want to enjoy this moment, but we've got to rest up and recover because we've got a big game on Saturday (against second-placed Kashima Antlers)."
Reysol defender Taiyo Koga failed to get his arm out of the way of a well-struck Jun Amano shot in the heart of the penalty area, saw yellow and watched as Lopes scored from the spot in the 11th minute.
The hosts made it 2-0 in the 43rd minute when Yan Matheus penetrated down the right side and flicked it back to Katsuya Nagato, who hammered a low shot into the net.
Lopes' second came after a free kick resulted in a penalty area melee. A teammate's headed shot came to Lopes off the bar for him to strike from close range, threading his shot between a pack of four defenders.
In the 96th minute, Lopes led a break on the counter and beat the keeper one-on-one after receiving a perfectly timed through pass from Matheus.
Marinos, who have played 14 games, two fewer than all but two other teams due to their long Asian campaign, improved to 13th, on 20 points, while Reysol are 11th on 22 points from 16 games.
