Yoshinori Muto hit the winner as holders Vissel Kobe beat Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 in the J-League first division on Sunday.
The 43rd-minute goal from the former Mainz and Newcastle forward was enough to give Kobe their first win in four league games and move them up to 33 points, five behind leaders Machida Zelvia, while Kawasaki remained on 20 points.
Kobe, playing as the home side at Tokyo's National Stadium, had the game's first big chance when their captain Hotaru Yamaguchi failed to beat Kawasaki keeper Jung Sung Ryong on a 23rd-minute counter. Kawasaki captain Yasuto Wakizaka struck the post three minutes later at the other end but the move was deemed offside.
A dominant Kobe led when Yuya Osako kept possession with a flicked header and combined with Muto to play in Gotoku Saki on the overlap. The right-back's low shot toward the far post turned out to be a handy cross for Muto, who made no mistake tapping it in.
After Osako's 49th-minute shot on the turn was tipped away for a corner by Jung, Kawasaki had their best chance of the match through a 59th-minute corner, but veteran Akihiro Ienaga failed to hit the target from just meters out when he was left totally unmarked at the far post.
Kawasaki had several forays deep into the Kobe half but their final delivery was lacking, while Osako and Yosuke Ideguchi both skewed big chances wide late on, but neither miss proved costly as Kobe saw the game out in front of 49,541.
"We had this many people coming over for us despite the game being in Tokyo. We wanted to deliver them a win and it turned out to be a wonderful day," Muto said.
