Yan Matheus and Anderson Lopes spared Yokohama F Marinos' blushes with late goals in a 3-2 win over 10-man Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the J-League first division on Wednesday.
Defensive lapses allowed Sanfrecce to score in the second minute and take a 77th-minute lead despite going a man down early in the second half at Yokohama's Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium.
Matheus scored a 27th-minute equalizer, and Lopes leveled the scores in the 87th minute before up Matheus' powerful 90th-minute winner with a slick back-heel.
"That play developed very quickly. I shouted to him. I don't know if he heard me or not, but he gave me a great ball," Matheus said.
Matheus equalized in the first half from a long ball just over the halfway line. He dribbled into the area and lost the ball, only for a defender to flick it into his path for him to fire past keeper Keisuke Osako.
Sanfrecce lost midfielder Makoto Mitsuta in the 52nd minute for a second yellow. But the visitors took the lead after repeated Marinos' misses in front of goal were compounded by a poor throw-in in their defensive half that was exploited by a spectacular one-man effort from Yuki Ohashi.
Marinos equalized 10 minutes later with Ryo Miyaichi crossing for Lopes to deflect in from point-blank range.
"We made a mistake for the first goal, but then I felt we controlled the game," Marinos manager Harry Kewell said. "We were making our patterns and deservedly got back into the game. We created many chances and...couldn't convert. We deserved the win."
Marinos, Asian Champions League runners-up, moved up to 12th in the 20-team J1 table, while Sanfrecce remain fifth.
