At Ajinomoto Stadium, Gamba were under pressure in the first half by an aggressive Tokyo side, who went ahead in the 20th minute when former Osaka forward Masashi Oguro headed home Naotake Hanyu's cross.

But boss Akira Nishino introduced youngster Takashi Usami at the break and he provided Gamba with renewed impetus in the second period.

Gamba forward Lee Keun-ho drew Tokyo goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda into a 57th-minute save with a shot from inside the box.

Five minutes later, the South Korea international led a counter before feeding Usami, who fired a shot from the left side of the box but his attempt was blocked by a Tokyo defender.

Gamba went on to threaten the Tokyo goal with attempts from Kazumichi Takagi and Hideo Hashimoto before Usami beat a couple of Tokyo defenders in the 82nd minute and cut into the box but Gonda turned his close-range effort behind for a corner.

Yasuhito Endo then delivered a fine set piece that picked out Sota Nakazawa at the far post and he headed the equaliser.

Tokyo, looking to ease their relegation fears, came close to a winner late in the half but attempts from Naohiro Ishikawa and Sota Hirayama were denied by Gamba defender Michihiro Yasuda and goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya, respectively.

"Obviously, I am not satisfied with the point we collected today," said Nishino afterwards.

"But you cannot expect things to go as you wish and you have to play under strong pressure. We'll keep fighting hard until the moment we see no chances [for the league title]."

Gamba trail leaders Nagoya Grampus by 10 points and have just four games left this season.

Elsewhere, Shonan Bellmare remain bottom of the table following a 4-1 home defeat to Yokohama F Marinos.

Shunsuke Nakamura's penalty and further goals from Koji Yamase, Norihisa Shimizu and substitute forward Jin Hanato did the damage, Emerson getting on the scoresheet for the hosts.

Kyoto Purple Sanga also remain deep in relegation trouble after losing out 4-3 to Kawasaki Frontale.

Takanubu Komiyama gave Frontale a 17th-minute lead but Junior levelled for the hosts on the half-hour mark.

Masaru Kurotsu restored the visitors' advantage with quarter of an hour to go only for Atsutaka Nakamura to again equalise for Kyoto in the 85th minute.

But Japan midfielder Kengo Nakamura's tight finish from close range and Brazilian forward Juninho's goal following Takuro Yajima's cross in the 89th minute gave Frontale a handy cushion, although Kyoto substitute Kim Seng-yong reduced the deficit in stoppage time.

Vissel Kobe beat Vegalta Sendai 2-0 with first-half goals from Takayuki Yoshida and Park Kang-jo but remain in the relegation zone on goal difference following FC Tokyo's point against Gamba.

Cerezo Osaka edged visiting Shimizu S-Pulse 1-0 thanks to forward Rui Komatsu's late strike while Japan forward Ryoichi Maeda netted in stoppage time to help Jubilo Iwata draw 1-1 with Albirex Niigata, Michael opening the scoring for the visitors in the first-half.

Finally, Omiya Ardija held off Montedio Yamagata 2-1 at home thanks to Naoki Ishihara's 70th-minute winner after Tatsuya Ishikawa's penalty nine minutes after the break had cancelled out Rafael's opener.