Hisato Sato put the away side ahead in the 26th minute with his 17th strike of the season, with Naoki Ishihara doubling their advantage 10 minutes after the interval to seal victory.

The win leaves Sanfrecce four points clear at the summit of the Japanese top flight as second-placed Vegalta Sendai lost ground with a 0-0 draw at home to fourth-placed Kashiwa Reysol.

Nagoya Grampus were soundly beaten 5-0 at home to Gamba Osaka.

Nagoya were forced to play the whole second half with 10 men thanks to a red card to defender Takahiro Masukawa in the 42nd minute, with Gamba able to take full advantage of their numerical superiority.

Urawa Red Diamonds held on to third spot with a 2-1 win over Kashima Antlers. Two first-half goals Tomoya Ugajin and Genki Haraguchi were enough to seal the win for the home side.

Yokohama F. Marinos were unable to make it three wins in a row after playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Kawasaki Frontale.

Yokohama looked to be heading towards all three points after a first half double from Brazilian Marquinhos before Kawasaki's Yusuke Tanaka scored a double of his own in the second half to leave both sides with a point.

Jubilo Iwata and Cerezo Osaka played out the match of the day with an exciting 4-3 win. Cerezo were leading 3-2 with eight minutes to play before Ryoichi Maeda scored two goals in three minutes to hand Jubilo a memorable victory.

In other results, Consadole Sapporo were beaten 4-2 at home by Vissel Kobe, while Tokyo suffered a 1-0 loss to lowly Omiya Ardija.

Elsewhere, second placed Vegalta Sendai drew with fourth-placed Kashiwa Reysol 0-0 and Shimizu S-Pulse recorded a 1-0 away win over Sagan Tosu.