It was Kawasaki's sixth consecutive league match without a victory as they dropped to seventh place, 13 points adrift of leaders Gamba Osaka who hammered FC Tokyo 6-2.

Frontale, who last won on May 13 at Ventforet Kofu, were stunned when Ryoicih Maeda opened the scoring for the visitors just three minutes into the game, tapping in at the far post after Kawasaki defender Hiroki Ito was unable to adequately clear a corner kick.

The hosts, who were playing without injured Brazilian midfielder Magnum, levelled the score in the 21st minute through a solo effort by Juninho, but fell behind again three minutes after the break when midfielder Sho Naruoka met a cross from Yoshiaki Ota to slot home his fifth goal of the season.

Five minutes later, Jubilo launched a devastating counter-attack with Keisuke Funatani passing to Maeda to score his fifth goal in five games since returning from injury.

Frontale cut the lead when Japan midfielder Kengo Nakamura struck with a superb free-kick in the 59th minute but it was just a consolation as the home side's winless slide continued.

Jubilo, who are unbeaten in their last four games, improved three spots to fourth and remain five points behind second-placed Urawa Reds, who claimed their first win at Nihondaira Stadium against Shimizu S-Pulse since 1997.

Japan international Yuki Abe headed home a Ponte corner in the 24th minute to end their frustrations against the Shizuoka side.

Reds could have won by a bigger margin as Washington saw his effort on the hour mark kept out by Shimizu goalkeeper Yohei Nishibe, while Ponte's close-range effort midway through the second half was ruled out for offside.

However, the defending champions remain five points adrift of leaders Gamba Osaka, who trailed 2-0 at home against FC Tokyo after 15 minutes but stormed back with five second-half goals in a 6-2 victory.

Brazilian forward Magno Alves and substitute Ryuji Bando each scored twice as Gamba stretched their unbeaten home run to 24 games.

Second-half goals by Kisho Yano and Jun Uchida earned Albirex Niigata a 2-1 away win at JEF United Chiba, moving them up to third place.

In other games on Saturday, Kashiwa Reysol scored a 4-2 away win over 10-man Yokohama FC, Ventforet Kofu snapped their seven-game winless streak by downing Oita Trinita and Vissel Kobe edged Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3-2 thanks to Yoshito Okubo's stoppage-time penalty.