The Socceroo, who is known for scoring with his head, produced a lovely strike to clinch the victory for Nagoya ten minutes into the second-half.

Earlier, Kennedy had intelligently got out of the way for Marcus Tulio Tanaka to open the scoring with a header from a corner.

The big Aussie played a full game for Nagoya who are now up to third, one point behind leaders Urawa Red Diamonds who won 2-0 at Albirex Niigata, with Matt Spiranovic an unused substitute.

In China's Super League, Ryan Griffiths scored the winner as champions Beijing Guoan won 1-0 at Changchun Yatai to move up to third on the table.

On 31 minutes, Griffiths gathered the ball inside the box before turning and unleashing a wicked left-foot shot which was too much for the Changchun keeper.

Griffiths also fired a 79th minute long-range effort wide, as he played out the full game, with his brother Joel Griffiths, who also started, replaced late.

Elsewhere in the CSL, Chris Coyne put in a full shift in defence for Liaoning Whowin who continued their unbeaten start to the season defeating Henan Construction 2-0 on Friday.

Meanwhile in the Chinese second tier, Brendon Santalab started and played 75 minutes for Chengdu Blades as they made it two from two with a 1-0 win at Hunan Xiangtao.

In Korea's K-League on Friday, big defender Sasa Ognenovski played a full game for Seongnam Ilhwa as they defeated Suwon Bluewings 2-1. Seongnam are now second, one point behind leaders Ulsan Horang.