Sagan Tosu closes gap on Urawa Reds in J-League

TOKYO (AP) — Yohei Toyoda scored a second-half goal Sunday as Sagan Tosu beat Cerezo Osaka 1-0 to keep the pressure on leaders Urawa Reds in the J-League standings.

Toyoda converted a pass from Kim Min-woo in the 67th minute for his ninth goal of the season as Tosu improved to 34 points, two back of Urawa, which was held to 1-1 draw by Kashima Antlers.

Shinzo Koroki scored in the 20th minute for Urawa but Gaku Shibasaki equalized 10 minutes later to give the seven-time champions a share of the points.

In other matches, Kentaro Moriya scored in the second half as third place Kawasaki Frontale beat Albirex Niigata 1-0 to improve to 33 points. Defending champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Ventforet Kofu finished 1-1 as did Yokohama Marinos and Nagoya Grampus.

Hiroyuki Takasaki scored a pair of goals and Yu Eto added another as last-place Tokushima Vortis beat Omiya Ardija 3-1 for only its second win of the campaign.

Elsewhere, Brazilian Patric scored twice to lead Gamba Osaka to a 5-1 thrashing of Vissel Kobe.

Milivoje Novakovic scored 30 minutes in to put Shimizu S-Pulse on the way to a 3-0 win over Kashiwa Reysol while FC Tokyo beat Vegalta Sendai by the same scoreline.