The 2016 MEIJI YASUDA J2 League has a new provisional leader following the campaign’s 18th round, 10 matches of which were played on Sunday, June 12.

In a rain-soaked encounter at City Light Stadium, Fagiano Okayama won 2-1 over Matsumoto Yamaga thanks to goals by Shinya Yajima and Masahiko Sawaguchi, jumping to the top of a congested table for the time being with 34 points from 18 matches.

Cerezo Osaka trail Fagiano on goal difference after their 1-0 win at FC Gifu, with Bruno Meneghel scoring the lone goal of the match.

Machida Zelvia’s Koji Suzuki engineered a last-minute 2-2 draw at Mito Hollyhock when he scored his second goal of the match in the fourth minute of second half stoppage time.

Kyoto Sanga rose to fourth place with a 3-0 win against Renofa Yamaguchi, with Andrei scoring in the third minute and Shunsuke Iwanuma and Daniel Lovinho piling on later in the match.

Third-place Consadole Sapporo, the former leaders who still have two games in hand, will host V-Varen Nagasaki on Monday night at Sapporo Dome.