Yokohama F·Marinos cut Kawasaki Frontale’s lead atop the MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE back down to single digits with a thrilling comeback finished off by top scorer Daizen Maeda. The Tricolor scored twice in the last six minutes to beat Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, 2-1, and now trail Frontale by just nine points with six matches to go in the season.

Daiki Suga gave Consa a 24th minute lead with a belter into the top corner and put the pressure on Marinos to mount a comeback. For much of the match, the Tricolor were unable to get much going and as the game reached the 84th minute, they had yet to find a goal, but then the tide turned.

Élber got a bit of space down the left and picked out Kenyu Sugimoto, hitting a perfect cross that Sugimoto headed home to snatch an equalizer for Marinos. All of a sudden, the men from Yokohama were back in the match, but they were not done.

Four minutes later, Jun Amano beat two defenders before spotting Maeda rushing to the back post. He put the ball right on Maeda’s foot and the league’s leading scorer did not miss, finding the back of the net to give Marinos a much-needed victory to keep the title race on.

Not only are Marinos now inching closer to Frontale, but Maeda holds a two-goal advantage atop the goal scoring charts now. With six matches to go, Maeda is in position to become Marinos’ fourth-ever Golden Boot winner.