The Yokohama F·Marinos attack has been unstoppable for months and that continued in Tosu. Four different players scored for the Tricolor en route to a 4-0 victory against a Sagan team that has become known for its steely backline. Combined with Kawasaki Frontale’s loss to Avispa Fukuoka, Marinos now stand just one point back of the defending champions in the title race.

Sagan actually had the first good chance of the match, but Tomoya Koyamatsu’s shot just missed the frame after he was played in alone on the goalkeeper just three minutes after kickoff. After that, Marinos took control.

In the 41st minute, Marinos finally broke through as Léo Ceará was played in alone on goal, but instead of shooting, he unselfishly hit a pass across from Daizen Maeda to tap into the open net. It was Maeda’s 14th goal of the season, tying him among current players for the league lead.

Three minutes after halftime, the match took a drastic turn when Yuta Higuchi pulled down Maeda from behind in the box and the referee showed him a red card for denial of clear goalscoring opportunity. Léo Ceará buried the ensuing penalty and Marinos were off to the races. Late goals by Kota Mizunuma and Teruhito Nakagawa, both of whom ran in behind a desperate 10-man Sagan, wrapped up a dominant win for the visitors.

The Tricolor attack is in top form, and not only are all of their opponents feeling the heat from their slew of dangerous attackers, but Frontale is feeling it at the top of the table now. The champions’ previously massive lead is now down to just one point and Marinos look primed to take the fight to them all the way down to the end of the season.