The title race in the Meiji Yasuda J1 League is going to be must-see TV in the last two matchweeks after Kawasaki Frontale cut Yokohama F·Marinos’ lead to just two points on Wednesday.

Frontale beat Kyoto Sanga, 3-1, with ease thanks to early set-piece offense. Shogo Taniguchi scored on the second ball in from a corner just six minutes in, then Kento Tachibanada added his own on a corner kick in the 22nd minute to send Frontale flying. Marcinho scored after halftime to put the match away, making Sanga’s late tally irrelevant.

Marinos, however, yet again found themselves coming up short, with their league-best attack sputtering down the stretch in a 1-0 home loss to bottom-of-the-table Júbilo Iwata. The Yokohama side failed to break down the visitors, mustering little more than shots from distance in the first half and struggling in transition, where they normally excel.

The counter-attacking battle was ultimately won by Júbilo, who raced forward with numbers in the 84th minute before Yosuke Furukawa scored the most consequential goal of the J1 season thus far. Júbilo had themselves a massive victory in their bid to avoid relegation, while Marinos’ loss saw their lead atop the table cut to just two points.

The league leaders have had control of J1 for months and they entered their last two games with a chance to clinch the title, but now their lead over Frontale is nearly gone.

Will Marinos be able to hold on for their first title since 2019? Or will Frontale complete a miraculous late-season comeback to be crowned champions for a third straight year?

There’s two weeks left, and the title to play for.