Urawa Reds needed an 88th minute winner from Toshiyuki Takagi to end Kashiwa Reysol’s resistance and secure a 1-0 win in their MEIJI YASUDA J1 League clash on Friday.

The 24-year-old winger had just been on the pitch for four minutes after coming on for Takahiro Sekine when he collected Tomoaki Makino’s ball before firing it past Takanori Sugeno for the belated breakthrough.

It was Takagi’s first goal for the Reds in 22 outings in all competitions since he joined from Shimizu S-Pulse in January.

His breakthrough strike moves Mihailo Petrovic’s men within five points of second stage leaders Kashima Antlers, who are due to host last season’s champions Gamba Osaka on Saturday.