Defending J. League champions Gamba Osaka withstood a late onslaught to edge Urawa Reds 2-1 at home and keep alive their hopes of a place in the postseason on Saturday.

Goals from Hiroyuki Abe and Shun Nagasawa earned Gamba the crucial victory and put them within two points of third-place FC Tokyo in the overall standings with three games of the season remaining.

"It was a difficult game, but we got the three points," said Gamba captain Yasuhito Endo. "We had a bit of a scare at the end but everyone dug in hard.