Kawasaki Frontale ended Kashima Antlers' nine-match unbeaten run and cut the gap on the J. League leaders with an emphatic 3-1 win on Sunday.
Defending champion Kashima had won eight of nine games and drawn the other heading into the match at Todoroki Stadium, but a first-half own goal by Daigo Nishi and clinical strikes from Hiroyuki Abe and Akihiro Ienaga after the break gave Frontale a deserved victory, despite a late consolation from Yuma Suzuki.
First-place Antlers stayed two points clear of second-place Cerezo Osaka — who did not play on Sunday — but wins for Yokohama F. Marinos, Kashiwa Reysol and Frontale saw the gap between first and fifth shrink to four points.