Tokyo Verdy beat Cerezo Osaka 2-0 away to record its first J. League victory under new Argentine manager Osvaldo Ardiles on Sunday.

Defender Masayuki Yanagisawa fired the visitors in front after 13 minutes at Nagai Stadium before midfielder Takuya Yamada finished a quick break to complete the scoring two minutes from time and seal Verdy's third consecutive league win.

Verdy climbed up two places to 12th in the 16-team division on 12 points from 11 games while the capital's other club, FC Tokyo, also ran out 2-0 victor over Vegalta Sendai at Ajinomoto Stadium in the day's other game.

A stunning 20-meter free-kick from Masashi Miyazawa set the home side on its way in the 25th minute and substitute Mitsuhiro Toda lashed home a late second from close range as Hiromi Hara's men moved into sixth on 18 points, five behind leader JEF United Ichihara.

Kyoto hires Verbeek

KYOTO (Kyodo) Kyoto Purple Sanga on Sunday named former South Korea national team assistant coach Pim Verbeek as new manager of the struggling J. League first-division club.

Verbeek will take over from general manager Bunji Kimura, who had been temporarily in charge of team affairs after Kyoto sacked Gert Engels last month following a string of dismal results that left Kyoto at the foot of the 16-team division.