Shinji Okazaki struck twice, Shunsuke Nakamura limped off midway through the first half and Shimizu S-Pulse held off a frantic late onslaught to beat Yokohama F. Marinos 2-1 on Saturday.
Marinos were looking to end S-Pulse's unbeaten start to the season at Nissan Stadium, but a missed second-half penalty and injuries to Nakamura and Yuzo Kurihara — called up to the national team this week three-and-a-half years after winning his one and only cap — left them counting the cost of a miserable afternoon instead.
Nakamura and Kurihara were both scheduled to undergo further checks on Sunday to assess the extent of their injuries, but Yokohama manager Kazushi Kimura did not appear confident of their participation in Japan's friendly against Serbia in Osaka on Wednesday.
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