Kensuke Nagai came off the bench to score his first J. League goal on Sunday as champions Nagoya Grampus beat Jubilo Iwata 2-1 at home to extend their winning streak to six matches.
Yoshizumi Ogawa canceled out Hidetaka Kanazono's 19th-minute opener for the visitors and Nagai squeezed the winner just inside the far post 17 minutes from time to put Grampus within two points of leaders Kashiwa Reysol with a game in hand.
Gamba Osaka, level on 39 points with Grampus, also kept up the pressure on Kashiwa with a 2-0 defeat of relegation-haunted Avispa Fukuoka. Kashiwa beat second-place Yokohama F. Marinos by the same scoreline on Saturday.