Hirofumi Watanabe couldn't have scored his first goal of the season at a better time as the injury replacement was the match-winner of the Emperor's Cup final in Kashiwa Reysol's 1-0 victory over Gamba Osaka on Tuesday.
Before a sellout crowd of 46,480 on New Year's Day at the National Stadium, the first-half header from Watanabe gave Kashiwa their first Emperor's Cup crown since the launch of the J-League in 1993.
The 25-year-old Watanabe was filling in for center-half Naoya Kondo, who was hurt in the 1-0 semifinal win over Yokohama F Marinos on Saturday.