Kisho Yano scored three minutes into the second half to give Nagoya Grampus a 1-0 win over FC Tokyo on Tuesday and end a run of five straight defeats.
Grampus went into the game on an opposite trajectory to Tokyo, which had won four of its previous five matches while conceding only three goals under Italian manager Massimo Ficcadenti.
But it was Grampus who pulled off the "catenaccio" smash-and-grab raid at National Stadium, taking the lead from a Yano header and then shutting up shop to leave the capital with three vital points.