Goalkeeper Norihiro Yamagishi headed in a stoppage-time winner to send Emperor’s Cup finalists Montedio Yamagata into the playoff final for promotion to the J. League first division with a 2-1 victory away to Jubilo Iwata on Sunday.
Iwata, which finished fourth in J2 this season, only had to avoid defeat to sixth-placed Yamagata to book its spot in the Dec. 7 final against JEF United Chiba in Tokyo.
And Ryohei Yamazaki’s equalizer on the stroke of halftime looked to have done enough to ensure Iwata remained on course for a return to the top flight. But with the clock ticking down, Yamagishi came up for a corner and got his head on the end of Tatsuya Ishikawa’s cross to score the clincher in the 92nd minute.