The Kashima Antlers continued to pad their lead in the J. League on Saturday as the defending champions seized a 1-0 victory in a top-of-the-table clash with Cerezo Osaka.
Leandro struck in the nick of time at Yanmar Stadium, scoring an 88th-minute goal from a right-wing Mu Kanazaki cross to hand the Antlers all three points.
Kashima, on 52 points from 24 games, opened up a five-point gap on the second-place Yokohama F. Marinos, who stretched their unbeaten run to 14 league games after a 1-0 home win against FC Tokyo.