Kawasaki Frontale maintained the pressure on J. League leaders Sanfrecce Hiroshima with a 1-0 win over Vegalta Sendai in steamy conditions on Saturday.

Kengo Nakamura scored in the 55th minute at Todoroki Stadium to keep defending champions Frontale six points behind Sanfrecce — who beat Cerezo Osaka 1-0 — with a game in hand. Sanfrecce have 10 games of the season remaining.

The temperature reached 31 degrees with 67 percent humidity at pitch level despite the game kicking off at 7 p.m., but Frontale manager Toru Oniki was pleased to see his team cope with the sweltering heat and rack up another three points.