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Kashima beat Kawasaki to regain J-League lead

The 30-year-old defender met Takuya Nozawa’s corner with a firm header in the 78^th minute to give Kashima a 2-1 lead that they held until the final whistle.

Earlier, Brazilian midfielder Fellype Gabriel opened the scoring for Kashima when he pounced on a poor clearance by Kawasaki midfielder Junichi Inamoto in the 21^st minute.

Kawasaki drew level in the 39^th minute with a sizzling left foot strike from forward Masaru Kurotsu before being reduced to 10 men.

Lee, who scored two goals for South Korea in the World Cup in South Africa, played down his match-winning effort 12 minutes from time.

“It was a very good corner, so it was very easy for me to score,” he said.

Kashima now have eight wins, three draws and two defeats for 27 points, one point ahead of Shimizu S-Pulse, who were held to a goalless draw by Jubilo Iwata.

They are followed by Nagoya Grampus on 25 points, Kawasaki on 21 points, and Cerezo Osaka and Urawa Red Diamonds on 20 points.

Australian international striker Joshua Blake Kennedy scored a towering header from a cross by Brazilian-born Japan international Marcus Tulio Tanaka in the 76^th minute to give Nagoya a 1-0 win over Omiya Ardija.

Cerezo Osaka came back from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Albirex Niigata, while Urawa were to play Gamba Osaka on Sunday.

In other games, Vissel Kobe stormed back from 0-2 down to draw 2-2 with FC Tokyo, with an equaliser by international striker Yoshito Okubo in injury time, while Montedio Yamagata defeated Vegalta Sendai 3-1.