Tamada, Narazaki shine ahead of World Cup

The goal came one minute into injury time when Tamada, who has scored 16 goals for the national team, hit a free-kick that took a deflection off a defender before nestling in the back of the net.

‘It was really an important game and it was also an interesting game. Lady luck smiled on us at the last moment. We believed in ourselves and fought till the end,’ said Nagoya’s Serbian coach Dragan Stojkovic.

Stojkovic singled out another Japanese international, Seigo Narazaki, for praise.

‘He concentrated very well and stopped Cerezo Osaka’s dangerous shots several times. He’s a high-quality player,’ he said.

Nagoya are second on 16 points, two points behind leaders Shimizu S-Pulse.

In the only other game on Sunday, Shonan Bellmare defeated Vegalta Sendai 1-0 with forward Yoshiro Abe nodding home Koji Sakamoto’s corner in the 66^th minute.

On Saturday, Shimizu snatched the J-League lead beating Omiya Ardija 2-1 as previous leaders Urawa crashed to a 1-0 defeat to Jubilo Iwata.

Also at the top, Kashima whipped Yokohama Marinos 3-1, while Kawasaki downed Vissel Kobe 3-0.