Omiya Ardija extended their lead at the top of the J.League table with a 2-0 win at Oita Trinita on Friday.
Omiya have never posted a top-half finish in the J.League, making their start to the season even more surprising.
They won their seventh game from a possible nine, and kept their unbeaten record alive, with their victory at bottom-placed Oita Trinita.
Slovenian forward Milivoje Novakovic opened the scoring after 18 minutes with his fourth goal in his last three matches.
And Takuya Aoki sealed the points three minutes into the second half with his strike.
Omiya’s win was made even better by the fact the second-placed Yokohama F.Marinos could only scrape a 1-1 home draw with the Kashima Antlers.
Takuya Nozawa gave Kashima a 73rd-minute lead, with Brazilian Fabio Aguiar Da Silva netting in the fifth minute of stoppage time to give his side a point.
FC Tokyo climbed to fifth with a 3-2 win at Sagan Tosu, which came largely thanks to Kazuma Watanabe’s second-half double.
Keigo Higashi gave the winners the lead after 28 minutes and Watanabe struck twice in the four minutes after the break.
Late goals from Yohei Toyoda and Kota Mizunuma gave FC Tokyo some nervous moments but they held on for a crucial three points.
Cerezo Osaka also won well on the road, as Yoichiro Kakitani netted twice in a 3-0 success at Shonan Bellmare.
Other results saw Albirex Niigata beat Shimizu S-Pulse 2-1 while Kawasaki Frontale and Ventforet Kofu won by the same scoreline against Nagoya Grampus and Jubilo Iwata respectively.
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