Shunsuke Nakamura scored a trademark free-kick to keep Yokohama Marinos on course for their first J-League title in nine years with a 1-0 win over Oita Trinita on Sunday.

Former Celtic playmaker Nakamura hit the target in the 45th minute to send Marinos back into first place, after defending champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima had briefly gone top by beating Vegalta Sendai 1-0 in Saturday's only game.

Marinos now lead second-place Urawa Red Diamonds by two points, with four games remaining after a weekend in which the top three teams all won.

"Scoring before half-time helped us a lot," said Nakamura. "As I was taking my run-up I noticed that the keeper was off his line, so I went for the near post."

Urawa kept up the pressure on Marinos with a 2-1 win over Kashiwa Reysol in a dress rehearsal for next Saturday's League Cup final.

Yosuke Kashiwagi scored twice within the opening 11 minutes before Masato Kudo pulled one back for Reysol three minutes later, lifting Urawa one point ahead of third-place Sanfrecce.

Kashima Antlers kept their faint title hopes alive and moved into fourth, six points behind the leaders, with a 4-1 win over Kawasaki Frontale, while Cerezo Osaka dropped to fifth after losing 2-0 to Sagan Tosu.

At the other end of the table, seemingly doomed former three-time champions Jubilo Iwata lost 1-0 to local rivals Shimizu S-Pulse -- but were spared relegation for at least another week as Ventforet Kofu could only draw 1-1 with FC Tokyo.

Elsewhere, Kengo Kawamata scored a hat-trick as Albirex Niigata beat Shonan Bellmare 3-2, while former Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka was on target twice as Nagoya Grampus came from behind to sink Omiya Ardija 2-1.