Kashiwa Reysol moved up to second in the J-League first division with their sixth straight win, a 2-0 away victory at Jubilo Iwata on Saturday.

Gamba Osaka moved to the top of the table with a 3-0 home win over Sagan Tosu.

At Yamaha Stadium, Cristiano opened the scoring just before the break for Reysol. The Brazilian then turned creator midway through the second half, setting up Hiroto Nakagawa for a header on the counter that put Kashiwa all but in the clear.

Gamba secured a comfortable win over Tosu in the evening game to go top on 25 points, one ahead of Kashiwa, after Shun Nagasawa headed in a brace.

Reysol improved to 24 points from 12 games, one point ahead of Urawa Reds, who surrendered top spot after drawing 3-3 at home to Shimizu S-Pulse despite Shinzo Koroki's second hat-trick of the campaign.

"I'm happy about this for sure," Reysol manager Takahiro Shimotaira said. "The game was close enough that I think it could have gone either way."

"I hope we can keep winning, make it seven, eight straight."

Jubilo lost at home for the second successive weekend. Last week, Hiroshi Nanami's men were defeated by Kawasaki Frontale also 2-0.

"First Kawasaki, now Reysol. We've been beaten again at home, which is unacceptable," Nanami said. "You can go on and on about what we should have or could have done but at the end of the day, you have to get the job done. That's the bottom line."

Cristiano netted in the 44th minute from a Nakagawa back heel inside the box that redirected a right-wing cross by Junya Ito.

The game was marked by controversy in the 54th minute, when the visitors won a penalty as goalkeeper Krzysztof Kaminski caught Kosuke Taketomi on the follow through after sliding to stop the Kashiwa midfielder.

The Iwata players mobbed referee Koichiro Fukushima in a furious protest and the official caved in, overturning his decision following a discussion with the linesman.

But 20 minutes after their penalty was taken away, Reysol doubled the lead when Cristiano picked out Nakagawa by the far post on the break for a close-range header.

"I didn't have to do much, just tap it because the ball from Cristiano was so good," Nakagawa said. "As good as this win was, we have to turn our sights to the next one right away."

Elsewhere in J1, Albirex handed new manager and former Japan international Wagner Lopes his first win, Rony scoring the lone goal in Niigata's 1-0 home win over Consadole Sapporo as they halted a four-game losing streak.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima edged Ventforet Kofu 2-1 away for only their second victory of 2017, while Yokohama F Marinos drew 1-1 with Vegalta Sendai at Nissan Stadium.

Former Sevilla man Hiroshi Kiyotake scored his third goal in four games as Cerezo Osaka won 3-0 at Omiya Ardija, who dropped to bottom. Vissel Kobe drew 1-1 at home against FC Tokyo.