Spanish star Andres Iniesta scored his first J-League goal for Vissel Kobe held on for 2-1 win at home over Jubilo Iwata in the first division on Saturday.

Former Germany World Cup hero Lukas Podolski, back in Vissel's lineup for the first time since May 2 due to several injuries, linked up with the Spaniard to open the scoring in the 15th minute at Noevia Stadium.

With good movement off the ball, Iniesta created space just outside the penalty box, where Podolski picked him out with a perfect through pass. The first defender to challenge the Spaniard lunged and fell. Keeper Krzysztof Kaminski did likewise. Iniesta then rounded the keeper and coolly slotted home.

"He (Podolski) is a great player, a former world champion," Iniesta said. "I'm very happy, very pleased with my first goal, but more important we could get the win and the three points so we can aim to compete higher up in the table."

(Iniesta and Podolski celebrate with their teammates)

The hosts doubled their lead in the 56th minute, when Kyogo Furuhashi finished a superb movement in traffic that started with an Iniesta pass to Leo Osaki. Osaki's one-touch pass found Wellington with his back to the ball on the edge of the area. Without looking, the Brazilian back-heeled the ball to Furuhashi, releasing him for an open shot that he buried.

The visitors got a goal back on Kengo Kawamata's 84th-minute penalty. Referee Yoshiro Imamura pointed to the spot when Jubilo's Hiroki Yamada collapsed in the penalty area following an imperceptible challenge from Iniesta, introducing a new level of testiness to the match.

Five minutes later, Vissel's Naoyuki Fujita was handed a yellow card for bringing down Yamada from behind.

Podolski was sidelined in May by a left calf injury. After coming back from that, he broke a small bone in his left foot, the medial cuneiform.

At Sapporo Dome, Thai striker Chanathip Songkrasin's counterstrike earned a point for Consadole Sapporo in a 1-1 draw with Cerezo Osaka. The draw saw Consadole drop into fifth place on 31 points, one less than fourth-place Vissel.

The visitors opened the scoring in the sixth minute from a Yusuke Maruhashi corner kick at Sapporo Dome. Croat Matej Jonjic slipped away from Kim Min Tae, turned and rose high over the chasing South Korean defender to head home.

Chanathip equalized seconds later with a beauty of a goal. Just outside the penalty area, the Thai controlled a cross from the left with his right foot then hammered it on the bounce into the left side of the goal.

"Getting a good first touch has been a theme of mine and I'm happy to have been able to execute that today. The timing of the cross was perfect, but looking back I have to do more than just score one goal for us to win."

Elsewhere, champions Kawasaki Frontale moved to within a point of second-place FC Tokyo with a 2-1 win at Shimizu S-Pulse, while leaders Sanfrecce Hiroshima moved eight points clear of Tokyo with a 2-0 win at home against V-Varen Nagasaki.

Last-place Nagoya Grampus beat Kashima Antlers 4-2 at Toyota Stadium behind a brace from Takashi Kanai. After snapping a four-game losing skid last Sunday, Kashiwa Reysol fell 2-0 at home to Vegalta Sendai.

In other matches, Yokohama F Marinos won 1-0 in their Kanagawa Prefecture derby at Shonan Bellmare, while Sagan Tosu won its second straight, beating visiting Urawa Reds 1-0.