Asia's reigning youth player of the year, Ritsu Doan, struck for the second straight game as Gamba Osaka closed to within a point of the J-League first division lead with a 1-0 win over Yokohama F Marinos on Sunday.

Doan netted the lone goal midway through the second half for the visitors, who shot up to 18 points a quarter of the way through the season, one point off the pace of Urawa Reds.

Urawa were toppled 1-0 away by Omiya in the Saitama derby as last-place Ardija won their first game of 2017. Kashima Antlers were third behind Gamba on goal difference following a 2-1 home win over Sagan Tosu.

The 18-year-old Doan, who struck twice in a 6-0 drubbing of Omiya on April 21, is heating up at the right time, with the midfielder expected to be named on Tuesday to Japan's squad for next month's Under-20 World Cup in South Korea.

"I'm obviously happy about the goal, but I'm just as happy about having played the full 90 minutes," Doan said. "I feel like I left everything out there."

"I feel like I have the fitness to play 90 minutes at this level now. I would've been a little unsure physically for the U-20 World Cup if I couldn't plug in a full shift but now I feel good about myself."

Gamba manager Kenta Hasegawa said his two goals against Ardija have boosted the teenager's confidence.

"Up until now, we held him back for the reasons that he's still in high school or that he's 18," Hasegawa said. "But this season, we treat him like any other player at the club."

"I think he's figured a few things out. The game he had against Omiya has really added to his confidence."

The game at Nissan Stadium didn't come to life until after halftime, following a dormant first half when both sides were starved for chances.

Shun Nagasawa had the first clear-cut opportunity of the match shortly past the hour, but was foiled by goalkeeper Hiroki Iikura from point-blank range.

Iikura, though, could not keep the 18-year-old Doan out in the 64th minute, when he slotted home his third goal of the campaign from a Nagasawa back heel after Hiroki Fujiharu flung in a cross.

Nagasawa himself should have netted four minutes later after Admilson sent him through with a sublime ball down the middle, but the former Shimizu S-Pulse man fired wide of the left-hand post despite being completely free in the area.

Marinos pushed back in the closing minutes, but with Manabu Saito marked out of the game, they never created enough to pose a true threat to Hasegawa's men.

Gamba host Shimizu on Friday before traveling to South Korea to face Jeju United in their final Asian Champions League Group H match on May 9. Gamba must beat Jeju and pray Adelaide United do not win against leaders Jiangsu FC for them to have a shot of qualifying for the round of 16.

"This was a huge win for us," Hasegawa said. "It was an extremely difficult matchup."

"Some patches of April were rocky but we're going into the month of May in pretty good shape. We've got Shimizu first and after that, hopefully we can pull off a small miracle in the ACL."

Elsewhere in J1, Vissel Kobe were stunned 1-0 at home by Ventforet Kofu, while S-Pulse were embarrassed 3-0 by Vegalta Sendai in Shimizu.

FC Tokyo edged Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-0 at home to move within three points of Urawa, and Kashiwa Reysol improved to 15 points after a 1-0 victory at Albirex Niigata.

Jubilo avoided humiliation by erasing a two-goal halftime deficit to draw 2-2 with Consadole Sapporo in Iwata.

Hiroshi Kiyotake scored his first goal since returning to the J-League over the winter in Cerezo Osaka's 2-0 home win over Kawasaki Frontale.

==Kyodo