An injury-time goal from departing club stalwart Tomoaki Makino clinched Urawa Reds a 2-1 victory over Oita Trinita in a thrilling Emperor's Cup final on Sunday.
The 34-year-old former Japan center-back made an unforgettable cameo in his last match for the Saitama Prefecture club, entering in the 83rd minute and heading home the winner in the third minute of time added on.
Reds took the lead in the sixth minute at Tokyo's National Stadium through Ataru Esaka and appeared to have the trophy sewn up until Matheus Pereira headed in a 90th-minute equalizer for J2-bound Oita off a ball into the box from Hokuto Shimoda.
With the contest seemingly set for extra time, Makino sent the red half of the stadium into rapture with his header from the middle of the area, after Kai Shibato intercepted a corner kick clearance and sent an attempt toward goal.
Makino, whose departure from Reds was announced last month, deflected praise for the goal to keeper Shusaku Nishikawa, who encouraged him after they were stunned by the equalizer.
"After we conceded, Nishikawa said, 'Maki go steal the show at the very end,'" Makino said.
The match was the first major sporting competition held without an attendance limit at the 68,000-seat National Stadium, where Tokyo Olympic events were staged behind closed doors in the summer under coronavirus safety restrictions.
With the victory, Urawa captured their fourth Emperor's Cup of the J-League era and capped off a memorable first year in charge for Spaniard Ricardo Rodriguez, the J1's manager of the year.
"I'm so thankful to all the Urawa supporters and of course all the players. It's incredible to get this win in front of so many fans. It was a really tough match," Rodriguez said.
Following their relegation from the first division, Oita had looked to end the season on a positive note in their last game under manager Tomohiro Katanosaka.
Esaka fired Urawa ahead from the top of the area off a cut-back from Takahiro Sekine, who skillfully dribbled from the right of the box before providing the assist.
Having barely ventured into attacking territory during the opening half, Oita started the second stanza more positively, forcing a pair of early saves from Nishikawa.
Sekine nearly set up Esaka for Urawa's second midway through the half, putting him through on goal, but the attacking midfielder was denied by a diving save from keeper Shun Takagi, the hero of Oita's semifinal penalty-shootout win over Kawasaki Frontale.
With Oita pushing for an equalizer, Nishikawa punched away a header from substitute Shun Nagasawa off a corner and later stopped a Yamato Machida rocket from the edge of the area.
Retiring captain Yuki Abe watched from the stands, while veteran Tomoya Ugajin also played his final match for Reds. Urawa booked their return to the Asian Champions League after winning the tournament in 2017 and finishing runners up two year later.
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