FC Tokyo moved to the top of the J. League first division -- at least, for a few hours -- on Saturday after a 2-0 victory over Shimizu S-Pulse in Kagawa Prefecture.
Toshiki Koike put FC Tokyo ahead in the 22nd minute with a thumping long-range effort and Brazilian striker Amaral added a second from close range midway through the second half as last year's J2 runnerup made it four straight wins in the second stage.
The result left FC Tokyo with 11 points from four games, but Kashima Antlers and Gamba Osaka had a chance to overtake Kiyoshi Okuma's side in their evening matches.