Alessandro "Alex" Santos was instrumental in Shimizu S-Pulse's first home win of the season against Vissel Kobe in the J. League on Sunday, setting up two goals in its 3-0 win.
Naoshi Nakamura (right) of the Grampus competes for the ball against Vegalta's Silvio.
The Brazilian-born Japanese midfielder produced crosses from both flanks for Tomoyoshi Tsurumi's right-footer in the 15th minute and Masaaki Sawanobori's header five minutes later.
Shohei Ikeda completed the scoring four minutes into the second half.
It was only Shimizu's third win of the season against one draw and five defeats for 10 points. It trails front-running defending champion Jubilo Iwata by 10 points.
Santos had a reason to play well after an English paper reported Saturday that Premier League club Charlton hoped to sign him for £2 million ($3.2 million).
In another J. League game played Sunday, Ivica Vastic scored an 89th-minute winner for Nagoya Grampus Eight in his team's 2-1 victory over Vegalta Sendai.
In Saturday's late games, Jubilo Iwata cruised to a 3-1 win at 10-man Cerezo Osaka to move a point clear at the top while FC Tokyo defeated Oita Trinita 2-1.
The victory moved Jubilo top on 20 points from nine matches, one ahead of JEF United with Yokohama F. Marinos dropping to third after going down 3-1 at Kashiwa Reysol, who climbed into fourth.
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