Renatinho provided J-League leaders Kawasaki Frontale with the perfect tonic for their Nabisco Cup hangover with a hat-trick in a thrilling 3-2 win over JEF United Chiba on Sunday.
Chiba took a shock lead through Kohei Kudo's first-half strike but Renatinho leveled from the penalty spot before the Brazilian striker's deflected second put the home side in front with 19 minutes left.
Takumi Wada scrambled home two minutes from time to give the visitors a flicker of hope but Renatinho completed his hat-trick with a dramatic injury-time winner to condemn Chiba to relegation to the second division.