Urawa Reds would have settled for a step in the right direction after escaping relegation by the skin of their teeth last season, but with a first J. League title since 2006 in sight with only nine games left to play, hopes of an unlikely triumph are gathering steam.

Reds, who finished one place above the drop zone last year having dispensed with manager Zeljko Petrovic before he had even completed a full season in charge, beat Yokohama F. Marinos 2-1 on Saturday to move two points off the top in third place, generating a swell of optimism at a club that has had little to celebrate since winning its solitary championship six years ago.

That triumph looked as if it would usher in an era of unprecedented J. League dominance, but instead it prefaced a steady decline that took in five managers and almost ended in ultimate indignity last year. The green shoots of recovery that have sprung since then are still fragile, but there is a quiet determination about Reds this season that has been markedly absent in recent times.