Soccer-Marinos celebrations delayed as Gamba hand Muscat's side defeat

(Reuters) - Yokohama F Marinos were made to wait to claim their first J1 League title since 2019 on Saturday as Kevin Muscat's side slipped to a 2-0 loss against relegation battlers Gamba Osaka.

Juan Alano's header in the eighth minute gave the lead to Gamba, who were 17th in the 18-team division going into the day's game, and Patric added the decisive second from close range 10 minutes from time.

Marinos started the day with an eight point lead over defending champions Kawasaki Frontale. A win against Gamba coupled with a failure by Frontale to defeat Shimizu S-Pulse would have seen Muscat's outfit crowned champions.

Frontale had struggles of their own against Shimizu, with Ryohei Shirasaki and Carlinhos Junior scoring after half time to give S-Pulse the lead following Daiya Tono's opener for Kawasaki.

But Kazuya Yamamura and Yu Kobayashi struck in a goal-packed second period to earn Kawasaki all three points and move Toru Oniki's side to within five points of Marinos with three games remaining.

Marinos last won the title under another Australian coach, Ange Postecoglou, in 2019, with Frontale completing back-to-back J1 League wins since.

Yokohama next face Jubilo Iwata on Wednesday, while Kawasaki are scheduled to face Kyoto Sanga.