Hiroto Yamami (R) strikes the winning goal in the second half of Gamba Osaka's 1-0 J-League first-division win over Shimizu S-Pulse at Shizuoka's IAI Stadium on Aug. 13, 2021. (Kyodo)

       SHIZUOKA, Japan (Kyodo) -- Substitute Hiroto Yamami scored a stunning winner in his J-League debut as Gamba Osaka won 1-0 at Shimizu S-Pulse on Friday in the first division.

       Three days shy of his 22nd birthday, Yamami came on in the 76th minute and had a fierce right-footed effort from distance denied before his 82nd-minute strike, latching onto a long ball down the right before curling his left-footed effort to the far top corner at a rainy IAI Stadium.

       Gamba ended their two-game losing run to move up to 12th, while S-Pulse sit 14th with four games without a win.

       The visitors had the first chance of the game in the seventh minute but a Ko Yanagisawa cross was headed against the far post by Leandro Pereira.

       S-Pulse had their chances as Thiago Santana had his effort from the edge of the box saved by Gamba keeper Masaaki Higashiguchi before Valdo's header from a corner hit the post after a quarter of an hour.

       Santana had a ball over the line 10 minutes into the second half after a corner was flicked on by Akira Ibayashi at the near post. But the goal was denied after a VAR check saw Santana receiving a caution for pushing the ball into the goal with his right hand as he dove in.

       Gamba's Pereira had his second effort denied by the framework at the other end two minutes later, his shot on the turn taking a slight deflection off a defender before the ball again bounced away from the goal, before Yamami's introduction made the difference.

       Yamami, still a student at Kwansei Gakuin University, was scouted by Gamba after he scored the winning goal for his university against the J-League club in the 2018 Emperor's Cup.

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