Kenyu Sugimoto celebrates scoring the first goal in Yokohama F Marinos' 2-0 J-League first-division win over Nagoya Grampus at Yokohama's Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium on Aug. 12, 2021. (Kyodo)

       YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) -- Kenyu Sugimoto scored his first goal since moving to Yokohama F Marinos, heading home the opener in a 2-0 win over Nagoya Grampus in the J-League first division on Thursday.

       The win at Yokohama's Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium moved second-place Marinos eight points behind league-leaders Kawasaki Frontale.

       Marinos' defense delivered a solid performance and allowed most of the first half to be played on Grampus' side of the pitch. Sugimoto scored in the 13th minute and Marcos Junior in the 33rd from the penalty spot, with Thailand defender Theerathon Bunmathan doing more than his share to set up both goals.

       After a couple of deflected shots following a corner, the ball came to Theerathon on the left and his cross found Sugimoto in the middle of the area.

       "It was my first start in a while, and I wanted to help, so I'm glad I could score," said Sugimoto, who arrived on loan from Urawa Reds in July. "I want to score a lot of goals and gain the trust of my teammates."

       Marcos scored after he and Theerathon orchestrated a well-timed attack down the left.

       Theerathon took the ball from the Brazilian and shredded the Grampus defense with some slick dribbling before his through pass set Marcos Junior up for business in the penalty area, where he was fouled.

       Grampus were forced to take speculative shots, and did force keeper Yohei Takaoka to make some good stops, but the pressure was sporadic at best.

       Sugimoto had a golden opportunity to score a brace but missed a good cross in the second half and fired over the bar. Theerathon's performance was only marred by his second yellow, when he was sent off in the closing minutes.

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