Captain Yuki Abe slammed home an 83rd-minute piledriver to give Urawa Reds maximum points from their opening two games of the J. League season with a 1-0 win over Montedio Yamagata on Saturday.

Reds, who blew a five-point lead with three games remaining to finish second behind Gamba Osaka last season, went into the match at Saitama Stadium having beaten second-division champions Shonan Bellmare 3-1 on the opening day.

The former Asian champions struggled against a promoted Montedio side that came up through the playoffs after finishing sixth in J2 last season, but Abe finally found a way through with a ferocious long-range shot that flew past ex-Urawa goalkeeper Norihiro Yamagishi in the Montedio goal.

“I was trying to pick up as many loose balls as I could, so when it came my way it was just a matter of timing,” said Abe. “When it left my boot I wasn’t sure if it was going to go in, so I’m glad that it did. We had missed a few chances before then, so I’m happy that one went in.

Yamagishi was facing his former team having joined Montedio last year after 12 seasons as an Urawa player, and the goalkeeper admitted the experience left him with mixed feelings.

“I played with this team at this stadium for many years, so to play against them gave me a lot of different emotions,” said Yamagishi, whose sensational injury-time goal against Jubilo Iwata last season put Montedio into the playoff final.

“I was really pumped up for the game, but there was something else as well. Of course that’s natural, and I had to keep myself in check and play with a cool head. The game was as I imagined, but the frustrating thing was that we lost.”

Yamagishi reacquainted himself with his former teammates in no uncertain terms when he raced out of his box to flatten Yosuke Kashiwagi in the 26th minute, before Kashiwagi almost got his revenge with a free kick that just went the wrong side of the post with the goalkeeper beaten two minutes later.

That was about as close as either side came to scoring in a pedestrian first half, but Reds upped the tempo after the interval and almost got their reward in the 63rd minute when Naoki Ishihara narrowly failed to connect with a Tomoya Ugajin cross.

A shot from Montedio midfielder Diego that goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa gathered reminded Urawa that the visitors were still in contention, but Abe gave Reds the edge when he broke the deadlock moments later.

Montedio defender Tetsuya Funatsu tried to head the ball clear as it came into the Yamagata box, but Abe was lurking and met it with a vicious shot that Yamagishi had no chance of stopping.

Urawa substitute Yuki Muto then hit the post a minute later as the home side went in search of another goal, but one was enough to claim the three points and preserve Reds’ perfect start to the new season.

“We knew that Montedio would come here and defend and try to hit us on the counterattack, and it’s not easy to break teams down in that situation,” said Urawa manager Mihailo Petrovic. “In the first half they were fresh, but we tried to wear them down by moving the ball around and they began to tire and leave us space in the second half.

“It was a great goal that Abe scored. The good thing about today was that we kept our concentration in defense for all the time that the game was goalless.”

Elsewhere in the J. League, Bellmare stunned Kashima Antlers 2-1 to pick up their first win since returning to the top flight. Mu Kanazaki gave Kashima the lead in the 13th minute, only for Wataru Endo to equalize before Alison hit a stoppage-time winner.

New national team manager Vahid Halilhodzic was in attendance as FC Tokyo drew 0-0 with Yokohama F. Marinos, while Albirex Niigata and Shimizu S-Pulse also played out a 0-0 stalemate.

Shohei Abe scored the winner against his former team as Ventforet Kofu beat Nagoya Grampus 1-0, while Kawasaki Frontale and Vissel Kobe duked out a 2-2 draw.

In the day’s late games, Sagan Tosu beat Gamba Osaka 1-0 to leave the defending champions with only one point from two games, and Sanfrecce Hiroshima edged Matsumoto Yamaga 2-1.