V-Varen Nagasaki beat Kyoto Sanga 2-1 in the J.League, with Thiago Santana's first-half double settling the contest. Nagasaki controlled the key moments early on, building a lead that Kyoto could not fully overturn.
Thiago Santana opened the scoring in the 11th minute and added a second in the 29th, with Yuto Iwasaki providing the assist for that goal. Kyoto pulled one back through Rafael Elias in the 54th minute, Ren Kato getting the assist, but Nagasaki held on. The four bookings, to Joao Pedro, Weverton, Rafael Elias and Hijiri Onaga, came as the game tightened.
Nagasaki had less of the ball, with 42% possession to Kyoto's 58%, and made 242 accurate passes to Kyoto's 379. Yet they were the more productive side in attack, registering 16 shots to Kyoto's 10 and three big chances to one. Thiago Santana's two goals were the decisive contribution.
