Kashiwa Reysol had the advantage this week, beating A-league front runners, Central Coast Marniers 3-1 in the AFC Champions League.
The Mariners managed to grab an eighth-minute lead through Patrick Zwaanswijk but were pegged back by Leandro Domingues in the first half.
Domingues set up Kenta Kano to make it 2-1 in the 67th minute and he sealed the result with a classy finish late on.
The Mariners, who slip to third in Group H, missed a late penalty through Michael McGlinchey to remain winless after two matches.
The best player of the night went to goalkeeper Mathew Ryan who was needed to keep the visitors on level terms after five minutes.
But, Kashiwa did get their equaliser in the 21st minute and it came thanks to the lively Domingues.
A Mariners turnover in midfield led to the Brazilian being played in behind and he easily beat Ryan in a one-on-one.
Both sides struggled to create chances early in the second half before Kashiwa had two chances in as many minutes after the hour mark.
Domingues played through Masato Kudo, who hit a powerful effort into the side-netting, moments after the Mariners had to scramble away a chance.
Kashiwa did grab the lead through the impressive Kano on 67 minutes.
The Mariners had an opportunity to end their penalty drought late on after Mitchell Duke was brought down by Ryosuke Yamanaka.
But McGlinchey made it five straight misses from the spot for Central Coast when his poor effort down the middle was saved by Sugeno as the Mariners slumped to a third straight loss in all competitions.
Kashiwa Reysol 3 (Domingues 21, 88, Kano 67)
Central Coast Mariners 1 (Zwaanswijk 8)
Source: Dejan Kalinic, Omnisport
