NAGANO (Interstat) — Naoki Kawaguchi scored in the 84th minute Wednesday, lifting Ryukyu to a 1-0 victory over Nagano in a football match played with Nagano as the home team and Ryukyu as the visiting team. Kawaguchi’s goal was the only score of the contest, and Ryukyu held the lead through the final stages after a long scoreless stretch. The match was played Wednesday and was decided by a single goal in the closing minutes. Nagano finished with no goals, while Ryukyu finished with one goal in the match.

The match remained scoreless until Kawaguchi’s late breakthrough. Yuma Kato provided the assist on the 84th-minute goal. Kawaguchi’s listed statline was 90 minutes and one goal, while Kato’s was 90 minutes and one assist. Ryukyu’s goal came after neither side had found the net for most of the match, and Nagano could not answer before the final whistle. The goal was the only one recorded in the game. The assist was the only one listed among the key performances, and it helped produce the game’s lone goal.

Nagano made a double substitution in the 61st minute, bringing on Nakata S. and Shin K. Ryukyu answered with Teruuchi T. in the 61st minute and Iwamoto S. in the 62nd minute. In the 66th minute, Ryukyu’s Suzuki J. received a yellow card, and he was substituted in the 69th minute. The yellow card was the only booking listed in the match. Those changes came as both teams adjusted during the second half. The substitutions for Nagano and Ryukyu came in a sequence that began in the 61st minute.

Nagano made further changes in the 74th minute, introducing Kutsuna K. and Nojima K. Higuchi K. entered for Nagano in the 82nd minute. Ryukyu used substitutions in the 85th minute, with Ishiura T. coming on, and in the 86th minute, when Sota K. entered. The substitutions continued through the closing minutes as Ryukyu protected its lead and Nagano sought an equalizer. Nagano’s final substitution came in the 82nd minute, while Ryukyu’s final change came in the 86th minute. All of the substitutions were recorded in the second half as the teams made their final adjustments.

The result moved Ryukyu to one win and one loss in the competition and one win and one loss across all competitions. Nagano is now two wins and one loss in the competition and two wins and one loss across all competitions. Ryukyu had previously lost 2-1 at Kusatsu, while Nagano had beaten Yamaga 2-1 and won 3-1 at Kochi United in its previous matches. Ryukyu’s victory gave it a split of its first two competition matches, while Nagano moved to two wins and one loss after the home defeat. The competition records and all-competitions records now match for both clubs after the result.

Ryukyu’s next 10 matches are scheduled in the J3 League. The slate includes a visit to Roasso, a home match against Kagoshima, a trip to Tochigi SC, a home match against Osaka, a visit to Sagamihara, a home match against Reilac Shiga, a trip to Gifu, a home match against AC Nagano Parceiro, a visit to Tottori, and a home match against Thespa Gunma. The J3 League slate gives Ryukyu 10 upcoming matches after the victory. The victory gave Ryukyu the only goal of the game and handed Nagano its first loss in this competition.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Nagano 2, Ryukyu 1. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Nagano with an 81.1 percent probability to win. Ryukyu had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -0.5. The total score of 1 went over the over-under line of 2.5.