YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) -- Ayumu Yokoyama scored on a long-range one-on-one with keeper William Popp to lift relegation-threatened Sagan Tosu to a 1-0 away win against Yokohama F Marinos in the J-League first division on Wednesday.

Marinos dominated possession for much of the game, but could not break through and were exposed once too often on the counter at Yokohama's Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium.

A long pass into midfield got to Marcelo Ryan down the right, and as the defense converged on him, he rolled a well-timed diagonal pass to Yokoyama, who fired from outside the area.

Popp came halfway out to cut off Yokoyama's angle, but couldn't block the shot that thundered past him and curled inside the far post nine minutes after the break.

"We started well. We had some chances, and we couldn't put them away," Marinos manager Harry Kewell said. "They did well today, worked hard, caught us on the counterattack numerous times. We keep trying to do the right things, but the ball is just not falling for us right now."

With their third straight defeat, Marinos are 12th in the J1 table, while Sagan's three points moved them two clear of the drop zone.