“We did it. I think we were able to play with the quality and results that we are known for,” said Hesebe. “We scored four goals, so our offence was good. We were able to show our strengths in every area, including in defence and switching that we have been working on this year.

“I'm grateful to the previous coach and previous players for laying things for us before we got to the results, and I've been able to move forward without wasting it, so I want to keep moving forward and climb up."

Sasaki, who opened the scoring, highlighted the team’s collective spirit as the driving force and expressed his aspiration to win the title.

"I think today's game was born from everyone's passion and our strong desire to win the title,” said Sasaki. “The players around me took action, and the front was open, so I took a bold shot and it went in.

“My goal is to win all the games from here on out and become the champions."

Shanghai head coach Leonid Slutsky acknowledged that his team struggled to keep pace with Frontale’s intensity, particularly after conceding early.

"In the first half, we played mainly defensively and had a hard time attacking. We were conscious of creating chances and were able to create several in the second half,” said Slutsky.

“But we conceded two goals even though we thought we were controlling the game. We struggled to get our rhythm back from there. We wanted to somehow develop the game so that we could score, but it was very difficult.”