T: Cabore 58’
A great final 3rd of the match secured all 3 points for Kashima, who beat Tokyo 4-1 at home. A flattering result perhaps, but nonetheless another proof of Kashima’s potential.
Tokyo were on level with Kashima for long periods of the match though, and had some dangerous chances early on. The first half ended scorelss and neither of the teams managed to break the deadlock. Tokyo started the 2nd half pretty good, and took the lead through Cabore after 58 minutes, as a result of some sloppy defending down Kashima’s left-side. With Kashima’s marvellous unbeaten home-record being under threat, the home team up’d the gear a bit, and just 4 minutes later Marquinhos had givem them the equalizer after a nice team-effort. Suddenly Kashima looked the team in control, and they chased the 2nd goal, putting Tokyo under huge pressure. As it was, the visitors collaptes, and conceded 3 goals in the last 13 minutes. Substitutes Koroki and Danilo both got on the scoresheet, and put in a good application for a place in the starting roster next match. Danilo had been struggling with an injury lately, but passed his fitness test a few hours before the match. A flattering result in a very entertaining match, but no doubt Kashima deserved to win. Kashima had a whopping 26 shots to Tokyo’s 17.
JEF had a golden opportunity for a win against a fairly poor opponent, but instead they lost 0-3 at home. A big win for Consadole, but truth be said JEF had the most of the chances, but Consadole’s individuals bagged all points for the visitors. JEF look pretty hapless up front, and are struggling to find the net. They doesn’t have any real goalgetter, and since they’re conceding plenty nowadays relegation looks very likely.
Consadole got off to a great start, and Nakayama gave them the lead after Fujita found him with a free-kick. Just minutes later, Davi dribbled his way through JEF’s defence, and by then the match were pretty much over. JEF never managed to get back into the game, and only after Davi scored another after an hour did they manage to get to big chances. By then it was too late, and JEF even managed to squander those chances. JEF had 19 shots to Consadole’s 9.
Albirex took a surprise 1-0 away win against Yokohama this round, and they must find themselves very lucky to get all points. Yokohama bombarded Albirex’s goal with shots, and should have scored atleast 3-4 goals. Overall, they had 26 shots to Albirex’s only 6.
But it’s not shot that counts, and as it was Albirex was the only team to score. Chiyotanda exploited an error just before the break to send Albirex 1-0 up, and that remained the score for the rest of the match. In the 2nd half it was a one-way traffic against Albirex’s goal though, and perhaps the biggest chance came a few minutes before full-time, when Nakazawa were nicely setup from the wing only to blast his shot in the underside of the bar and out. Misfortune for the home team, who lost their 3rd match in a row.
J: Cullen 10’, Gilsinho 52’
Jubilo took their 2nd win in the last 3 matches when they beat Omiya 2-1 away this round. They totally deserved the win, and once again Omiya disappointed at home. Jubilo’s 2 FW’s Cullen and Maeda both played a good match, and the 2 combined well for Jubilo’s first goal after only 10 minutes. Jubilo looked the best team for most of the match, and Omiya looked really poor going forward. Gilsinho were a real threat to Omiya all throughout the match, and the brazilian made it 2-0 a few minutes after the break. In fact, he found the net 2 more times, but both were disallowed wrongly for off-side. The referee in other words didn’t had a particularly good day, and he even disallowed a valid goal or Omiya in injury-time, when Omiya’s new signing Lavric headed in what should have been the equalizer. In the end a deserved win for the visitors though, who outshot Omiya 11-6.
K: Juninho 61’
The biggest match of the round took place in Osaka, where home-side Gamba beat Frontale 2-1 at home. Gamba got off to a great start, and their 2 brazilians up front both got on the scoresheet within the first 20 minutes. With that, Frontale are down in 9th with 4 losses in the last 5 matches.
However, they deserved more here, and should have won it actually. Gamba clearly suffered without Endo in midfield, and after the 2 goals Frontale looked the better team. But they let Gamba get to many chances though on counters, and in the end a home-win seemed pretty fair. Juninho got one back for Frontale midway in the 2nd half, but it wasn’t enough and Gamba are now in 4th. Gamba had 18 shots to Frontale’s 6.
Johnsen became the match-winner once again for Nagoya when he scored the only goal against Reysol at home. A strong win, especially considering Reysol’s impressive form of late. The match looked pretty evenly contested from beginning to end, but Reysol didn’t show the sting in attack that they did in recent matches. Nagoya packed their defence pretty tight, and managed to keep the Reysol attackers at bay. This match saw the return of the pivotal Magnum for Nagoya, as he came off the bench early in the 2nd half. He quickly marked his return with a nice through-pass for Johnsen, who made no mistake alone with Reysol’s keeper. After 2 straight losses that was an important goal for Nagoya, who now are joint 2nd with Urawa. Nagoya had 14 shots to Reysol’s 13.
Urawa disappointed big-time by losing 2-0 against Oita away. Oita is a very strong home-team, so that they won weren’t that surprising, but the way Urawa played were the biggest disappointment. They didn’t look at all as a team capable of winning the title, and seems to struggle to stay good over a longer period of time.
Oita have only conceded goals twice at home this season, in 8 matches. That’s impressive, and the biggest factor while they are so high as 7th now.
Maeda gave Oita the lead after only 10 minutes with a nice header from a Suzuki cross, and for the remainder of the match Urawa struggled in their search for the equalizer. They lost the ball far too easily going forward, and didn’t come to too many chances. Instead Oita and Ueslei got close with a long-range effort, and the same Ueslei killed the game off a goal a few minutes before the end. A well-deserved win, and Oita have made The Big Eye Stadium a fortress. Oita had 7 shots to Urawa’s 8.
After just a single point in their last 3 matches, Kyoto took a very important 1-0 win away against Verdy this round. A strong result, as Kyoto contiunued their good form at Ajinomoto Stadium. They did well there last season as well, when the teams were in J2.
Verdy had the most of the chances, and might have deserved more from this. But Kyoto’s defence has improved with the arrival of Mizumoto, and they withstood whatever Verdy threw at them. They even managed to neautralize the usually deadly Hulk. Former Japan NT player Masashi Oguro got his debut here as he came on as a substitute, but he didn’t show too much and needs some more match-practice before he’s ready to start matches.
Kyoto’s goal came after a counter-attack in the 30th minute, when a defender cleared a long pass that Fernandinho neatly got under control. He then rounded off his man brilliantly, before sending Yanagisawa away towards the free goal with a nice through pass. Yanagisawa converted it with ease, and gave Kyoto a much-needed win.
Verdy had 17 shots to Kyoto’s 12.
Vissel jumped to 11th with a strong 1-0 away win at the hands of Shimizu this round, but it took a last-minute goal fro Kurihara to secure all points. Shimizu were overall the dominant team, but never really managed to put Kobe under huge pressure. Shimizu’s somewhat un-inspirin line-up up front once again had a disappointing match, and Shimizu once again failed to score a goal. That means they are in 15th, just a point above Marinos in 16th and the relegation-zone.
Marcos Paulo had Shimizu’s biggest chance in the 32nd minute, but the in-effective brazilian squandered is opportunity. Pretty symptomical for the club and even more typical were the last-minute goal for Kobe. Kurihara scored from a corner in the 88th minute in one of Kobe’s few chances the 2nd half. A job well-done for the visitors, who defended pretty well this match. Shimizu had 16 shots to Kobe’s 9.
4 comments:
16 shots, but not one that troubled the keeper. :(
Gilsinho wasn't whistled for offside on the disallowed goal in the first half. It was a shot to the head of Hato and ball with his forearm.
I don't remember the second disallowed goal call but the one on Klemen was awful. I was sitting right along the side and could see it perfectly. That linesman was a joke. He must have called 10 bunk offside calls and the other one kept his flag down.
Shizza: yeah, Shimizu are in desperate need for a new striker really... The likes of Yajima and Okazaki won't win matches for you, and the most dangerous player for you this season has been Edamura, and he's a midfielder. It's sad.
SMB: oh, my fault then.. I watched the Kashima and Marinos matches instead, and did a rough translation from a japanese site.
About Klemen, I think he's got great potential. Looks a similar type as Johnsen-san and should be able to score goals with his great physique and heading skills.
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