T: Hulk 6’, Diego 41’
In a cracker of football match, Urawa overcame a visiting Verdy side, but it was by a small margin. The visitors took the lead through Hulk after only 6 minutes who scored from the penalty-spot, but it didn’t take long before Urawa were levelled again. Tulio headed home an Abe corner in the 23rd minute, before he scored on PK himself in the 36th. Verdy’s Diego equalized straight after though after receiving a break-through pass from Hulk. With that the teams were deadlocked at half-time, in a very entertaining match. The 2nd half didn’t live up to what we saw in the first though, and things slowed down a bit. We still got to see some action though, and Tulio were on target once again with a header from a corner in the 58th minute to make Urawa go 3-2 up. The versatile player used to be a centreback earlier this season, but has been used mostly in midfield now. This match he held the attacking midfielder position. After Urawa’s goal Verdy’s Hulk were taken off by Verdy’s coach Hashiratani, and the brazilian clearly didn’t like that. As it happened, the brazilian has now gone back to Brazil and is set to leave Verdy to play or Paris SG instead, in a 4 million euro bid. All in all a deserved win for Urawa, who outshot Verdy 11-6.
In-form Reysol left it late against struggling Omiya, and the winning goal came 12 minutes before full-time, through brazilian Franca. That was infact the striker’s first goal this season, as he has sat out most of the matches due to an injury. It was a tight match, with many interesting situations at both ends. Both teams made some errors in defence that let the other team get a shot on goal, but both goalkeepers had a good day and came up with several saves. Omiya didn’t field their topscorer Denis Marques this match, as apparently he picked up a cold prior to the match. Therefore they didn’t look too intimidating up front, and even though they had a few big chances, they failed to find the net.
All in all a deserved win for Reysol, who continues to impress, and still looks a likely candidate for atleast a top 3 finish. Reysol had 13 shots to Omiya’s 14.
S: Yajima 15’
Frontale and Shimizu battled it out in a slow-paced, and somehat dull affair in Kawasaki this round. After 2 late goals from Tanicguchi, Frontale ended up as winners, but it could have gone both ways. The first half didn’t produce too many chances, but Shimizu’s FW Yajima found the net with a nice finish, after sidestepping a defender in the situation ahead. But Kawasaki looked the team to be in control,although they didn’t got to that many chances.
The 2nd half opened up things a little more, but still we had to wait until the 75th minute for the next piece of action. Taniguchi took a powerful shot from his right-foot to score the equalizer, and a few minutes before the end he repeated to feat to send Frontale’s fans to heaven. Nishibe in the Shimizu goal got his hands on it, but it wasn’t enough. Frontale had 15 shots to Shimizu’s 7 ,and it was fully deserved.
N: Ogawa 4’
2 goals in 2 minutes early in the 2nd half turned the match around for Jubilo, who beat Nagoya 2-1 at home. It was a closely contested battle, but Jubilo looked the best team. Nagoya took the lead through winger Ogawa after only 4 minutes though, and managed to defend well in the first half to preserve their lead.
But in the 2nd half they fell apart, and Chano took a powerful diving header from a CK to make it 1-1 in the 48th minute. And just a minute later Sho Naruoka scored a cracker of goal from distance that went via the post and in. For the rest of the match, Jubilo looked to be in control and managed to defend their lead. A very important win for Jubilo, and a deserved one as well. Jubilo had 17 shots to Nagoya’s 11.
J: Maki 29’, Aoki 55’
After a series of poor performances, JEF impressed with a 2-2 draw against Albirex away this round. Maki gave them the lead after 29 minutes, when Tanizawa found him with a cross. Maki took the ball down on his chest, and hammered in the opening goal. That was JEF’s 2nd big chance, as Tanizawa hit he post a few minutes earlier. But Albirex were to equalize not too long after, and in the 44th minute Alessandro scored from the penalty-spot to make it 1-1. It continued in the same pattern for the 2nd half, when Marcio Richardes made it 2-1 for Albirex with a nice individual effort. It might looked liked Albirex would run away with it now, but JEF equalized just a minute later from a well-taken Aoki free-kick. Both teams got to chances in the dying minutes, but in the end a draw seemed a fair result. JEF looked marginally stronger though. Albirex had 10 shots to JEF’s 11.
FC Tokyo Gamba Osaka 1-1
T: Lucas 6’
O: Tokunaga 19’
The 2 top teams Tokyo and Gamba battled it out in a tight and entertaining match last round. The match ended 1-1, after both teams scored early on. Lucas gave Gamba the lead after only 6 minutes, when he met a cross from Yasuda with his head. A nice opening for the visitors, but Tokyo were soon to equalize. Tokunaga hammered in a missile from distance to make it 1-1 in the 19th minute.
Gamba had the most of the chances, but Tokyo’s keeper had a good day and kept Tokyo in the match with several top-notch saves. Draw is a result neither of the teams will be too happy with, but just avoiding defeat and see the other team gain 3 points is important, and all in all a draw seemed a fair resut. Tokyo had 10 shots to Gamba’s 13.
Consadole and Oita shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw this round, which is a result both teams can be fairly happy with it. For Consadole, avoiding defeat was most important. Oita looked the best team though,and put Oita under alot of pressure early on. But they didn’t get to that many chances, and Consadole looked dangeorus on quick counters on occasion. Oita’s biggest chances came in the 2nd half, first on a set-play that went just over the bar, and then some nice individual effort from Maeda. Oita might have deserved more, but a draw seems a fair result in the end. Consadole had 11 shots to Oita’s 9.
KA: Nozawa 21’
Kyoto surprised with a cracking 2-1 win over league-leaders Kashima this round, and played their best match for a long long time. It was fully deserved as well, and Kyoto looked red-hot early on. Yanagisawa gave them an early lead against his old team-mates with a beautiful header after only 11 minutes, but it didn’t take long before Kashima were levelled again after a Nozawa-shot.
Kyoto continued to put Kashima under pressure though, and among other chances hit the woodwork early in the 2nd half through Fernandinho. As the match continued, it looked like it were gonna end as a draw, but 6 minutes before full time Yuto Sato lined up from distance, and scored the 2-1 goal with a scorcher form 20 metres out. A marvellous finish to a very good match from Kyoto. Kyoto had 12 shots to Kashima’s 13, and a home win is a fair result.
Vissel Kobe Yokohama F Marinos 1-0
V: Kim 59’
Marinos lost their 5th game in a row when they fell 0-1 in Kobe this round. They are stuck in the relegation zone at the moment, and as a cause for that their coach were fired prior to this match.
Vissel were in good control of the match most of the time, and the win were fully deserved. They had to wait until around the hour-break before the winning goal came though, when Korean international Kim Nam-Il scored his first ever goal for the club on a well-taken set piece. Yokohama looked gutless up front, and had very few chances. Vissel outshot them 11-7, and were very deserved winners.
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