Kashiwa Reysol Gamba Osaka 1-0
K: Lee 75’
The biggest match of the round took place in Kashiwa, where Reysol beat Gamba 1-0 after a late goal from Tadanari Lee.
Although Gamba had the most of the chances, Reysol had the biggest ones, and the home-team looked very dangerous every-time they went near the Gamba-goal. It was Franca’s first start this season, and he proved his worth to the team on several occasions with some nice combination plays. Franca and Lee is a dangerous duo up front, and with help from the likes of Popo, Shigehara among others in midfield they make one of the best offensive line-ups in the league. Gamba’s biggest chances came through Bare, but the big striker failed to find the net this match. Reysol’s keeper had a good day, and came up with several good saves.
The only goal of the match came in the 75th minute, when Franca set up Lee to fire home a powerful shot. It came in a good Gamba period, and they put in a good attempt to get back into the match after Lee’s goal. But Reysol rode the storm off, and could take yet another big win that means they are in 3rd, one point ahead of Gamba in 5th. Reysol had 8 shots to Gamba’s 20, and Gamba deserved more from this match.
Y: Yamase 43’
For the first time this season, Kawasaki could pair up Juninho and Ganaha up front, and the 2 strikers that formed such a great partnership the previous seasons had a good game together, and both got on the scoresheet. Ganaha where highly undoubtful for the match though, but a late fitness test saw him make it in the starting eleven.
He didn’t took long before scoring the opening goal, when he pounded in a rebound from a Juninho-shot after only 10 minutes. With that the tone were already set, and the 2 rival teams played a competitive and entertaining match this evening. Marinos’s playmaker Yamase scored from a direct free-kick to make it 1-1 just before the break, and for long it looked like it would save a point for the visitors.
The 2nd half were played in a slightly slower tempo, perhaps cause the players were losing stamina. Frontale looked the most likely winner though, and when they subbed in Chong Tese for Ganaha who were running out of steam, they sparked into life again and got to a few chances. Marinos got Kawaii sent off a few minutes before full-time, and in injury-time Frontale exploited the one-man-deficit of Marinos, when Juninho scored on a volley-shot after a corner. Frontale had 12 shots to Marinos’s 9, and deserved the win.
O: Maeda 25’
Kyoto were unlucky only to get a draw when they met Oita at home. Kyoto had most of the possession and also most of the chances. Only sloppy finishing and good goalkeeping from Nishikawa kept Oita in this game.
It started well for Kyoto though, as Watanabe exploited a mix-up in the Oita defence and ran towards goal with 2 defenders surrounding him. Watanabe found Yanagisawa with a clever pass, and the striker slid in the opening goal. But just a few minutes later, Maeda equalized on a rare chance for Oita, with a header that Kyoto’s goalkeeper should easily have saved.
Kyoto dominated most of the play, and had several chances to double their tally, both before and after the break. But their target striker Yanagisawa were usually were ineffective, and when Fernandinho and the others didn’t managed to hit the target either they only managed a draw. Oita came close a shock win when Ueslei hit the bar with a swirling shot, but that would have been very undeserved. Kyoto had 15 shots to Oita’s 6.
Urawa hit back after 2 straight defeats, and defeated a strong FC Tokyo side by 2-0 at home this round. Urawa got off to a good start, and should have lead by a couple of goals by half-time. Takahara were placed on the bench for this one, which left way for Tatsuya Tanaka to start alongside Edmilson. Those two combined very well, and with a little more playing time they might turn out to be the deadliest partnership in the league. Tanaka’s comeback were a joy to watch, and he impressed more this match than Takahara has done all season. Tanaka were the man behind the first goal, as he got loose on the left and sent in a diagonal pass for Edmilson to fire home in the opening minutes. Tanaka and Edmilson got to a couple of other chances as well, but either Shiota in the Tokyo goal saved it or they failed to hit the target.
The first half were pretty much dominated by Urawa, althought Tokyo got more into the game near the end. They even had a big chance through Konno, who hit the post with his header. After the break, the match had completely turned, and suddenly Tokyo looked the fiercest team, dominating the play. Urawa didn’t come to any chances until they scored the winning goal in the dying minutes, which underlines how good Tokyo were. But the finishing weren’t up to par, and in the end Urawa deserved the win. One of the reasons why Tokyo took more over is perhaps that Tanaka,Edmilson and the very inspiring Robson Ponte all were forced to leave the field early in the 2nd half. Those 2 were the biggest contributors offensively, and they lost the spark in the attack when they went out. When Tokyo were pressing forward for the equalizer, they left alot room left in defence, and Nagai got a rare chance in the 88th minute when he were played through one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Nagai did everything right and punctuated the game with a clinical strike. Urawa had 10 shots to Tokyo’s 12.
N: Masukawa 74’
Albirex took their 4th win in the last 5 matches when they beat 2nd placed Nagoya 2-1 at home. An impressive win, which means Albirex are in 9th place, just 4 points behind the 3rd placed team. After a very poor start to the season, few would have predicted that Albirex would turn it around like this. Likewise, Nagoya seemed to have fallen apart now, and dropped to 4th with this loss. With just 2 wins in their last 8 matches their form isn’t the best.
It was a very entertaining match, with plenty of chances, and both teams should have scored atleast a couple of more goals. Especially in the first half did they waste chances, and all goals came after the break. Albirex dictated most of the play though, and were deserved leaders in the end. Matsushita scored the opening goal in the 59th minute after a nice pass from right-back Uchida. Nagoya had several chances to equalize, and Johnsen atleast should have managed to get on the scoresheet this match. It was clear that Nagoya were missing their playmaker Magnum though. They still managed to find the net once, when Masukawa headed home a corner-kick in the 74th minute. But it proved to be worthless, because 7 minutes from full-time Kisho Yano scored the winning goal for Albirex. The home team had 20 shots to Nagoya’s 14.
It was a very entertaining match, with plenty of chances, and both teams should have scored atleast a couple of more goals. Especially in the first half did they waste chances, and all goals came after the break. Albirex dictated most of the play though, and were deserved leaders in the end. Matsushita scored the opening goal in the 59th minute after a nice pass from right-back Uchida. Nagoya had several chances to equalize, and Johnsen atleast should have managed to get on the scoresheet this match. It was clear that Nagoya were missing their playmaker Magnum though. They still managed to find the net once, when Masukawa headed home a corner-kick in the 74th minute. But it proved to be worthless, because 7 minutes from full-time Kisho Yano scored the winning goal for Albirex. The home team had 20 shots to Nagoya’s 14.
K: Ogasawara 3’, Motoyama 34’
Antlers took their 3rd win a row when they beat Jubilo 2-1 away this round. That means they are in 2nd place now, only 1 point behind leading Urawa. Antlers certainly looks very strong this season, and look like early favorites for the title. Jubilo became atleast a number too small this match, and Kashima deserved the win.
The playmaker Ogasawara gave Kashima an early lead after only 3 minutes, after some nice play from Araita on the flank. Araibia had a very good match and set up both of Antlers’s goals. The 2nd goal came in the 28th minute, and was another high cross that Motoyama haded home to make 2-0 for the visitors.
Jubilo weren’t all lost though, and had several chances for themselves to score. The only goal the got came after an hour or so, when Cullen met a cross form Murai wih his head. The end of the match where very entertaining as Jubilo chased the equalizer, which left room for Kashima on counter-attacks. In the end it became another loss for Jubilo though, who struggled down in 16th now with 4 losses in their last 5 matches.
A single goal from Leandro were enough for Vissel to beat Omiya at home, in a slowly-paced contest without too many chances. The teams were evenly contested, and the win could have gone either ways. Vissel ended up as winners in the end though, which seems fair.
Leandro gave Vissel the lead with a fabulous strike from distance after only 9 minutes, which meant Omiya had to play catch-up for the entire match. They struggled to get past the sturdy Vissel defence though, who played one of their better matches this season. Omiya’s usually effective play on the wings weren’t too good either this match, with overall poor crossing. Vissel were by far the best team in the first half, but Omiya looked the strongest after the break. If the visitors had been a bit more lucky, they could have gotten an equalizer,and especially Marques should have scored. Vissel withstood it though, and in the end they could take a very important win that propelled them out of the relegation zone and into 12th. Vissel had 8 shots to Omiya’s 9.
Verdy completely out-classed JEF this round as they beat them 3-0 at home. All goals came in the 2nd half, and JEF were lucky to escape with only 3 conceded goals.
Verdy were very deserved winners, and looked the best team for most of the match. They weren’t as dominant in the first half as in the 2nd though, and if JEF have scored on one of their big chances in the first half the match might have been different.
In the 2nd half, it was a complete one-way traffic out there, and JEF didn’t have a single shot on goal. Hulk gave Verdy the lead a few minutes after the break with a powerful shot from distance with his left-foot that left JEF’s keeper stranded. IT didn’t take long before Verdy were 2-0 up, when Shibasaki scored after Hulk set him neatly up. Verdy’s gifted brazilian trio over and over again caused trouble for JEF’s defence, and Diego got the honour of rounding it off with another strike from distance. A very deserved win, and a proof of why JEF are struggling down in the relegation-zone. Verdy had 18 shots to JEF’s only 5.
S: Nishizawa 13’, Marcos Paulo 45’
Consadole and Shimizu fought it out in a close encounter at Atsubetsu Stadium this round, and the teams shared the spoils with a 2-2 result. It was overall a very closely contested match, but the visitors looked marginally the better team. Atleast in the first half the visitors looked good, and took an early lead through Akinori Nishizawa. The veteran striker headed home a cross from Edamura in the 13th minute to make it 1-0 for Shimizu. But the lead didn’t last long, cause in a good Shimizu period Consadole got a corner. Clayton’s in-swinger precisely found the rising Davin in the box, who easily converted his header. As the teams battled it out, and were preparing for half-time, Fujimoto combined well with the brazilian striker Marcos Paulo to set up Shimizu’s 2nd goal. In the dying seconds of the first half Paulo received a nice through pass that set him free to score alone with Consadole’s keeper.
For the 2nd half, Shimizu continued to be the team in charge,but didn’t come to that many chances. Neither did the home-team, but somewhat against the play they still managed to find an equalizer for the 2nd time in the match. Clayton were the one with the assist this time as well, with a nice cross to Ikeuchi who scored with his head. Despite heavy pressure near the end, Shimizu couldn’t find the winning goal, and in the end they might should have deserved more. Overall pretty even though between 2 teams stuck near the bottom of the table.. Consadole had 9 shots to Shimizu’s 8.
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