The two top teams Vegalta and Cerezo shared the spoils in 0-0 draw in Sendai this round, but despite the lack of goals, it was an entertaining mach. A draw is a result neither of the teams should be particularly happy with, as we’re in a phase of the season where winning is as important than ever. But with the teams fighting for the same places, atleast none of them fell behind.
Reports says Cerezo were the best team, but couldn’t quite capitalize on their chances. Once again Shinji Kagawa was a menace, and set up his team-mates on several occasions. However, it was Cerezo’s sturdy defensive play that was most impressive this match, and they managed to keep a clean sheet against a tough opponent. Likewise for Vegalta, who seems to have problems finding the net at home though. They haven’t scored for 3 matches in Sendai, which is quite rare. All in all a fair result, but Cerezo had the edge for the most of the match, and with a bit more spark in their attack, they would have won it. Vegalta had 12 shots to Cerezo’s 17.
T: Kuranuki 10’
Avispa climbed to 8th place with their 2nd win in a row as they beat Tokushima at home, and seems to be back on track. With 10 points up to 3rd place, promotion is not completely out of the picture, especially considering the other top teams varying form.
Tokushima’s new MF Kazuki Kuranuki, who recently transferred from J1 siden Kyoto Sanga, had a good day, where the highlight were his early 1-0 goal after only 10 minutes. Kuranuki was a captain for Kofu when they were in J1 2 seasons ago, and also looked good for Sanga last year. Surely a great addition to the Tokushima side, especially now that Doumbia has left. Kuranuki’s opening goal came after some nice movement and passing, and it was deserved as Tokushima looked the best team early on. After the goal they packed their defence, and tried to prevent Avispa from getting to any chances.
They did a fairly good job, but just before the break Kudo equalized for Avispa, and the teams went to half-time deadlocked. The match scenario looked similar in the 2nd half as in the first,with Tokushima defending with all their might, leaving Avispa with a tough task of breaking through. Avispa didn’t really had too many chances, and Tokushima actually outshot them. The visitors had now and then a counter-attack that looked dangerous, but a few minutes before the end they saw Avispa score their 2nd goal through substitute striker Okubo. A harsh way of losing, conceding a goal in the dying minutes of both halfs, but they can only blame theiw on defensive strategy. Avispa had 6 shots to Tokushima’s 8.
E: Uchimura 26’
After going through a rough period lately, it was good for Shonan to produce a get-away win here, as they comfortably beat Ehime 4-1 at home. The visitors never really stood a chance, and Shonan are now in 6th and are very much in it still.
Shonan took the lead after 13 minutes through Abe, after a quick counter that took Ehime by surprise. Ehime looked pretty out of it, but got a lucky equalizer through Fw Uchimura after nice play down the wing. But it didn’t last long, cause minutes later Sakamoto reacted to a through pass from Adiel to make it 2-1. Ehime fought hard to get back into it, but were over and over again forced back on their half, and were lucky to only be down with a single goal at half-time.
Shonan didn’t take long before that was changed though, and in the 53rd minute Adiel were on the receiving end of the pass, and the brazilian converted his shot with ease. The 2nd half were pretty much all about Shonan, and Ishihara added a 4th late in the match to complete the humiliation of Ehime. Shonan had 16 shots to Ehime’s 9.
Ventforet Kofu Roasso Kumamoto 3-1
V: Maranhao 19’, Akimoto 54’,Kuno 89’
R: Komorida 71’
Ventforet took a pretty comfortable 3-1 win over struggling Roasso this round, and with that they’ve taken 7 points in the last 3 matches. Perhaps their luck is turning, and now they’ve gotten 2 new brazilians up front as well, which might help their cause. Goalscoring has been their biggest problem this season, and their hope is the brazilians will make an end to that.
Maranhao, one of the new faces, got off to a good start as he gave Kofu the lead after only 19 minutes. He met Onishi’s CK with a well-placed header that went past Roasso’s keeper. The rest of the half were pretty slow, and neither of the teams looked too interested in risking things going forward.
That changed for the better in the 2nd half though, and it didn’t take long before Kofu were 2-0 up thanks to another header from corner, this time through Akimoto. Kofu came to several chances in the 2nd half, and should have been up by a bigger margin. Instead Roasso put a scare through the big home-crowd, when Komorida reduced in the 71st minute. Komorida, who just returned from injury, has scored in 2 matches in a row now, and proved he’s a vital member of this team.
But Roasso never really got close an equalizer, and instead late substitute Kuno killed the game off with his 3-1 goal in the 89th minute. Kofu had 15 shots to Roasso’s 6.
Sagan took all 3 points when they met Yokohama at home this round, and it was a well-deserved win for the home team. Both teams took a defensive stance to the match, and we didn’t see too many chances from open play. But in the 35th minute, Sagan received a free-kick near the box, and DF Kazuya Iio headed home the following cross with ease, to make Sagan go 1-0 up. That was one of the few big chances we saw in the first half, but nonetheless a deserved lead for Sagan.
Yokohama tried to bring some life into the match in the 2nd half, and brought on Ota as well as placing Astuhito Miura in midfield. That opened up the match a little, as now atleast Yokohama looked interesting in attacking. That left out some place at the other end too though, and Sagan came to chances through counters. Yokohama’s Anderson were sent off in the 66th minute though, which forced Yokohama back down again. They lacked the firepower to score without him, and also couldn’t take too many chances in defence, being a man down. In the end, we didn’t see more goals, and Sagan deserved all 3 points. They are now in joint 2nd. Sagan had 10 shots to Yokohama’s 6.
MY: Kobara 73’
Mito took their 3rd straight win when they beat a strong Montedio side 2-1 at home this round. A marvellous result for such a small club, and it was fully deserved as well. Mito played very positive football throughout the match, and took an early lead through the on-fire striker Arata, who lured his way through after a nice pass from Ozawa. Montedio has been a little out of it lately, and this was infact their 3rd straight loss.
They fought hard this match though, but didn’t really look threathening before in the 2nd half.
However, it was Mito that scored the 2nd goal also, when the young substitute striker Shingiyoui scored with a powerful header in the 65th minute. The striker’s first ever goal, and it proved a very important goal as well, since Montedio reduced jsut a few minutes later through DF Shogo Kobara. Montedio put the U-23 Olympic striker Toyoda for the 2nd half, but he didn’t have too much of an impact really, and still looks to be lacking fitness. Mito had 8 shots to Montedio’s 12 in the end, but it was a deserved home win.
Sanfrecce looks invincible at the moment, and this round they hammered a visiting Gifu side by four goals to nil. It seems it’s a huge difference in class between Sanfrecce and the other J2 teams, and Sanfrecce would probably atleast hang out for a mid-table position in J1. Promotion this season seems destined.
Against Gifu, they looked pretty good for most of the match, but Gifu weren’t totally hapless, and got to chances themselves. But unlike Sanfrecce, they failed to find the net, as Sanfrecce did in the 42nd minute through a Morita header from a corner. And just 2 minutes later, Kashiwagi scored his first goal of the season to make it 2-0. For Gifu, that was a very bad moment to concede goals, as they were just a few minutes away from half-time.
However, Sanfrecce continued where they left it in the first half, and scored immediately after the break through NT striker Hisato Sato. So it was probably only a matter of time before they would have scored anyway. In the 62nd minute Koji Morisaki made it 4-0 from the penalty spot, and completed the humiliation of Gifu. Sanfrecce had 16 shots to Gifu’s 9.
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