S: Sato 55’, Kashiwagi 63’
Poor Cerezo lost again, and were totally outplayed when they met Sanfrecce at home. Sanfrecce’s win should have been by a bigger margin, but Yamamoto in the Cerezo goal had a good day, and denied Sato and the others over and over again. However, with a bit more luck Cerezo would have ended up as winners actually, as they blew a penalty early in the 2nd half. Although Sanfrecce had the most of the chances, that goal could have stirredup the match, leaving Cerezo in charge.
Eve without a lead by half-time, Cerezo looked quite strong when they entered the 2nd half though, and took the lead just 7 minutes after the break. RB Yanagisawa and Komatsu had a nice one-two combination that ended with Komatsu giving Cerezo the lead. But it didn’t last long, and 3 minutes later Sato equalized wit a dynamic and powerful shot from distance. Now it was all Sanfrecce ,and with minutes they were 2-1 up, thanks to a goal the in-form midfielder Kashiwagi. Certainly a deserved lead, but the way it came seemed a bit lucky.
Cerezo threw on some extra firepower near the end, but it didn’t help, and Sanfrecce took all 3 points. With Cerezo’s 7 shots against Sanfrecce’s 20, it was fully deserved as well.
M: Ikemoto 20’, 58’
Almost 15 000 met up to see Avispa beat Yokohama 3-2 at home, in a thrilling and highly entertaining match.Most of the action took place after the break, but there were a few chances in the first half as well. Avispa were by far the best team, and should have won it by a big margin. The first goal came after 20 minutes, when Ikemoto went on an individual run where he rounded off a few men before slamming it home. Ikemoto was the stand-in for the suspended Anderson, and he took good care of his chance by scoring 2 nice goals.
Avispa wasted several good opportunities both before and after the break, but in the 57th minute they finally got the equalizer through Kudo. But within seconds of the goal, Yokohama were in the lead again, as Ikemoto scored his 2nd of the day. Avispa threw everything forward in an attempt to get back into the game, but Yokohama defended with all their players, looking ultra-defensive. But Just before the break, justice were prevailed, when Tanaka headed home a corner-kick to make it 2-2. The drama wasn’t over there, and Yokohama’s GK Koyama got sent off in injury-time, and seconds later Okubo snatched Avispa’s winning goal with another header. A very dramatic end to an exciting match, but it was fully deserved. Avispa had 20 shots to Yokohama’s 5. Since Yokohama had used all their 3 subs, one of the outfield-players had to step in.
Kofu took their 3rd win in 4 matches, and looks to be in great shape at the moment. They beat in-form Mito 2-0 at home, and it was fully deserved. Mito were looking for a record 4-straight wins, but never looked capable of getting any points here.
Kofu looked the best team pretty much throughout the match, but neither of the teams managed to get to that many chances.Kofu focused their attacks down the wings, but the 2 brazilians up front hada rough time winning those high-balls. Kofu took the lead from a corner-kick just before the break, through Hayashi. That were the only goal in the first half, with Kofu as deserved leaders. Among Kofu’s 2 new brazilians, Maranhao certainly looks the strongest, and he were also the man behind Kofu’s 2nd goal, who were scored by Onishi in the 69th minute. Mito weren’t totally lost though, and had some chances for themselves. The biggest came through rookie-striker Kobayashi, but Kofu’s GK came up with a marvellous save. All in all a deserved win for Kofu though, who outshot Mito 10-5.
Gifu and showed shared the spoils in a somehat slow and not too much entertaining match this round. A draw is a result Gifu should be most happy about, considering their poor home form and the fact they met one of the better teams in the league. Shonan looked deadliest in attack too, and especially FW Abe looked good. He had the biggest chance in the match, but his shot just went outside of the target. The draw means Shonan still lies in 6th, and are still lagging a few points behind the frontrunners. For Gifu, they are found near the middle of the table, but it’s just a few points up to the teams gunning for promotion, and likewise down to the bottom-placed teams. Both Gifu and Shonan had 9 shots this game.
The other top-match this round took place in Kusatsu, where Thespa met Vegalta at home. Neither of the teams managed to break the deadlock, but it was an entertaining match still. Neither of the teams are in great form, and have dropped several points lately. But since all the other teams around them keeps on missing points as well, both are still very much in it. As for the game, the first half were pretty slow, with neither of the teams looking too interested in attacking. And when they did, the finishing were hopeless at both ends. After the break it opened up a bit though, with Thespa as the team in charge. They came up with several big chances, but the nearest they came were a shot from Shimada which hit the post. Vegalta seemed stunned by Thespa’s positive football, and in the end they were lucky to escape with a draw.Thespa had 14 shots to Vegalta’s 11.
Tokushima Vortis Montedio Yamagata 1-2
T: Ishida 37’
M: Kitamura 3’, Leonardo 90’
After 3 straight defeats, it was about time Montedio won again, and they rightfully did so when they met Tokushima away. It took a last-minute goal for them to get all points though, and the match were overall closely contested. Kitamura gave the visitors an early lead after oly 3 minutes, but after that Tokushima took more and more over. Especially their right-side looked to be on fire this match, with Mugira coming to dangerous crosses over and over again. In fact, Tokushima’s equalizer came after a cross from the right-back, when Ishida headed it home just before the break.
Tokushima had the initiative for most of the match, but didn’t seem to be able to break throuh Montedio’s sturdy defence. They also had most of the chances, but in injury-time Montedio received a corner-kick, which Leonardo scored on with another header. Heart-breaking for the home team, who now are without a win for 7 matches.
Roasso and Ehime battled it out this round, and it was the home-team that ended up as winners. They won deservedly 1-0, after 2nd half goal brom Ichimura. With that Roasso are just 3 points behind Ehime actually, and according to the 2 teams form Roasso might leapfrog them within the next 2-3 rounds.
Ehime has 3 losses in a row, and are having their poorest run so far this season. They started the match pretty good though, and got to several chances in the first half. They attacked down both flanks, and put Roasso’s defence under alot of pressure. But they couldn’t manage to find the net, and the teams were deadlocked by half-time. Roasso took more over after the break, and within minutes after the restart, Ichimura had given them the lead, with a splendid shot with his left foot from distance. An absolutely cracker, and after the goal it was one-way traffic against Ehime’s goal. Roasso took completely over the game, and mass-produced chances. Tada in Ehime’s goal did a good job at keeping the score at 0-1 though. Overall a very deserved win, although Ehime looked best the first half. Roasso had 14 shots to Ehime’s 9.
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