Neither Avispa or Shonan will be particularly happy with just a draw this match, as both teams are in need of a win in their run for promotion. Shonan got off to the best start, although on a somewhat lucky goal. Kikuchi hopefully unleashed a shot, that hit an Avispa defender and went into the goal. Avispa tried their best to get back into the match though, and it was fully-deserved when Havenaar muscled his way through to make it 1-1 just before the break. Havenaar scored another just a few minutes into the 2nd half, when Shonan’s GK mis-calculated a cross. The 2nd-half produced alot of chances, and it didn’t take long before Shonan were levelled again when Kato scored the equalizer in the 58th minute. Despite big chances at both ends near the end, the match ended with no more goals. Avispa probably deserved the win, with 16 shots to Shonan’s 10.
Kofu and Sendai shared the spoils in an entertaining 2-2 match this round, a result Kofu should be most happy with. Vegalta by no means dominated, but had most of the chances and also played over half the match 11 against 10. Ryan Yong-Gi gave Vegalta an early lead from the penalty-spot in the 9th minute, but after that it evened out a bit, with Kofu gradually taking more over. Most of the drama took place near the end of the first half, with Kofu’s 2 new brazilian FW’s Sales and Maranhao both hitting the target within minutes to turn the match around. But Maranhao went from hero to villain as he were sent off immediately after his goal. Nakashima gave Vegalta the equalizer soon after that, in injury-time. With 11 against 10 for the rest of the match, Vegalta naturally looked the controlling team, but sturdy defending by Kofu denied them both goals and chances. Therefore the match ended a 2-2 draw, with Vegalta outshooting Kofu 10-7.
Y: Ikemoto 32’,71’
Over 15 000 had showed up to see Cerezo’s match vs Yokohama, but most of them ended up disappointed as Cerezo once again slipped to a defeat at home. This was their 5th loss in 6 home games, which is nothing else than a catastrophy for a title-contender. Remarkably enough though, they are only 3 points behind 3rd placed Sagan, so they must still be considered one of the favorites for promotion. That is however, if they can get their season back on track.
They didn’t look too bad this match, but sloppy defending saw Yokohama get away with 2 goals. First, Ikemoto met a cross from Ota to make it 1-0 after 32 minutes in what was a good Cerezo-period. Cerezo focused their attacks down the flanks, but it was clear they missed Kagawa’s creativity. The wingers did create chances though, but neither Komatsu or Furuhashi managed to convert them. Actually, Furuhashi got injured in the 1st half, which saw Kakitani enter the field instead. The new signing Kaio made his debut as he came on early in the 2nd half, but unfortunately for Cerezo he couldn’t help them in avoiding a defeat. Ikemoto were on target again in the 71st minute to score Yokohama’s 2nd goal, and with little time left Cerezo’s chances of points looked slim. Heavy pressure on Yokohama saw them get to some chances though, but the only goal they got came in the 86th minute through Komatsu, who scored his 12th goal this season. Perhaps Cerezo should have deserved more, but in the end it was Yokohama who could celebrated a very long-awaited win. Cerezo had 14 shots to Yokohama’s 12.
The quality in finishing were what divided Roasso and Tokushima this match, and somewhat surprisingly it were Roasso that scored the goals. With Roasso having so many defenders out, one would think Tokushima would atleast find the net on 1 occasion, but instead they ended up without a goal once again. The first half didn’t provide much action with neither of the teams getting to too many chances. Tokushima started the 2nd half best, but poor finishing, from the new striker Sosa in particular, meant Roasso instead took the lead in the 62nd minute, through a header from corner by Miyazaki. Roasso’s topscorer Takahashi added 2 more in the dying minutes, to take his tally to 12 this season. A poor result for Tokushima, who now are 5 points behind Roasso in the table. Roasso had 9 shots to Tokushima’s 8.
Sanfrecces road back to J1 seems like a walk in the park, and once again they took all 3 points as they beat Sagan 1-0 at home. With that, they’ve won a remarkable 20 out of 27 matches, and nobody seems able to stop them. Sagan fought hard though, but in the end Sanfrecce were deserved winners. The first half saw Sanfrecce trying to break down the Sagan defence, but as usual Sagan’s back-four proved hard to beat. Despite several shots on goal, Sanfrecce didn’t have too many big chances, and the teams were deadlockedy by half-time. Just after the break though, Koji Morisaki broke free on a counter-attack to make it 1-0 to the home-side. Sagan refused to give up though, and started creating chances on their own. The 2nd half were quite entertaining, with both teams attacking. But we didn’t see any more goals, and in the end it was a deserved home-win. Sanfrecce had 20 shots to Sagan’s 11.
E: Tanaka 44’
The match between Thespa and Ehime turned out to be more entertaining than first thought, with Thespa needing a last-minute goal to take the win. Thespa and Ehime are regarded as two of the more ”boring” sides in the league, but this match had plenty of action at both ends. Thespa’s super-striker Takada gave the home-team an early lead after his team-mates set him up with some nifty one-touch passing. The clinical striker made no mistake alone with Tada in Ehime’s goal. However, the match took a turn when Thespa’s Tanaka were sent-off in the 32nd minute, and Ehime took more over. They got their equalizer just before the break, through their own Toshiya Tanaka. Ehime dominated most of the 2nd half as well, but Honda in the Thespa goal played a marvellous game and denied Ehime a goal every time. As often happens when a team fails to take advantage of their pressure, the other team scores on their only chance, and that was exactly what happened. Shimada scored with a cracking free-kick to give Thespa the win in the 89th minute. By no means deserved, but still an impressive comeback from the home team. Thespa had 11 shots to Ehime’s 19.
Mito took a very impressive and also highly important 1-0 away win against Gifu this round,and they controlled the match from start to finish. The win takes them just 1 point short of Gifu ,and could pass them on the table with a win next round. Gifu once again looked poor at home, and never really looked like winning this one. Mito took control from the start off, and had several big chances. With a bit more luck and efficiency they coudl easily have been 1-2 goals up. Instead, we had to wait until the 63rd minute for the winning goal, when Mito’s topscorer Arata once again were on target with a powerful header following a Kanazawa cross. A nice goal, and although the game evened out a little after that Mito’s win never looked to be under threat. Mito for once looked strong in defence, and the fast attacks from Gifu were stopped over and over again. Gifu had 9 shots to Mito’s 11.
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