J2 - round 39 results

Yokohama FC Cerezo Osaka 2-2
Y: Miura 37’, Elizeu 77’
C: Komatsu 66’,74’

Cerezo didn’t manage to pull off a win in Yokohama, and with that their promotion-campaign took another blow. However, most of the others teams above them dropped points as well, so the gap up to 3rd is only 5 points. But with one more game gone, the chances are getting smaller. They should have won this one though, as they dominated pretty much the whole game. They looked terrifying in the beginning of the match, putting the Yokohama-defence under a great amount of pressure. Especially down the left-flank, were Kagawa were a constant threat. But instead it was Yokohama to take the lead, infront of a massive crowd of over 20 000 at National Stadium. Atsushi Miura showed his old legs still got it, and the wing-back found the net with a powerful shot from distance after 37 minutes. That was the only goal we got before the half, and Yokohama held a somewhat lucky lead.
Cerezo didn’t stop to play though, and continued with their offensive strategy. It finally paid off in the 66th minute when Komatsu scored his 15th goal of the season. Not too long after he added another after being beatifully played free by his compatriot up front Kaio. But Miura had more tricks up his sleeves, and with a free-kick he found the brazilian Elizeu free in the box, and Elizeu headed home the equalizer. The end to the match was dramatic as well, with a Yokohama defender being sent off. But we didn’t see any more goals, and 2-2 is a result Cerezo’s coach Levir Culpi won’t be too happy about. Cerezo outshot Yokohama 20-6.

Ehime FC Thespa Kusatsu 1-0
E: Uchimura 62’

In a dull match with extremely few chances at both ends won Ehime 1-0 over Thespa at home. With that they bounced back from the humiliating defeat they suffered against rivals Tokushima in the last round. There were some heavy rain right before the match, so the pitch were slippery which created alot of trouble for both teams. It was almost impossible to keep the ball on the ground, as it stopped in the puddles that were all over the pitch. Ehime had the ball the most of the time, but only came to a handful of chances. Uchimura should have given them the lead in the 22th minute, but his header hit the crossbar. In the 2nd half MF Akai also hit the crossbar with a shot for Ehime, but in the 62nd minute they finally got their goal as Uchimura reacted the quickest to a loose ball inside the penalty box. Thespa’s only real chance came when Goto were 1 on 1 with Ehime’s goalie, but he squandered his chance. All in all a deserved win for Ehime, and both teams had 5 shots each.

Mito Hollyhock FC Gifu 1-4
M: Hori 8’
G: Kawashima 37’, Umeda 52’, Katagiri 80’, Otomo 90’

After a good period with 10 points in their last 4 matches Mito came down to earth again as they were hammered 4-1 by Gifu at home. For Gifu’s sake, it was their first win in 13 matches. It was Mito that got off to the best start though, and Hori gave them the lead after only 8 minutes as he finished a nice attack by the home team. It was a match with not too many chances, and we had to wait a while before it happened anything by interest again. Mito did have a few dangerous shots though, but it was deserved when Kawashima equalized for Gifu a few minutes before the break. 7 minutes into the 2nd half Umeda snapped up a Mito-pass, and fired the ball home from some distance out to make it 2-1 for Gifu. At that period it could have gone both ways though, as Mito were fully on level with the visitors. They had some chances to equalize, but as they threw everyone forward in an attempt for a late goal, Gifu scored twice to end the match with a 4-1 win. Mito had 9 shots to Gifu’s 8 so it was more even than the result suggests.

Montedio Yamagata Avispa Fukuoka 1-0
M: Toyoda 47’

Montedio somehow managed to beat Avispa this match, despite being outplayed for most of the match and having to the almost the entire 2nd half with just 10 men. Avispa looked the best team already early on, but they lacked the sting in attack that they had shown in recent matches. Therefore the teams were still deadlocked by half-time. Toyoda gave Montedio the lead immediately after the break on a counter-attack, and seconds later veteran midfielder Nobuyuki Zaizen received his 2nd yellow card and were sent-off. Avispa, having one player more on the field, took even more over now, but sturdy defending from Montedio kept their strikers at bay. In the end it was a lucky win for Montedio, who ended a 4-match-without-a-win run by taking all 3 points here, and with that re-took the 2nd place.

Roasso Kumamoto Tokushima Vortis 2-2
R: Takahashi 16’, Komorida 72’
T: Sugawara 36’, 82’

Roasso extended their unbeaten streak to 4 matches with a 2-2 draw against Tokushima at home. They will probably feel a bit disappointed they didn’t win though, but Tokushima gave them a hard fight and deserved the point. Roasso got off to the best start, and immediately put the visitors under pressure. Their prolific striker Takahashi gave them the lead after only 16 minutes, after some nice work down the left-flank. 20 minutes later Sugawara equalized after a defensive error by Roasso. So the teams were still deadlocked by half-time, and neither of the teams looked too dangerous at this stage. The in-form midfielder Komorida were on target after 72 minutes though, when he headed home a cross from the right-flank. With little time left, Roasso eyed the win, but Sugawara were on target again after striking first on a spill-ball 8 minutes from full-time. Roasso had 10 shots to Tokushima’s 9, and a draw were a fair result.

Ventforet Kofu Vegalta Sendai 1-1
VK: Sales 52’
VS: Ryan Yong-Gi 55’

1-1 is a result neither of the teams will be overwhelmly happy about, as Kofu were desperate for all 3 points if they still wanted to participate in the promotion race. And for Vegalta, only a point here means they are still in 4th and without a win for 2 matches. Kofu were overall the best team, so they should have most reasons to be unhappy though. Vegalta went for a defensive strategy this time, and packed their defence. That didn’t prevent Kofu from getting to chances, but most of them were shots from distance that didn’t trouble the keeper. Early in the 2nd half, Kofu were awarded a penalty, and the brazilian striker Sales made no mistake from the spot. But just a few minutes later, Ryan Yong-Gi excelled through Kofu’s defence and took the shot to give Vegalta an immediate equalizer. After the goal, the match-picture went back to Kofu pressurizing Vegalta, who went back to packing the defence. It was almost like powerplay which we see in ice-hockey, and in the end Vegalta rode the storm off to earn a point. Kofu outshot Vegalta 12-6.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Shonan Bellmare 2-0
SH: Kuwada 66’, Morisaki 69’


More reasons for Sanfrecce to cheer...

Sanfrecce shows no intentions of slowing down despite being secured a place in J1 next year, and this round it was 2nd placed Shonan that were easily beaten. Having 87 points now, they are eyeing the 100 point mark, and with 6 games left that should be a do-able task. Shonan didn’t came up with much against Sanfrecce, and they were lucky not to lose by a bigger margin. It was total domination from the first minute, and Shonan didn’t look like a team that deserved to be in J1 next year. Despite several chances, Sanfrecce didn’t manage to score before the break, so the teams were still deadlocked by half-time. But in the 66th minute the opening goal finally came, and it was a magnificent one as well by Kuwada. Some terrific passing led to Kuwada finishing it off. And just 3 minutes later, Morisaki added another to make it 2-0. The loss means Shonan dropped to 3rd, and needs to do alot better in the next round if they want a top 3 finish. Sanfrecce outshot Shonan 26-5, and another interesting fact is that Shonan only were rewarded a mere 3 freekicks the whole game.