J.League Week 3 - A Chilly Reception
| Kickoff | Home | . | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13:30 |  | 0 - 1 |  |
| 14:00 |  | 0 - 0 |  |
| 14:30 |  | 1 - 1 |  |
| 15:00 |  | 0 - 1 (ET) |  |
| 15:00 |  | 1 - 0 |  |
| 15:30 |  | 1 - 0 |  |
| 16:00 |  | 2 - 3 (ET) |  |
| 19:00 |  | 2 - 0 |  |
Click on the highlighted icons for a more detailed match report
1 - 2
The spotlight contest of the week set the tone for the rest of the league. At kickoff time, Verdy and S-Pulse took the field in a steady flurry of wet, white snowflakes. Commentators joked that, at this time of year one usually expects to see cherry blossom petals fluttering down from the sky, but not snowflakes. In any event, the wet snow created very slick pitch conditions. Although the field has been mowed very short, and thus it was not a heavy turf which slowed passes, it was nevertheless very difficult for players to find a firm footing, and this clearly had an impact on play.In the opening minutes of the match ,Verdy created a couple of dangerous chances. as veteran Hideki Nagai displayed his dribbling skills, and nearly created enough of an opening to send youngster Hayato Yano free. However, Nagai got a bit carried away and was carded for rough play in just the 12 minute. Yano had a very good performance in his first-ever start, even putting the ball into the net once midway through the first half, though the goal was disallowed because he had trapped the entry pass with his arm. Oddly, he was substituted at half time. After surviving the early Verdy goal rush, S-Pulse began to stamp their imprint on the match. S-Pulse began to control the midfield, and Verdy's front line sagged back, and focused on occasional counterattacks while S-Pulse began to control the pace of the match.
Yet despite the fact that S-Pulse were playing a ball control strategy with short passing in the midfield, their first goal would actually come on a counterattack, with a long balls on the break. In the 41 minute, Verdy created a dangerous chance on midfielder Kentaro Hayashi's dribble into the box, but keeper Takaya Kurokawa covered up the ball to end Verdy's threat. While the Verdy players were still milling about in the S-Pulse penalty area, Kurokawa flung the ball out to Kohei Hiramatsu at midfield, and Hiramatsu found Alex streaking down the left sideline. Alex sent a beautiful, low cross into the box where two S-Pulse players were cutting in on just one defender. Takayuki Yokoyama was the man left uncovered, and he met the ball with a perfectly timed diving header at the far post to put S-Pulse in the lead.
Verdy came out after the break with a more aggressive press, and created a few opportunities early, but Yokoyama would produce a second goal for S-Pulse midway through the second half. This time, a corner kick from the right side was cleared to defender Ryuzo Morioka about five meters outside the penalty area. Morioka sent a cross into the box, where two S-Pulse players and two Verdy players all tangled for the ball. The result was inconclusive, and the ball fell almost motionless in open space right next to the penalty spot. Yokoyama reacted to the ball first, rushing out to meet it and then pivoting quickly to pull the ball back on goal. His shot eluded the keeper and put S-Pulse up 2-0
Although Verdy struggled to get back in the match ,they could manage only one consolation goal in the dying seconds, on an acrobatic shot by defender Yoshihiro Nishida. Reserve forward Takafumi Ogura looped a pass in from the right corner, and Nishida trapped it with his chest, then made a wheeling high kick that sent the ball looping over the outstretched arm of the S-Pulse keeper Unfortunately, it was too little too late, and the 19,000 fans who had braved the cold and snow at Tokyo Soccer stadium were sent home disappointed.
1 - 0
Jubilo Iwata have just returned from clinching a spot in the Asian club championship with three consecutive wins in Indonesia last weekend. The tough schedule seems to have taken its toll, as the team looked flat, and nearly exhausted at times. When you add in the effect of playing on a very soggy pitch, it is perhaps not surprising that their match against FC Tokyo was a rather dull affair. Jubilo scored the only goal of the match in the 29 minute, on a penalty kick by national-team defender Toshihiro Hattori The PK was set up after Masashi "Gon" Nakayama found space on the right sideline and fed the ball through to his strike partner Naohiro Takahara . As Takahara turned past his flat-footed defender, he was tripped from behind, producing the PK, which was cashed in by Hattori.
FC Tokyo had a few opportunities to get back into the match, but Jubilo's solid back line seemed equal to the task. Though Jubilo were unable to produce much offense, one goal was all they needed to post their third victory of the season, and take a solid grip on first place in the league
2 - 3
Perhaps the most entertaining match of the day saw Kashiwa Reysol travel to the cold and soggy marshlands of Ichihara, where they were nearly surprised by the team that most tipsters have picked for relegation, JEF United. Coming into the match, Reysol were expected to waltz over their opponent, and for a while it appeared that they would do exactly that. Kashiwa got on the board first in just the 9 minute, as Korean striker Hwang Sun-Hong started a break, and found midfielder Harutaka Ono breaking past the last two JEF defenders. The pass was timed perfectly, avoiding the offside, and giving Ono an easy one-on-one against the goalkeeper. Ono slid the ball underneath the keeper and put Reysol in the lead.Just three minutes later, Reysol doubled their lead as Tomonori Hirayama's hard shot from the top right corner of the penalty area sent keeper Riki Takasaki sprawling for the save. Although the JEF keeper managed to block the shot, his deflection rolled lazily to Hwang, who rumbled in from the far post to tap the ball in.
At this point, it looked like Reysol were headed for a rout, but for some reason the team from Kashiwa took its foot off the gas and let JEF get back into the match. Although Reysol continued to dominate posession, JEF's back line started to do a better job of closing them down, thanks to some effective work by Slovenian national team member Zeljko Milinovic and JEF captain Eisuke Nakanishi. Though their chances were rather few, JEF made the most of the opportunities it did get. In the 31 minute, midfielder Edin "Edo" Mujcin, a newcomer picked up from Dinamo Zagreb just two weeks ago, took a free kick from about 30 meters out on the left side. Mujcin showed why Dinamo fans used to refer to him as "the left foot of God", when his centering pass pinpointed Hisato Sato in front of the net for a nice header that put JEF on the scoreboard
Reysol were unable to get themselves untracked after half time. After showing the passing skills to shred JEF's defence in the first 15 minutes, Reysol seemed to lose their sharpness, perhaps in part because of the slickness of the pitch. Though they continued to dominate ball posession, their scoring chances were few and far between. Meanwhile, JEF seemed to be gaining in confidence and coordination. Mujcin, whose nickname is sure to make him popular in the blue-collar shitamachi districts surrounding Ichihara, had an excellent match, running hard from offense to defense and producing a smoothness in the JEF midfield that they havent seen since the days of Pierre Littbarsky. Meanwhile, young striker Takenori Hayashi made some powerful runs that suggest he may be starting to blossom as a scoring threat. In the 52 minute, JEF won a corner kick on the left side, and once again they made the most of the opportunity. Reysol failed to cover the far post, and Korean striker Choi Yong-Soo met it on the short hop to turn it inside the far post and collect his first-ever J.League goal.
Reysol seemed stunned by the fact that their lowly opponent had managed to claw its way back into the match, and as happened in the team's loss to Consadole Sapporo, they seemed unable to get their coordination back together, especially at midfield. Harutaka Ono, in particular, lost his composure, making two very silly fouls in the space of ten minutes. After picking up one yellow card for a low sliding tackle on Choi, Ono was beaten by Hayashi at midfield, and simply grabbed the small JEF forward by the shoulder and flung him to the ground. The referee obliged Ono with a second card, thus reducing Reysol to 10 men.
Unfortunately for JEF, they just didnt have the depth of talent to press home their advantage. After falling to a man disadvantage, Reysol tightened up their defence, and shut down any JEF strikes for the remainder of regulation time. As the game went to extra time, Reysol moved into a counterattack, and Tomokazu Myojin lofted a long pass that sent midfielder Naoki Sakai into the clear. Sakai collected the ball, turned away from the final defender, and cut the ball back across the face of goal to elude the outstretched arm of the keeper. Though Reysol had a narrow escape, their extra time win still leaves them on just 5 points from three matches. They have a tough road ahead if they hope to meet preseason expectations and capture the league crown.
0-0 (ET)
The Kashima Antlers are another team that find themselves with ground to make up if they want to climb back into the race. Their match against Cerezo Osaka was certainly affected by a slippery pitch, but neither team was able to produce the decisive plays to break down their opponent and put the ball in the net.During the first 30 minutes of the match, Cerezo actually had the better opportunities. Although central defender Fabiano returned from a knee injury for the first time this season, left wing back Yoshiro Nakamura was a great disappointment. While nobody expects the youngster to fully replace Naoki Soma at that position, Nakamura seemed particularly inept, neither providing enough support on the overlap, nor dropping back fast enough on defence to support Fabiano and Akita, who several times early in the match were forced to deal with three-on-two breaks. Some fine goalkeeping by Daijiro Takakuwa kept the game scoreless, but the Antlers attacks were not particularly effective. Kazuaki "Robocop" Tasaka had an excellent match at volante, breaking up the Kashima attack, and the pressure put on by strikers Kenji Oshiba and newly-signed Issei Okayama kept Kashima on the defensive for much of the first half.
At half time, Nakamura was replaced by Koji Kumagai, and the Antlers defence looked much more stable for the remainder of regulation time. Though the Antlers created a log more dangerous opportuntities in the second half, they were unable to finish them off, and the score remained 0 - 0 after 90 minutes
In extra time, both teams threw all of their energies into attack. Kashima brought in Masashi Motoyama and Tomoyuki Hirase in the front line, and the result was a series of breaks that Cerezo was only just able to turn away. On the other side of the field, though, Cerezo's 18-year-old rookie midfielder Yoshito Ohkubo put on quite a performance as a late replacement, dribbling through the Antlers defence and showing some moves that would be impressive even from a veteran. It was therefore a disappointment for both teams that nobody was able to put the ball in the net. The match ended in a scoreless draw.
2 - 0
After advancing from the second division last year, Urawa are under intense pressure from their fans to remain competitive at the top level of the league. While the team still seems a bit uncoordinated, when one considers that the squad was entirely rebuild over the winter and has only been together for a bit over two months, they at least appear to be on the right track. Their 2-0 victory over Avispa Fukuoka was certainly their best performance yet, and the score line might have been even larger if not for some poor finishing in the first half by Brazilian midfielder Adriano. Urawa got off to a quick start, and nearly took a lead in the 2 minute, when a through pass from Shinji Ono sent Adriano into the clear, but he flubbed his shot and the sure-handed veteran Nobuyuki Kojima was able to make the save. Adriano and his partner in the front line, Livonir "Tuto" Ruschel looked quite effective against a very tough Avispa defence. In about the 20 minute, another nice exchange put Adriano into space again, this time at a sharp angle on goal from the left side. Once again, his shot was slightly off target, and found the side netting. Meanwhile, the Reds defence seemed quite a bit more solid than last year, thanks to the addition of veteran Masami Iihara . Avispa created a few dangerous chances in the first 30 minutes, but thereafter the defence settled down and kept Fukuoka at bay for the remainder of the match.
Despite several opportunities, the Reds were unable to score in the first stanza. It wasnt until a few minutes after the break that they finally got on the board, thanks to a nice bit of individual play from Tuto. In the 47 minute, wing back Ryuji Michiki took a throw in deep in Avispa territory, on the left sideline. Tuto had a defender on his back as the ball came to him, and the defender pressed up close, expecting Tuto to trap the ball and post him up. But Tuto simply let the ball bounce, and put on a spin move to the baseline that was worthy of a top NBA power forward. As he rushed past his defender, Tuto measured Kojima for an instant, then hooked the ball inside the far post to put Urawa into the lead.
For the next half hour, the match bogged down a bit, perhaps partly because of poor pitch conditions, but also because Tuto and Adriano appeared to run out of gas. For their part, Avispa were unable to put together much in terms of offence. While they are still without the services of Brazilian libero Donizete, who has recovered from his leg injury but sat out again this week due to a fever, the Reds defence was very solid this week, at least from about the 20 minute on. Iihara, Michiki and Tsutomu Nishino all turned in good performances.
Late in the match, the reds brought in two substitutes at forward, in Yasushi Fukunaga and veteran Masahiro Fukuda. The 1995 golden boot winner showed that he still has fine finishing abilities eve at age 35. In the 83 minute, Fukunaga took the ball down the left sideline, and after turning the corner, pulled the ball back out to Shinji Ono, at the top left corner of the penalty box. Ono made eye contact with Fukuda, and as the veteran striker cut for goal, Ono slipped him a beautiful slant pass that left the Avispa defenders skinned, stuffed, roasted, and laid out on a platter like Thanksgiving turkeys. Fukuda simply had to sink the two-foot putt to give Urawa a 2-0 lead and close out the scoring
0 - 1
Despite being reduced to ten men before half time, Gamba Osaka fought back to take two points with an extra-time victory over Vissel Kobe. Although Vissel took victory in its first two matches, the team was less than impressive this week, creating few if any scoring chances even after playing for almost an hour with an extra man. In fact, through most of the second half, it was Gamba that showed the more aggressive play, particularly from strikers Hitoshi Morishita and Hiromi Kojima.Nino Bule was dismissed in the 39 minute after losing his temper and lashing out at a Vissel defender who roughed him up. While Bule had been the target of some thuggish challenges, his reaction was certainly no help to the team, who were reduced to ten men well before the half had ended. Yet the Gamba defence was up to the task of denying Kobe, depite playing without injured Tsuneyasu Miyamoto and Junichi Inamoto, who came down with a fever shortly after his return from France. French libero Claude Dambury and midfielder Toru Araiba, who moved into the back line following Bule's dismissal, both had excellent performances.
Gamba clained its well-deserved victory in the fourth minute of extra time. As midfielder Hideo Hashimoto dribbled across the middle, he spotted Kojima making a cut for the back post. Hashimoto's through bass just barely eluded the reach of Vissel's big central defender Sidiclei, and Kojima beat the keeper to the ball, turning it inside the post for a golden goal victory.
Elsewhere
Sanfrecce Hiroshima held on to a one-goal lead despite Consadole Sapporo's best efforts to equalise, and clinched their first victory of the season. Meanwhile, Yokohama Marinos and Nagoya Grampus battled to a 1-1 draw on a sloppy pitch in Mizuho stadium.
After three consecutive wins, Jubilo Iwata is three points clear, in first place. Consadole Sapporo's disheartening loss drop them to third place, a goal difference behind Nagoya Grampus. Be sure to visit again next week for the latest news on the J.League!
| . | Team | Pts | GP | W (90/ET) | D | L | GD | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 9 | 3 | 3 (3-0) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 2 |
| 2 |  | 6 | 3 | 2 (1-1) | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 3 |  | 6 | 3 | 2 (2-0) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 3 |  | 6 | 3 | 2 (2-0) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 |  | 5 | 3 | 2 (1-1) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 6 |  | 5 | 3 | 2 (1-1) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| 7 |  | 5 | 3 | 2 (1-1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 8 |  | 4 | 3 | 1 (1-0) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 9 |  | 4 | 3 | 1 (1-0) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 |  | 3 | 3 | 1 (1-0) | 0 | 2 | -1 | 2 | 3 |
| 11 |  | 3 | 3 | 1 (1-0) | 0 | 2 | -3 | 3 | 6 |
| 12 |  | 2 | 3 | 1 (0-1) | 0 | 2 | -1 | 4 | 5 |
| 13 |  | 2 | 3 | 0 (0-0) | 2 | 1 | -1 | 3 | 4 |
| 14 |  | 2 | 3 | 1 (0-1) | 0 | 2 | -2 | 2 | 4 |
| 15 |  | 1 | 3 | 0 (0-0) | 1 | 2 | -2 | 3 | 5 |
| 16 |  | 0 | 3 | 0 (0-0) | 0 | 3 | -5 | 4 | 9 |
Send all questions, comments and queries to: