J.League, Week 4
Jockeying for Position
| Kickoff | Home | . | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14:00 |  | 3-2 (ET) |  |
| 14:00 |  | 2-1 (ET) |  |
| 18:30 |  | 1 - 2 |  |
| 19:00 |  | 3 - 1 |  |
| 19:00 |  | 0 - 1 |  |
| 19:00 |  | 3 - 2 |  |
| 19:00 |  | 0 - 2 |  |
| 19:00 |  | 0 - 0 |  |
1 - 2 (ET) 
However, Jubilo gradually started to acquire a higher share of possession with their patient, passing game at midfield, and in the 21 minute this led to a fortunate break that had a big impact on the momentum of the match. After a careful buildup from midfield, Jubilo won a corner kick on the right side, and midfielder Hiroshi Nanami took the kick. His low line drive found Toshiya Fujita for a header that beat the keeper to the near corner and gave Jubilo the lead.
This goal swung the momentum firmly in Jubilo's favor. The Reds started trying to do a bit too much with their passes and the result was a lot of aimless, long balls and fruitless dashes by the forwards which didnt lead to much of anything. Jubilo, meanwhile, began to use physical play to disrupt Tuto and Emerson, and the tactics worked. Jubilo failed to create many really dangerous opportunities, but their grip on the pace of play was solid, and the match remained 1-0 in their favour at half time.
In the second half, Urawa came out with a rush, just as they had in the first half, and just 7 minutes after the restart, Emerson showed the danger that his speed can create. Tuto picked up a ball at midfield and found his strike partner breaking loose down the right side, Emerson raced away from his defender, pulled the keeper off his feet and slid the ball inside the near post, knotting the score.
But the Reds were soon seeing red, in the form of a second card for defender Nobuhisa Yamada. Urawa will surely feel aggrieved by the call, since Jubilo had been pushing, kicking and pulling the Reds strikers throughout the match, but picked up only one card, whereas Yamada received two yellows for what might have been his only two fouls of the match. Nevertheless, there was little the team could do about the call, and Yamada was sent to the showers. Reduced to 10 men, the Reds had even less chance to create counterattacks, whereas Jubilo used their calm, controlled passing attack to steadily ratchet up the pressure on the Urawa goal. Only some tenacious defending kept the scores level at the end of full time.
As extra time began, Urawa replaced Emerson with veteran Masahiro Fukuda. This move made it seem even less likely that the team could generate a goal with a man disadvantage, but on the other hand, a fresh pair of legs in the front line allowed the team to keep pressure on the ball and bolster their defence. If the Reds were playing for a draw, however, they let themselves down badly. For the first xx minutes of extra time, the team from Urawa did a fairly good job of frustrating Jubilo as they had throughout the second half. But disaster struck in the 6 minute of extra time, as Toshiya Ishii flubbed an easy ball into the box. His failed clearance rolled straight to Fujita who slammed it into the net and raced off to celebrate the golden goal victory.
3 - 2 
The beautiful venue of Tokyo soccer national stadium was the site of a hotly contested matchup between FC Tokyo and Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Both teams are struggling to step up from the middle of the table and become true contenders, though both teams are still a bit thin on talent, especially in the midfield. Thus, going into the match, it was fairly apparent that both teams needed a win to remain in the race. The loser would be facing yet another mediocre year in the middle of the table. Perhaps in hopes of catching the visitors off guard, Tokyo came out with a burst of energy, throwing six or seven players into attack. This offensive tactic backfired almost immediately, as a Sanfrecce steal in the 4 minute sent Tatsuhiko Kubo free down the right wing. His centering pass found Chikara Tsujimoto open at the top of the box, and Tsujimoto placed a gentle floater into the top right corner before celebrating with his trademark "Awa dance".
FC Tokyo was clearly disappointed by the early goal, but the team certainly didn't allow this to affect their strategy. The team continued to push forward into attack, with Amaral and Clesly "Kelly" Guimaresin the front line while Yukihiko Sato and former Grampus striker Kenji Fukuda pushed in from the wings. Sanfrecce was forced onto the back foot, though the back line did a fairly competent job of fending off the Tokyo drives. In the 25 mintue, Tokyo broke out with a 4-on-2 break, but defender Oleg Pachinine made a goal-saving play, stepping in to break up the drive just before it reached the edge of the penalty area. Nevertheless, Tokyo was starting to build momentum, despite their goal disadvantage. On the stroke of 30 minutes, Amaral was sent free into the box, and only a fine save by Takashi Shimoda turned his shot away. While Hiroshima had a few counterattacking opportunities, none showed as much promise as the initial goal. FC Tokyo went into the locker room at half time looking to be the more coordinated team, by far, though they were still down by a goal.
The momentum that FC Tokyo displayed in the first half continued in the second stanza, and it didn't take long for them to get back into the match. In the 58 minute, Amaral and Kelly moved the ball across the top of the box, and an odd deflection sent it rolling to the left edge of the penalty area. Fukuda collected the loose ball, stepped inside of his defender and then slammed it inside the near post to collect his first goal in a Tokyo uniform and knot the score at 1-1.
Hiroshima seemed to have turned to stone while protecting their early lead. After Tokyo equalised, they had difficulty getting back into the match. For the most part, play continued to flow in one direction only. Amaral very nearly equalised in the 70 minute, breaking loose at midfield for a fifty-meter sprint, but he was unable to get off a shot before the retreating defenders closed in and forced an errant pass across the face of goal. But once again, Hiroshima got a fortunate break that put them in front. In the 75 minute, Hiroshima made a rare foray into Tokyo territory, and won a free kick about 6 meters outside the penalty area. Australian midfielder Stephen Corica took the kick, and managed to split the wall, driving the ball between two defenders and off the the left post.
This time, though, it took Tokyo only a few minutes to equalise. The flow of the match had been going their way for the entire match, and only the lucky breaks were favouring Hiroshima. In the 85 minute, Tokyo made one of their countless thrusts into Hiroshima territory, and this time midfielder Fumitake Miura spotted Amaral drifting into the box ahead of his defender. He lobbed the ball for the deft Brazilian to run onto, and Amaral drilled a header over the keeper's head and into the top of the net. A mere three minutes later, Kensuke Kagami dropped a ball to Sato at the top right corner of the box, and began to drift into the penalty area. Sato hit the ball on the volley to Kelly, who was breaking into the box. As the entire defence reacted to Sato and Kelly, Kagami snuck in behind them and found an acre of open space right in front of the net. Kelly pivoted quickly and pulled the ball back to Kagami, who volleyed it into the net for the winning goal.
0 - 0 
Cerezo Osaka are facing the specter of relegation squarely in the face, having finished dead last in the first stage and having yet to collect a point in the second stage. Two weeks ago, the team brought in coach Joao Carlos, who had been axed by Nagoya Grampus only a month earlier. This week, the Brazilian tactician had an opportunity to seek vengeance, as his new team faced off against the boys from Nagoya. One point that was apparent from the outset was that Cerezo were playing with a more coordinated and measured style than they have recently, particularly in the midfield and on defence. While this made for a sluggish match over the first 30 minutes, Cerezo looked quite a bit more competitive than they have in recent months, preventing Grampus from getting any momentum, and gradulally creating some looks for Hiroaki Morishima and for Masaya Nishitani. Rookie midfielder Hitoshi Okubo and veteran Yasuo Manaka, both of whom have been out of the lineup since the first stage, provided better communication and ball movement at midfield than Cerezo has managed in quite some time. As a steady rain began to fall, just prior to half time, the Nagoya defence began to struggle to keep up with these four potent offensive players. In the 40 minute, Morishima nearly broke free on goal. Only a foul from behind kept him from getting into the clear, but unfortunately for Cerezo, they were unable to do much with the free kick from the edge of the box. The two teams went in at halftime with no score, but the good news for Cerezo is that they were at least controlling the tempo of play.
The match picked up where it left off in the second half, with Cerezo creating two good chances within the first three minutes. Okubo, in particular, was starting to find a lot of space on the left side of the Nagoya defence. However, Nagoya responded with an inspired substitution, bringing in Marcelo at forward just a few minutes into the second half. While Grampus had shown very little offensive prowess in the first half, Marcelo almost immediately injected life into their attack. In the xx minute, a cross from Motohiro Yamaguchi found Marcelo breaking on net and he drilled his shot from point blank range to give Nagoya a lead.
Marcelo nearly added another goal just a minute later, with a drive from the edge of the box. After controlling the pace of play for an entire half, Osaka were suddenly on the back foot. However, while Grampus was finally showing some danger on the opposite end, Cerezo continued to press forward, creating several good opportunities. In the 75 minute, reserve striker Kazunari Okayama beat his defender around the left flank, and squeezed off a shot that slipped under the keeper. However, the chance went begging as the ball rolled inches wide of the far post. Though they threw all they had available into the attack, Cerezo just couldn't get the ball into the Nagoya net. As has happened time and timke again to Cerezo this year, the team overextended itself into attack just a bit too much, and Marcelo made them pay. With just a minute remaining in regulation time, a long clearance found Marcelo breaking downfield. He outjumped the last Cerezo defender and headed the ball onward into open space. Reserve striker Moriyama , who was also breaking downfield, caught up with the rolling ball at the edge of the penalty area, feinted the keeper off his feet and then slammed it home.
3 - 1 
Kashima Antlers have surged to an impressive start, just as Jubilo did in the first stage. Though the team has occasionally had difficulty scoring from open play, there is little question that they are the most potent team on offense in the second stage. Early in the first half, Mitsuo Ogasawara showed one reason why the team is on such a roll, hitting a blazing drive from 35 meters out that slammed off the crossbar hard enough to rattle the stadium.
The Antlers' difficulties in finishing off plays persisted in this match, but the team's set plays were clicking perfectly. In the xx minute, the Antlers got a corner kick on the left side which gave them the first such opportunity. Bismarck send a line drive to the near post, and defender Yutaka Akita rose out of the pack to head the ball just inside the post. The Antlers created a number of good chances over the remaining few minutes of the first half, but found woodwork on no less than three occasions.
About ten minutes after the restart, though, another set play added to the Antlers lead. Kashima won a free kick about 20 meters outside the box on the right sideline. Bismarck took the kick and sent a long looper for the far post. Left wing back Augusto timed his run perfectly, and jumped over his defender to head the ball just inside the left post.
In the 70 minute, Kashima got its final tally, once again on a corner kick. This time, Biusmarck set up in the left corner and ran the "volley play" that Japan's national team has often used to good effect. As the entire team rushes for goal to draw the defenders, the ball was sent to the edge of the box where Akira Narahashi was waiting. Hitting the ball on the volley, Narahashi sent a blazing drive low into the right side of the goal mouth.
JEF managed to get one goal back in the 75 minute, as Edin "Edo" Mujcin found Katsutomo Oshiba racing into the box for a well timed header. However, after this strike, Kashima were content to shift to a defensive stance and wait out the remaining 15 minutes of the match.
3 - 2 (ET) 
Consadole Sapporo and Shimizu S-Pulse were both hoping to contend for the second-stage title, but have fallen well short of expectations so far this season. The two teams played a see-saw battle at Sapporo Dome that was quite entertaining, but ultimately a bit disappointing for both teams. The match had not yet settled down into a steady pattern when S-Piulse notched their first strike. Wing back Daisuke Ichikawa took a ball down the right wing on an overlap play and centered to Masaaki Sawanobori near the right post. As the defender rushed in to challenge him, the ball bounded off Sawanobori's foot and high into the air. As the keeper also rushed for the near post, the ball looped over his head and then slipped just under the bar and into the net. While it is unlikely that this was what Sawanobori intended, he was no doubt happy with the goal.
Though both teams provided some exciting runs, neither could add to the score during the first 45 minutes. Shortly after half time, however, Sapporo equalised on a long drive by Adalto that eluded the keeper.
Sapporo and S-Pulse spend the next 20 minutes probing cautiously, and neither created any serious scoring chances, but a serious miscue in the 80 minute swung the match in Sapporo's favor. A Consadole player launched a long, aimless cross from the left sideline that seemed to be harmless enough, but as keeper Masanori Sanada rushed out to collect it, he seemed to take his eye off the ball to look upfield for an outlet pass. As he did so, he fumbled the ball right to ace striker Will , who stabbed at the ball as it rolled by and poked it into the net.
Unfortunately, just as Consadole fans thought they were about to collect three points, S-Pulse managed to get back in the game. With two minutes of injury time already played, Ichikawa sent a ball from the right sideline into the box. Reserve striker Kotaro Yamazaki collected the pass with his back to the net, and dropped it to a href="../../jleague/spulse/yoshida.html"> Yasuhiro Yoshida at the edge of the box. Yoshida stepped up and drilled a low bullet past the diving keeper.
Both teams had their chances in extra time, but neither could score, and it looked like the match might end in a draw. However, in the 115 minute, Kensaku Omori got around his defender on an overlap play and rolled the ball across the face of goal. Horii managed to get a foot on it and deflected it into the goal to give Consadole an extra-time victory.
Elsewhere
In a battle of potential relegation candidates, Tokyo Verdy rushed out to a two-goal lead, and then held on to beat Yokohama Marinos 2-1.Gamba Osaka scored on the very first sequence of play in the match, then settled down into a defensive battle with Kashiwa Reysol and emerged 1-0 victors
Vissel Kobe and Avispa Fukuoka spent 120 minutes beating up on one another, and after the final round, Avispa won a split decision with seven yellow cards and one red to Vissel's four yellows. Unfortunately for those fans who had come expecting a soccer match, rather than a boxing bout, neither team managed to put the ball in the net.
And so, with five matches in the books, the second stage is turning into a race between three traditional powerhouses. Kashima Antlers maintain their position at the top of the table, trailed by Nagoya Grampus, two points adrift. Jubilo Iwata are third, a goal difference ahead of FC Tokyo.
| . | Team | Pts | GP | W (90/ET) | D | L | GD | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kashima Antlers | 14 | 5 | 5 (4-1) | 0 | 0 | +7 | 13 | 6 |
| 2 | Nagoya Grampus | 12 | 5 | 4 (4-0) | 0 | 1 | +5 | 13 | 8 |
| 3 | Jubilo Iwata | 10 | 5 | 4 (2-2) | 0 | 1 | +5 | 9 | 4 |
| 4 | FC Tokyo | 10 | 5 | 3 (3-0) | 1 | 1 | +4 | 13 | 9 |
| 5 | JEF United Ichihara | 9 | 5 | 3 (3-0) | 0 | 2 | +0 | 8 | 8 |
| 6 | Kashiwa Reysol | 7 | 5 | 2 (2-0) | 1 | 2 | +5 | 12 | 7 |
| 7 | Vissel Kobe | 7 | 5 | 2 (2-0) | 1 | 2 | +0 | 7 | 7 |
| 8 | Yokohama Marinos | 7 | 5 | 3 (1-2) | 0 | 2 | -1 | 6 | 7 |
| 9 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 6 | 5 | 2 (2-0) | 0 | 3 | +2 | 13 | 11 |
| 10 | Avispa Fukuoka | 6 | 5 | 2 (1-1) | 1 | 2 | +1 | 10 | 9 |
| 11 | Tokyo Verdy | 6 | 5 | 2 (2-0) | 0 | 3 | -2 | 8 | 10 |
| 12 | Gamba Osaka | 6 | 5 | 2 (2-0) | 0 | 3 | -2 | 6 | 8 |
| 13 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 5 | 5 | 2 (1-1) | 0 | 3 | +0 | 9 | 9 |
| 14 | Urawa Reds | 3 | 5 | 1 (1-0) | 0 | 4 | -4 | 6 | 10 |
| 15 | Consadole Sapporo | 2 | 5 | 1 (0-1) | 0 | 4 | -5 | 11 | 16 |
| 16 | Cerezo Osaka | 0 | 5 | 0 (0-0) | 0 | 5 | -15 | 4 | 19 |
Note: Scoring is three points for a win in regulation time, two points for a win in extra time and one point for a draw
Rumours and Rumblings
Maezono Regrets "Break a Leg" Advice
Masakiyo Maezono got his firt start for Tokyo Verdy in quite a while, and according to the old acting adage, he might have been looking to "break a leg". Unfortunately, that is exactly what he did on Saturday. After scoring a goal in the first half against Yokoham Marinos, Maezono was stretchered off the field later in the match with what turned out to be a fractured leg. He is expected to miss the rest of the season.Send all questions, comments and queries to: