August 24, 2003
On A Hot August Night
| Date | Home | . | Visitor | Venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Aug |  | 2-1 |  | Ichihara Seaside | |
| 23 Aug | 19:00 |  | 1-0 |  | Shizuoka Stadium |
| 23 Aug |  | 3-2 |  | Mizuho Stadium | |
| 23 Aug |  | 0-0 |  | Nishikyogoku | |
| 23 Aug |  | 0-1 |  | Nagai Stadium | |
| 23 Aug |  | 1-1 |  | Oita "Big Eye" | |
| 24 Aug |  | 1-1 |  | Sendai Stadium | |
| 24 Aug |  | 1-1 |  | National Stadium |
1 - 0
The Shizuoka derby match is always a closely fought duel, and this week was no exception. Jubilo Iwata and Shimizu S-Pulse battled to a standstill for 80 minutes in a relatively defensive affair which was fiercely contested but produced only a handful of clear-cut chances. The closest either team came to scoring in the first half came shortly before intermission, when a long outlet pass released Alex Santos on a break down the left side. Since he had no players in support, as he approached the corner of the penalty area Santos opted for a long shotbefore the retreating defenders closed in. His blast was well-taken -- a low line drive that beat the keeper, but it hooked just a bit too much, caroming off the far post.
1 - 0 The second half was much line the first. Jubilo created pressure for several long spells, but their patented ability to break down defences seems to have lost much of its sting with the departure of Toshiya Fujita to the Netherlands. Though S-Pulse steadily faded as the match progressed, it wasnt until the final ten minutes of the match that Jubilo were able to finally break the scoreless drought. Following a prolonged sequence of continuous pressure, Jubilo moved the ball around the perimeter and a slant pass found Toshiya Hattori overlapping on the right side of the penalty area. About two meters beyond the edge of the box, his progress was blocked by two S-Puse defenders. However, as he began to reverse direction, Norihiro Nishi dashed in behind him on an overlap. Hattori flicked the ball towards the end line and Nishi had an open window to lob the ball for Rodrigo Gral at the near post. Gral made no mistake, getting a toe to the ball ahead of the defender and volleying it inside the right upright to give Jubilo the win.
Lineups:
Arno Van Zwam, Hideto Suzuki, Makoto Tanaka, Takahiro Yamanishi, Norihiro Nishi, Takahiro Kawamura (Sho Naruoka 77), Toshihiro Hattori, Aleksandr Zivkovic (Naoya Kikuchi 80), Hiroshi Nanami, Rodrigo Gral (Yasumasa Nishino 84), Ryoichi Maeda.
Takaya Kurokawa, Shohei Ikeda (Kazumichi Takagi 61), Emerson, Ryuzo Morioka, Daisuke Ichikawa, Teruyoshi Ito, Tomoyoshi Tsurumi (Kota Sugiyama 73), Alessandro Santos, Yoshikiyo Kuboyama Hideaki Kitajima (Tuto 45), Ahn Jung-Hwan .
1 - 1
The Marinos-Trinita match was another contest that was closely contested and quite entertaining despite the lack of many scoring chances. The Marinos started the match without their two starting central defenders, Naoki Matsuda and Yuji Nakazawa, who both picked up knocks over the past week that, though not serious, will require a week or two of recuperation. On the Trinita side, the perrennial bad boy Will started his first J1 match since being released by the Marinos last year, following some disciplinary problems. Despite these factors, the Marinos' reserve defenders actually had a very solid match, preventing Will and his strike partner Taiki Takamatsu from creating many chances. Though Oita did have some good possessions, almost all of their dangerous opportunities came from the midfield play of Yoshito Terakawa and Takashi Umeda.
1 - 1The Marinos looked the superior team over most of the 90 minutes, but the strike team of Marquinhos and Daisuke Sakata were unable to put many shots on net. Though the scrambling Trinita defence deserves some credit for creating pressure, this was mainly due to poor shot selection and execution. Yokohama's offensive thrusts were fairly blunt on this particular evening. It took a set play to finally break the scoreless line.
In the 52 minute, Yokohama won a corner kick on the right side, and Yukihiko Sato took the kick. His first cross was headed out towards midfield, but it was collected by Yoo Sang-Chul and fed back to Sato a few meters out from the right corner flag. His second cross was better placed, and Daisuke Nasu rose from the pack in front of goal to head the ball home.
After taking the lead, the Marinos seemed to get a bit complacent, and for most of the remaining 30 minutes of the match, Trinita had the majority of the attacking opportunities. Unfortunately, they simply couldnt break down the Yokohama defence, and it looked like the home fans would go away in disappointment once again. But in the final minute of injury time, Trinita struck back with a shocking equaliser. Oita won a corner kick on the left side, and the line drive kick was headed on by Terakawa, at the near-edge of the box. The ball looped over the pack of defenders in front of goal and was collected by veteran defender Sandro, on the far side of the area. Sandro settled the ball, then lashed a low-angle drive that snuck between the keeper and the right post, to win Trinita a share of the points and send Yokohama to their second consecutive disappointing draw.
Lineups:
Hayato Okanaka, Tetsuya Yamazaki, Sandro Chaves Rosa, Takashi Miki, Koji Arimura, Yoshito Terakawa, Takashi Umeda, Teppei Nishiyama (Keita Kanemoto 59), Taskahiro Yoshida, Will (Robson 67), Daiki Takamatsu .
Tatsuya Enomoto, Yoo Sang-Chul, Yuzo Kurihara, Ryuji Kawai, Dutra, Yukihiko Sato, Daisuke Nasu, Yasuhiro Endo, Yuki Kaneko (Kazuyoshi Mikami 88), Marquinhos, Daisuke Sakata (Sho Kitano 78) .
2 - 1
In one of just two matches that produced a significant amount of scoring, JEF United resumed their quest for a title with a narrow victory over Gamba Osaka. After a rather flat and uninspired performance against Vissel Kobe, last week, JEF came out looking much sharper against Gamba, particularly int he first half. The return of Choi Yong-Soo made a huge difference to the effectiveness of the team's offence, and the big Korean striker was instrumental in creating most of the team's scoring chances. The midfield also showed better movement than they did last week, and this kept Gamba on the back foot for most of the first half.
2 - 1 JEF got the scoring started in the 15 minute, and not surprisingly it was Choi who orchestrated the goal. Driving out of midfield on the break, Choi carried the ball to within a meter of the penalty arc, and just before the defence could close him down, slipped a perfect slant pass to Sandro Cardosa on the right side of the box. Sandro settled the ball, then ripped a point-blank shot into the top of the net.
Gamba came out after the intermission with a bit more efficiync, and created a few early chances. At midfield, Takahiro Futagawa and Yasuhito Endo provided most of the energy for the attack. The strike pair of Magrao and Masashi Oguro, confined themselves to poaching efforts, lingering in front of net and awaiting the final cross, but not really getting involved in the build-up. This blunted the Gamba attacks and may have prevented the visitors from getting the early equaliser. But after a few minutes of Gamba pressure, the match took a big swing in JEF's favour as a counterattack, against the run of play, produced a corner kick and Zeljko Milinovic headed home the cross to double JEF's advantage.
Oddly, coach Osim seemed to take this as a signal to get conservative, bringing in two defensive substitutons that conceded almost all of the momentum to Gamba. Over the final 30 minutes of the match, it was largely one-way traffic, and although JEF played solid-enough defence to limit the number of real scoring opportunities, the match became a nail-biter for the home fans as time ran down. Gamba pulled one goal back when the hard work of midfielders Endo and Futagawa finally paid off. A lovely lead pass from Futagawa sent endo to the top left corner of the box, and his cross found the towering target of Magrao directly in front of net for an easy header. The Gamba attack pushed hard for the equaliser as time ran down, but in the end, JEF's defensive wall prevailed and they emerged with their second win of the stage
Lineups:
Ryo Kushino, Daisuke Saito, Zeljko Milinovic, Eisuke Nakanishi, Masataka Sakamoto, Yuto Sato, Yuki Abe, Shinji Murai (Takayuki Chano 74), Naotake Hanyu (Takenori Hayashi 84) , Sandro Cardoza (Katsutomo Oshiba 81), Choi Yong-Soo.
Naoki Matsuyo, Noritada Saneyoshi, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Masao Kiba, Hideo Hashimoto (Francisco Arce 62), Satoshi Yamaguchi, Yasuhito Endo, Toru Araiba (Kota Yoshihara 45), Takahiro Futagawa, Masashi Oguro (Satoshi Nakayama 72), Magrao.
0 - 0 
After a strong start to the second stage, with a win over Jubilo last week, the Urawa Reds turned in a fairly disappointing performance this week, as ten-man Kyoto held them to a scoreless draw. The Reds started off well, creating some early opportunities that had the Purple Sanga fouling desperately in order to stall drives by Emerson and Tatsuya Tanaka. However, in a crucial incident that set the tone for the rest of the match, Kazuki Teshima dragged down Emerson from behind after the speedy Brazilian had broken into the clear for a run at goal. The referee immediately produced a red card, reducing Kyoto to 10 men
0 - 0 Though this may have dashed any hopes that the Purple Sanga had of winning the match, it also may have cost the Reds their chance for three points, and it certainly pointed up a key problem that the Reds will have to address. With a man disadvantage, Kyoto shifted to a totally defensive formation, and kept all ten men within their own half for most of the remainder of the match. Though the Reds have shown their ability to create good chances on the break, when faced with the task of patiently breaking down a packed defence they seemed to be at a loss as to how they should proceed. Coach Hans Ooft certainly did not help matters, waiting until the 79 minute before bringing in an extra attacker to exploit the numerical advantage that Urawa enjoyed for most of the match. The Reds dominated possession, and gave Kyoto almost no chance to create offensive chances, but they seemed to lack any sense of how to work the ball through a packed defence, or throw additional players into a thrust in order to overwhelm the back line. Indeed, the three Reds defenders remained in their own half for almost the entire match, even when the lone Kyoto striker retreated to assist on defence. The result was a rather frustrating and decidedly dull match that ended without a goal. Though the Reds players all deserve some criticism for their lack of decisiveness and creativity, it is the coaching staff which seems to be the team's biggest problem. If Mr. Ooft cannot produce better results soon, he may be the next to enter the revolving door of J.League coaching changes.
Lineups:
Naoto Hirai, Makoto Kakuda, Yuki Hayashi, Kazuki Teshima, Shingo Suzuki, Biju, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Takayuki Ono (Tadashi Nakamura 36), Daisuke Saito, (Kazuhiro Suzuki 86), Daisuke Matsui (Daisuke Nakaharai 34), Teruyuki Kurobe (o Jung-Yoon 74) .
Ryota Tsuzuki, Keisuke Tsuboi, Yuri Nikiforov, Ichiei Muroi (Toru Chishima 79), Nobuhisa Yamada (Makoto Hasebe 71), Hideki Uchidate, Keita Suzuki, Tadaaki Hirakawa, Koji Yamase, Tatsuya Tanaka, Emerson.
0 - 1
Though not quite as uneventful as the Reds-Purple Sanga match, the contest between Kashiwa Reysol and Cerezo Osaka was also quite sluggish, particularly given the energy that these two teams usually display. The match was actually decided just 10 minutes in, when a dramatic bluner in the back line allowed Ricardinho to snatch a loose ball and dash away on goal. Although the keeper made a fine diving stab to deflect Ricardinho's shot, young Keiji Tamada was trailing the break, and volleyed home the rebound to put Reysol in front.
0 - 1For the remainder of the match ,Cerezo tried in vain to create an equaliser. Though they dominated possession, and had a handful of good opportunities to score, Cerezo squandered their chances and came away scoreless for the second week in a row. After showing some formidable firepower in the first stage, Cerezo have looked very tame in the past few weeks, and will need to snap out of their slump if they hope to maintain the relatively strong performance they achieved in the first half of the year
Lineups:
Daisuke Tada, Satoru Suzuki, Joao, Hiroshige Yanagimoto, Takanori Nunobe (Takeshi Hamada 45), Axel, Nobuki Hara, Kiyokazu Kudo, (Yusuke Sato 45), Hiroaki Morishima (Takaaki Tokushige 76), Baron, Yoshito Okubo .
Yuta Minami, Naoya Kondo (Masayuki Ochiai 71), Norihiro Satsukawa, Toru Nagata, Yuta Nagia, Tomokazu Myojin, Takahiro Shimotaira (Tatsuya Tanizawa 45), Ricardinho, Jesse (Kisho Yano 68), Marcio, Keiji Tamada .
3 - 2
3 - 2 Full report will be posted shortly
Lineups:
Seigo Narazaki, Masayuki Omori, Chon Yong-Dae, Hideaki Tominaga, Kojiro Kaimoto (Tomoyuki Sakai 62), Keiji Yoshimura, Kunihiko Takizawa, Yusuke Nakatani, Naoshi Nakamura (Tetsuya Okayama 75), Marques, Ueslei .
Yoichi Doi, Shuhei Tokunaga, Ryuji Fujiyama, Teruyuki Moniwa, Jo Kanazawa, Fumitake Miura (Satoru Asari 68),, Masashi Miyazawa (Yoshiro Abe 84), Naohiro Ishikawa (Oh Jang-Eun 65), Mitsuhiro Toda, Clesley "Kelly" Guimares, Amaral.
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img src="../../grafix/tokyov2.gif">1 - 1
The highlight of the weekend was Sunday night's clash between the Kashiuma antlers and Tokyo Verdy at Tokyo's National Stadium. But although this duel between two of the leading contenders for the second stage title was hard-fought, both teams seemed to be absorbing a lesson about the difficulty of winning matches without any serious threat in the front line. In Verdy's cas.e, ace striker Patrick Mbomalanden on his knee after one hard tackle early in the first half, and limped off for the showers. The Antlers, meanwhile, had at least a dozen scoring opportunities squandered over the course of the evening by the incompetence of Euller and Tomoyuki Hirase. Hirase, in particular, adds so little to the team's offensive performance that one wonders how Toninho Cerezo can continue to start him, week after week. Both Verdy and Kashima displayed some impressive build-up work in the midfield, which made the match extremely enjoyable to watch, but neither team had the ability to close the deal, and the result was a relatively tame, 1-1 draw.
img src="../../grafix/tokyov2.gif">1 - 1 Verdy got the scoring started in the 29 minute, on a play which highlighted the set-up skills of number two striker Naoto Sakurai . The elusive veteran weaved his way down the left flank, slanted towards the penalty area and then picked out Takuya Yamada at the opposite side of the box. Yamada chested down the pinpoint cross and fired a shot that curled around the keeper and caught the inside of the far post.
Just ten minutes later, another star set-up man, Mitsuo Ogasawara, collected a ball in midfield and lobbed a long floating cross to Masashi Motoyama at the right post. Motoyama merely had to volley the ball at point blank range into the net.
The remainder of the match was a see-saw exchange of thrust and counter-thrust which, though entertaining, failed to produce any goals, or even any close calls. Verdy replaced a striker with an extra defender at half time, which gave the Antlers the upper hand in momentup, yet both teams put together some good midfield build-ups and offensive thrusts. But time and again, the attacks of both teams stalled at the edge of the opponent's box, as the lackluster strikers failed to put any shots on net. Verdy and Antlers remain two of the best candidates for a second stage title. However, if Mboma's injury prevents him from playing in future matches, it could put a dent in Verdy's title homes. Meanwhile, the Antlers desperately need to find a player to replace the incompetent Hirase up front, else their title hopes, too, will come to naught.
Lineups:
Yoshinari Takagi, Masayuki Yanagisawa, Kentaro Hayashi, Atsushi Yoneyama, Atsuhiro Miura, Ramon Mendez Hubner, Yasuyuki Kobayashi, Takuya Yamada, Takeshi Hirano, Naoto Sakurai , Patrick Mboma (Kazunori Iio 12) (Alexandre Lopes 45)
Hitoshi Sogahata, Akira Narahashi, Yutaka Akita, Go Oiwa, Naoki Soma, Koji Nakata, Fernando, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama (Takeshi Aoki 68), Tomoyuki Hirase (Yuki Nakashima 68), Euller (Masaki Fukai 82).
2 - 1 
In the battle for pole position in the relegation race, Vissel Kobe and Vegalta Sendai battled to a standstill in a surprisingly lively and high-quality contest. Though both teams have struggled this season, the level of play that they displayed on Sunday night will lend some encouragement to fans of both teams. If they can perform like they did this weekend on a regular basis, there is still hope that both could climb out of the relegation zone.
2 - 1 Unfortunately, the result of this contest was not good news to either club, as they came away with just one point apiece. Vegalta sent their home crowd into celebrations early in the first half with a brilliant strike by Yuichi Nemoto. Teruo Iwamoto and Silvinho exchanged the ball on a throw-in, with Iwamoto taking the drop pass and Silvinho breaking down the left sideline. Iwamoto lobbed a long ball that Silvinho headed back for Nemoto at the top left corner of the box. Nemoto immediately recognised that the keeper was cheating too far off his line, and lifted a looping line drive that eluded the goaltender's leap, and slipped in just under the bar.
But just a few minutes later, Kobe were back level. After a corner kick attempt was cleared and Kobe forced to regroup, Koji Yoshimura collected the ball about ten meters short of midfield, on the right sideline. Before Vegalta could completely clear the zone, Yoshimura sent another lob into the box. Once again, a Vegalta defender cleared it, but this time the ball rolled straight to Sidiclei at the top of the penalty arc. The big Brazilian drove a wicked line drive through the jumble of players in front of goal, and it caught the low right corner of the net to knot the score.
After the half, Vegalta steadily gained control over the match, pushing Vissel further and further into defensive mode. This is the second week in a row in which Vissel have allowed their opponent to dominate play in the second half, and withered into a defensive shell. But fortunately, this week they avoided the fate that awaited them last week, and prevented any additional goals despite the fact that Vegalta dominated play for the final 40-45 minutes. As a result, both teams added just one point to their season total, and remain in 14th and 15th place for the season as a whole.
Lineups:
Daijiro Takakuwa, Takayuki Komine, Fabiano (Kazuhiro Murakami 40), Norio Omura, Yuichi Nemoto, Hitoshi Moriyasu, Shigeyoshi Mochizuki, Silvinho, Teruo Iwamoto, Yoshiteru Yamashita, Hisato Sato (Kenji Fukuda 67).
Makoto Kakegawa, Yuji Tabuchi, Sidiclei, Yukio Tsuchiya, Kunie Kitamoto, Sidiclei, Koji Yoshimura, Tomo Sugawara, Masayuki Okano (Hiromi Kojima 65), Mitsunori Yabuta (Takayuki Yamaguchi 74), Oseas (Kazuyoshi Miura 89), Ryuji Bando .
| . | Team | Pts | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GDif |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JEF United Ichihara | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 |
| 1 | Kashiwa Reysol | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 |
| 3 | Urawa Reds | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 |
| 4 | Kashima Antlers | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 |
| 5 | F.C.Tokyo | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | +0 |
| 6 | Nagoya Grampus | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | +0 |
| 7 | Gamba Osaka | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | +0 |
| 8 | Jubilo Iwata | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 |
| 9 | Vegalta Sendai | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | +0 |
| 9 | Tokyo Verdy | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | +0 |
| 9 | Yokohama Marinos | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | +0 |
| 12 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 |
| 13 | Kyoto Purple Sanga | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| 13 | Vissel Kobe | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| 13 | Oita Trinita | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| 16 | Cerezo Osaka | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 |
Nabisco Cup Quarterfinals
On Wednesday night, the second leg matches in the Nabisco Cup quarterfinals provided some mid-week excitement for J.League fans, with at least three of the four matches providing real nailbiting excitement. Although a few of the matches were characterised by the sort of inexcusably poor officiating for which the league has become renowned, all of the teams taking part acquitted themselves well.
0 - 1
Of the four quarterfinal contests, the tamest of all was the contest between Nagoya Grampus and Kashima Antlers. Kashima entered the second leg with a four-goal advantage, and basically needed only to dither away 90 minutes in order to advance. In fact, although Toninho Cerezo started several second-stringers and the entire team played a cautious and defensive match, Kashima had the better of play for most of the match. Midway through the first half, they actually scored, with Koji Nakata heading home a corner kick from Fernando. However, the officials disallowed the goal for a penalty that none of the replays was able to locate. It was very difficult to dispel the notion that the referee was simply trying to maintain a slim hope for Grampus fans, lest the stadium empty out entirely at half time.
0 - 1 However, by the time the teams took the pitch for the second half, it was clear that the issue of who would advance was a fait accompli, and Nagoya seemed intent mainly on trying out some offensive plays and giving youngsters like Ryuta Hara a chance to display their abilites. In the end, the Antlers' attention to defence prevented any goals, and with about ten minutes to play, a counterattack break by Euller saw the Brazilian striker round his defender, cut to the edge of the three yard box, then drop a pass back into the path of an onrushing Naoki Soma. Soma casually side-footed the ball into the opposite corner and the Antlers took a 1-0 win, for a 6-1 aggregate victory in the quarterfinal round.
3 - 0
Jubilo Iwata also entered this week's match with a powerful advantage, having won the first leg 1-0 in Yokohama and taking that edge back to their home stadium. To make matters worse for the Marinos, injuries depleted the lineup and forced them to play a makeshift attack line that often seemed like a 4-5-1, with Marquinhos as the only "true" striker.. Nevertheless, Yokohama fought gamely for a goal throughout the first half, and at half time it still seemed like any result was possible.
3 - 0But in the 56 minute, Rodrigo Gral received a drop pass to at the edge of the box and blasted it inside the left post, and suddeenly the world seemed to crash down around the Marinos. As the effort to get a quick goal back stretched their already undermanned defence, Jubilo quickly struck again, and then again. turning the contest into a rout and walking off with a 3-0 win.
0 - 2
Perhaps the most fiercely fought match of the evening took place at Tokyo's Ajinomoto Stadium, a venue that was supposedly on FC Tokyo's home turf, but in which Reds fans outnumbered those of the "home" team by about 2-to-1. FC Tokyo and the Reds drew 2-2 in the first leg, at Saitama Stadium, and the second leg was for all the marbles. The first half was a dramatic see-saw affair in which both teams attacked vigorously, and though FC Tokyo had the more dangerous counterattacks, the Reds held an edge in possession and often seemed to be on the verge of collapsing the Tokyo back line.
0 - 2 Fifteen minutes into the second half, Urawa finally got the break they needed, as Hideki Uchidate slanted from right to left through midfield and released a little lob pass for Emerson, making a parallel run a few meters in front. In what looked like a fortunate accident, the lob caught the heel of Emerson's boot, and as the speedy striker stopped to collect it, both of his double-teaming defenders overran the play. Emerson saw the opening and took off for the left post, a step ahead of the coverage, then cut the ball back underneath the keeper to give the Reds a 1-0 lead.
FC Tokyo responded with a barrage of pressure, making one surge after another towards the Urawa goal. But solid defending turned them away again and again. The closest they came was a long drive by Kelly which caught the crossbar but deflected harmlessly into touch. With just a few mintues remaining, the overextended FC Tokyo defence pushed a bit too far forward, and a long outlet pass to Emerson on the right flak put the speedy Brazilian one-on-one against Teruaki Moniwa at the midfield stripe.. A clever feint allowed him to dash past the last Tokyo defender, and after that there was no chance that anyone would catch him. Emerson streaked away on a 50-meter dash, the tucked the ball into the right corner to remove all doubt about the final result.
3 - 2
The two weakest teams in the quarterfinal draw, Shimizu S-Pulse and Gamba Osaka, seemed to be headed for the most uneventful quarterfinal of all, after a fluke deflection on a corner kick in the first half allowed Emerson to toe a loose ball into a wide-open net to give S-Pulse the lead in what was otherwise a remarkably dull contest. But the second half turned into a barn-burning melee, as both teams struck twice, the momentum shifting one way and then the other until the contest was finally decided in injury time.
3 - 2 Early in the second half, striker Masashi Oguro put Gamba back in the contest with a drive from the right edge of the box which slipped just inside the far post. But defender Ryuzo Morioka put S-Pulse back in front with 20 minutes to play on a nice header off a set play. With time running out on their hopes of advancing, Gamba clawed their way back just seven minutes from ful time, when Oguro collected a long ball into the box and dropped it back to Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, to the right of the penalty arc. The Gamba captain drove an shot with the outside of his left boot, which spun away from the keeper and into the left side of the net.
But in the first minute of injury time, substitute midfielder Keisuke Ohta took a pass at the right side of the box and tried a last-ditch shot despite the fact that two defenders had him bottled up. The shot was blocked, but it spun off the defender and into the open space between the last line of Gamba defence and the keeper. Ohta dashed for the ball, arriving a half-step ahead of the keeper and driving the ball low into the nylon.
The results of Wednesday's matches set up the following scenario for the semifinal round:
| Date | Home | . | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 | Kashima Antlers | vs | Jubilo Iwata |
| Oct 1 | Urawa Reds | vs | Shimizu S-Pulse |
| Oct 8 | Jubilo Iwata | vs | Kashima Antlers |
| Oct 8 | Shimizu S-Pulse | vs | Urawa Reds |
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