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September 28, 2003
A Break from the Pack

Date	Home	.	Visitor	Venue
27 Sep		1-1		Nishikyogoku
27 Sep		1-6		Miyagi Stadium
27 Sep		1-1		Nagai Stadium
27 Sep		2-2		Oita "Big Eye"
27 Sep		2-1		Ichihara Seaside
27 Sep		1-0		Yokohama Int'l
28 Sep		4-4		Ajinomoto Stadium
28 Sep		1-1		Iwata Stadium

1 - 6

Whatever the case, Vegalta are in a tight spot, and their prospects are not helped by the fact that their highly talented left wing Yuichi Nemoto picked up an injury on Tuesday. His absense clearly hurt the team on Saturday, at both the offensive and defensive ends. Meanwhile, Urawa entered this match without ace striker Emerson, but in this case, the offense actually seemed to flow more smoothly with Yuichiro Nagai teamed with Tatsuya Tanaka up front. Though Emerson's speed makes him a valuable offensive weapon all his own, the Reds have had difficulties with teamwork and coordination on the attack, this year. It is hard to say whether it was simply a reflection of Vegalta's poor defence, but on this particular afternoon, the attack was rumbling like a high-performance racing engine.

It didnt take long for the Reds to get started. Just 15 minutes into the match, Nobuhisa Yamada stepped in front of a Vegalta pass and made a nice interception, triggering a counterattack. Yamada quickly dealth the ball off to Tanaka, on the left side, and the speedy striker dashed towards the box. Vegalta had two defenders back to chase, but Tanaka used his speed to stay a half-step ahead until he reached the top left corner of the penalty area. He then made a breif feint towards the middle to freeze the defenders for a crucial instant, then took one last step towards the end line and ripped a shot across the face of goal which caught the inside of the right post and put Urawa in front.

The Reds very nearly doubled their advantage a mere 30 seconds later, on yet another counterattack, but Nagai's finish was a bit less accurate, and slipped just outside the post. Towards the end of the half, though, he made amends after Koji Yamase made a brilliant, 50-meter outlet pass that sent Nagai away on goal, a step ahead of the last Vegalta defender. This time Nagai continued his run until he was almost on top of the keeper, and tucked the ball low into the nylon to give his team a 2-0 advantage at half time.

Though the Reds had produced the only serious scoring opportunities of the first half, Vegalta remained close, and ,may even have had a slight advantage in ball possession. When they came out for the second half, they rode the wave of encouragement from their noisy home fans and produced a series of good attacks over the first five minutes. Finally, in the 51 minute, Shigeyoshi Mochizuki found a bit of space down the right sideline and crossed in for Hayato Sato who headed home from point-blank range.

This goal spurred the home fans to even greater decibel levels, and the next 15 minutes of the match were played at a furious pace, with both teams chasing the goal that seemed crucial to the final outcome. Vegalta had a few chaances, but in the end it was the Reds' Tanaka who produced the crucial strike. Once again he received a good feed to send him towards goal, but this time Vegalta had three defenders back, and it looked like the counterattack would be contained. However, as he neared the penalty pox, Tanaka put on a dazzling move that stripped defender Takayuki Komine to his undershorts and gave Tanaka open space to the end line. From a nearly impossible angle, Tanaka fired a rocket into the roof of the Vegalta net, and suddenly the house of cards seemed to collapse.

Just minutes later another steal at midfield sent Nagai off on a dash for goal, and only a foul at the edge of the box by Norio Omura halted his drive. The referee, however, felt that Nagai had crossed the line when the foul occured, and awarded a PK in addition to the well-deserved red card for Omura. Nagai collected from the penalty spot and suddenly the match was a rout.

The final ten minutes brought a barrage of pressure by the Reds. After one drive by Koji Yamase was parried by the keeper, the ball fell right to Yamada at the right post, and he drilled the ball inside the post for Urawa's fifth. Yamase brought down the curtain, a minute before full time, taking a cross from Tanaka without a defender in sight, and firing into the top of the net.

Lineups:

Kiyoshi Kobari, Takayuki Komine, Susumu Watanabe (Shigeyoshi Mochizuki 45), Norio Omura, Kazuhiro Murakami, Fabiano, Takuya Ishii (Toshiyuki Abe 89), Silvinho, Teruo Iwamoto (Nobuyuki Zaizen 86), Hayato Sato, Yoshiteru Yamashita .

Ryota Tsuzuki, Keisuke Tsuboi, Ned Zelic, Yuri Nikiforov, Nobuhisa Yamada, Keita Suzuki, Hideki Uchidate (Makoto Hasebe 86), Tadaaki Hirakawa (Takuya Mikami 86), Koji Yamase, Tatsuya Tanaka, Emerson.

2 - 1

The first half of this contest was a bit defensive, but filled with tension as the two teams cautiously probed one another for an opening. S-Pulse coach Takeshi Oki apparently decided to pre-empt JEF's attacking pressure by playing a 3-4-3 lineup with four offence-oriented players in midfield. Though this lift Choi with a lot of room to work with in the back line, the strategy seemed to work for most of the first stanza, keeping JEF on the defensive and preventing them from throwing players forward in support. But the strategy was always dependent on the defence's ability to contain Choi when he did get the ball. And that is easier said than done. In the end, a single mistake proved crucial to the outcome. Just a minute before the half, Choi collected a long pass on the right sideline and made his move for net against Shohei Ikeda. Ikeda managed to turn Choi to the end line, but the tall Korean striker reversed direction twice, trying to bull his way past. On the second feint, Ikeda lost his footing, and as Choi tried to push past, his arm obstructed the ball. Though it was unquestionably unintentional, it was too blatant for the referee to ignore, and he awarded JEF a PK. Choi hammered the ball home from the spot, and JEF went to the locker room with a one-goal advantage.

S-Pulse came out after the break with the same overloaded offence, and their quick movement to the ball kept JEF on the back foot. After several close calls, Shimizu finally got the equaliser after ten minutes of sustained pressure. Following a sequence of S-Pulse thrusts, defender Naoki Hiraoka surged forward on the left wing to add yet another man to the attack, and crossed the ball into the box. Ahn Jung-Hwan managed to outjump his defender and nodded the ball home, to level the scores

At this point, Ivica Osim decided to adjust his lineup as well, and brought in Takenori Hayashi to lend support to Choi up front. The move paid off in the 75 minute, as JEF sprung one of the few effective counterattacks they had mounted all afternoon, and Naotake Hanyu found Hayashi dashing for the right post. Hayashi volleyed the ball out of the air and caught the inside of the post, banking his shot in to give JEF the lead once more

But the match was far from over, as S-Pulse pushed furiously for an equaliser. They might very well have had it, too, if not for a heroic play by Masataka Sakamoto . With time running out, Daisuke Ichikawa cut around the right corner and dropped a pass to Masaaki Sawanobori at the top right corner of the box. The keeper had been drawn out to cut down the angle on Ichikawa, so Sawanobori had the back of the net wide open. But his shot was a bit too soft, and Sakamoto was able to dash back and clear the ball off the line with just milimeters to spare.

Lineups:

Ryo Kushino, Daisuke Saito, Zeljko Milinovic, Takayuki Chano, Masataka Sakamoto, Yuto Sato (Eisuke Nakanishi 89), Yuki Abe, Shinji Murai, Naotake Hanyu (Satoru Yamagishi 81), Seiichiro Maki (Takenori Hayashi 67), Choi Yong-soo .

Takaya Kurokawa, Shohei Ikeda, Emerson, Ryuzo Morioka, Naoki Hiraoka, Daisuke Ichikawa (Tomoyoshi Tsurumi 79), Teruyoshi Ito, Yasuhiro Yoshida, Alessandro Santos, Yoshikiyo Kuboyama (Masaaki Sawanobori 79), Tuto (Hideaki Kitajima 45), Ahn Jung-Hwan .

1 - 1

As has been the case for the past several weeks, Kashima dominated possession in this match, and allowed Cerezo only the barest handful of scoring opportunities. But whereas Cerezo's players know how to finish off their shots, Kashima's strikers wasted one fine set-up pass after another, driving Toninho Cerezo into wild gesticulations of dismay on the sideline. Mitsuo Ogasawara and Masashi Motoyama are steadily developing into a deadly set-up team at midfield, and one suspects that if the Antlers had a player like Yoshito Okubo in their front line, he would collect a hat trick in every single match. But until they do find someone who can score, the Antlers are forced to depend on their stingy defence to keep them in matches. And the high-powered Cerezo attack was never going to be silenced for the full 90 minutes of this match. In the 16 minute, Hiroaki Morishima created the one chance Cerezo needed, with a darting run into the box and a drop passs to Kiyokazu Kudo at the top of the penalty arc. Kudo sent a thundering drive into the left corner that the keeper could only watch in despair.

For the next 75 minutes the Antlers dominated play, controlling the ball almost continuously and making one probing attack after another. But Hirase, Euller, and later on, reserve Yuki Nakashima, muffed one opportunity after another. At one point, a particularly improbable miss by Hirase, from close range, left colour commentator Michel Miyazawa speechless. Asked how Hirase could miss such a shot, Miyazawa could only mumble incoheriently, eventually settling for the understated observation that "Kashima are in trouble".

But as if to demonstrate the old adage that even a blind archer sometimes hits the target, Hirase finally found the net to produce a dramatic finish to the match. With 2 1/2 minutes of the intended three minutes of injury time gone, Fernando picked up a loose ball at midfield and drilled a perfect through pass to Hirase, who collected the ball at the edge of the box with not a defender in sight, and fired past the keeper to give Kashima their fourth draw in as many matches.

Lineups:

Daisuke Tada, Joao, Yuji Hironaga, Hiroshige Yanagimoto Takanori Nunobe, Kiyokazu Kudo, Satoru Suzuki, Takeshi Hamada, (Sho Gokyo 70), Hiroaki Morishima (Akinori Nishizawa 89), Yoshito Okubo (Nobuki Hara 82) .

Hitoshi Sogahata, Akira Narahashi (Takuya Nozawa 66), Yutaka Akita, Go Oiwa, Tatsuya Ishikawa (Naoto Honda 71), Takeshi Aoki, Fernando, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama, Tomoyuki Hirase, Euller (Yuki Nakajima 28).

1 - 0

The rest of the match was something of a chess game, with both defences doing a good job to prevent dangerous shots. Gamba seemed to have a slight edge, particularly in the second half, but they simply couldnt crack the Marinos back line which was back to full strength for the first time in two months. There is still a long way to go in this season, but if Yokohama continues to defend as well as they did in this match, they have a decent chance at claiming the second stage title, and an outright league championship.

Lineups:

Tatsuya Enomoto, Yoo Sang-Chul, Yuji Nakazawa, Naoki Matsuda, Dutra, Yukihiko Sato (Nobuhisa Shimizu 64) , Akihiro Endo,, Daisuke Nasu, Daisuke Oku, Marquinhos (Daisuke Sakata 70), Tatsuhiko Kubo .

Naoki Matsuyo, Noritada Saneyoshi, Satoru Yamaguchi, Masao Kiba, , Francisco Arce (Harison 75), Toshihiro Matsushita (Masanobu Matsunami 83), Yasuhito Endo, Toru Araiba, Takahiro Futagawa, Masashi Oguro (Kota Yoshihara 63), Magrao Satoshi Yamaguchi, .

1 - 1

After Teruaki Kurobe converted from the spot, Kyoto shifted into pure catenaccio mode, bringing on a defender and a deep midfielder in place of Reggie and Daisuke Matsui and playing a nine-man defensive wall for the remainder of the match. Tokyo did managed to equalise on a free kick from Masashi Miyazawa that was headed in by Jean. However, this did not alter Kyoto's tactics. Indeed, they seemed to adopt an even more defensive posture after the equalising goal, clearly content to get a draw, rather than try to restore their lead. It is hard to believe that this is the same team of all-out-attacking racehorses that Gert Engels led to the Emperor's Cup championship, less than nine months ago. What a sad turn of events!

Lineups:

Naoto Hirai, Makoto Kakuda, Kazuki Teshima, Saisuke Saito, Shingo Suzuki, Daisuke Nakaharai, Harutaka Ono (Shinya Tomita 87), Biju, Daisuke Matsui, Tadamichi Machida (Regilio "Reggie 59), Teruyuki Kurobe.

Yoichi Doi, Akira Kaji, Jean Carlo Witte, Teruyuki Moniwa, Jo Kanazawa, Fumitake Miura (Yusuke Kondo 76), Masashi Miyazawa, Naohiro Ishikawa, Mitsuhiro Toda, Clesley "Kelly" Guimares, Yoshiro Abe (Amaral 57) .

2 - 2

Lineups:

Hayato Okanaka, Tetsuya Yamazaki, Sandro Chaves Rosa (Taiki Wakamatsu 45), Takashi Miki, Koji Arimura, Teppei Nishiyama (Daiki Takamatsu 45), Yoshito Terakawa (Haruki Seto 83), Takashi Umeda, Keita Kanemoto, Will, Takahiro Yoshida .

Makoto Kakegawa, Koji Yoshimura, Yukio Tsuchiya, Kunie Kitamoto, Naoto Matsuo, Sidiclei, Masayuki Okano (Kazuhiro Mori 78), Tomo Sugawara,Park Yu-Soh (Yasutoshi Miura 86), Oseas , Kazuyoshi Miura .

4 - 4

Nagoya got off the blocks quickly, and dominated the first 20 minutes of the contest. Just five minutes in, veteran midfielder Tetsuya Okayama led a counterattack down the right side with Nagoya's ace, Ueslei, shadowing him straoght down the middle of the pitch. The Verdy keeper Yoshinari Takagi was visibly torn between the instinct to cover Ueslei for the cross, or to come off his line to cut down the angle on Okayama. When Okayama finally pulled the trigger, Takaki was leaning the wrong way, and stumbled over his on feet reacting to the ball. Though he blocked the shot, he couldnt find the handle, and it spilled across the goal line before he could recover.

Just a few minutes later, Grampus used a throw in on the left side to send Marques into the corner for a long cross. The ball was a bit too long for Ueslei, but Koichiro Kaimoto dashed in from midfield to slam the ball in at the far post.

Another team might have lost their compusure at such a sudded barrage of early goals, but Verdy are an explosive team themselves, and they quickly set about getting back into the match. Alexandre Lopes got things started by stepping in front of a Grampus pass and dashing away down the right sideline. With four Verdy players all dashing towaqrds the box, no defender came out to cut off Lopes, and he had a completely clear path as he dribbled 70 meters from his own end to a point level with the Grampus box. Measuring his teammates carefully, Lopes finally picked out Takeshi Hirano at the far post, and the former Grampus player headed the ball in at close range. Barely 20 minutes had elapsed and the score was already 2-1.

It was Nagoya's turn next, as another fast counterattack sent Kaimoto down the same wing and, after playing a one-two with Ueslei, he turned towards goal along the end line. This time, Takagi camer out to cover, and the last Verdy defender reacted to kaimoto as well. But after returning Kaimoto's pass, Ueslei followed up with a dash for the far post, and he was wide open for Kaimoto's cross, needing only to side-foot the ball into the open net.

Yet again, Verdy responded, this tim on an individual play by Takuya Yamada, who dribbled forward frpm, midfield and, when given an opening, uncorked a blast from beyond the penalty arc. The ball took a slight deflection as it sped through the defensive pack, catching Seigo Narazaki moving the wrong way. Once again, Grampus' lead was cut to a single goal.

But before the haltfime whistle coud sound, Ueslei and Marques put together yet another slashing counterattack, with Ueslei turning the right flank and Marques volleying home his cross.

It is hard to tell what Ardilles said to his players at the break -- probably something about tighter defensive covering on the countereattack -- but he did mention to the sideline reporter when the two team emerged for the second half that Nagoya's tendency to foul Patrick Mboma and Kazuki Hiramoto every time they touched the ball was something to be exploited. Whether or not his players made a more deliberate effort to draw foul calls after t he break, Nagoya's pyhsical play did indeed come back to haunt them. Five minutes into the second half, Tomoyuki Sakai committed a foul while battling for a high ball and the whistle sounded. Frustrated at what seemed to be the third or fourth foul call on Grampus since the break, Sakai let his frustration get the better of him, booting the ball high into the stands (which, at Ajinomoto Stadium, takes quite a powerful boot). The referee immediately went to his pocket and discovered that Sakai had a previous yellow earned early in the first half. Grampus were suddenly down to ten men, and the tide of the match shifted dramatically.

Sensing an opportunity, Ossie Ardilles immediately brought in a third striker, Kazunori Iio, in an effort to kick the Verdy engine into high gear. The move brought quick success, as just short of the hour mark Iio contributed to a Verdy goal. After one offensive push had been turned away by the Nagoya back line, Iio collected the loose ball in the right corner, dribbled out, away from net, and slid a pass to the onrushing Kentaro Hayashi, at the top right corner of the box. Hayashi was cut off, but he fed the ball through to Mboma, posting up with his back to the net. Mboma chested the ball down, juggled it once on his knee, then suddenly wheeled about and swung a left-footed wheelhouse kick that drilled the ball into the left side of the netting. Suddenly Verdy were very much back in the game.

Verdy continued to press for the equaliser, though Grampus never really gave up on trying to score themselves, and the next fifteen minutes were a frenetic rush from end to end, though with no success at eiteher end. With about ten minutes to play, Verdy won a corner kick on the left side, and as Patrick Mboma drew a crowd at the far post, Yamada snuck in to head one home at the near post, which rattled the crossbar and bounced into the net.

Nagoya desperately tried to restore their lead, and despite the man disadvantage, produced two very close calls in the final minutes. Verdy also had a few chances, but in the end, time ran out before either team could break the deadlock. Once again, the abolition of extra time, at the start of this season, produced a situation where both teams had to go home unhappy. Some "traditionalists" might disagree, but the Rising Sun News believes that a scoring fiesta like this one should always have a victor. If the match had gone to golden goals, one team or the other would surely have produced a goal, and the J.League would have a clear league leader, this evening. Unfortunately, as it is, both Verdy and Grampus must content themselves to sit among the pack of seven teams all arranged within two points of each other, at the top of the table.

Lineups:

Yoshinari Takagi, Masayuki Yanagisawa Alexandre Lopes, Kentaro Hayashi (Kazunori Iio 72), Atsushi Yoneyama, Atsuhiro Miura, Takuya Yamada, Takeshi Hirano, Patrick Mboma, Kazuki Hiramoto .

Seigo Narazaki, Masayuki Omori, Andrej Panadic, Masahiro Koga, Kojiro Kaimoto, Kei Yamaguchi, Kunihiko Takizawa, Yusuke Nakatani, Tetsuya Okayama (Kazunori Iio, Marques, Ueslei.

1 - 1

Hiromasa Yamamoto, Hideto Suzuki, Makoto Tanaka, Takahiro Yamanishi, Norihiro Nishi, Takahiro Kawamura, Takashi Fukunishi, Toshihiro Hattori, Aleksandr Zivkovic (Naoya Kikuchi 79), Sho Naruoka (Yasumasa Nishino 82), Rodrigo Gral, Ryoichi Maeda.

Yuta Minami, Naoya Kondo, Norihiro Satsukawa, Toru Nagata, Mitsuteru Watanabe, Tomokazu Myojin, Shigenori Hagimura, Shinya Tanoue (Nozomu Kato 62), Tatsuya Yazawa (Takahiro Shimotaira 72), Yuji Unozawa (Jesse 45), Keiji Tamada .

The only three teams to win clear victories this weekend -- the Yokohama Marinos, Urawa Reds and JEF United -- all move up to the top end of the table as a result. The Marinos claim the top spot thanks to goal difference, followed by JEF, and Urawa move into third place, level on points with Nagoya Grampus and Kashima Antlers. If you throw in Verdy and Reysol, seven teams are all within a win of the league leadership, setting up what should be a very exciting stretch run in October and November.

Rumours and Rumblings

Slow Start to Nabisco Semifinals

0 - 1

1 - 0