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October 20, 2003
The Title That Nobody Wants

Here are the scores of this week's matches:

Date	Home	.	Visitor	Venue
18 Oct		1 - 1		Ajinomoto Stadium
18 Oct		2 - 0		Iwata Stadium
18 Oct		1 - 2		Mizuho Stadium
18 Oct		2 - 0		Kashima Stadium
18 Oct		1 - 2		Sendai Stadium
18 Oct		0 - 0		Nishikyogoku
19 Oct		0 - 2		Kashiwa-no-ha Stadium
19 Oct		0 - 2		Nagai Stadium

1 - 1

The Reds took the initiative right from the opening kickoff, in front of a crowd of 30,000+ that was almost evenly split between Reds fans and Tokyo fans. But while Tokyo handed the offensive initiative to Urawa all night long, the home team played a very physical press all night long, and this kept the Reds at bay for most of the first half. It wasnt until the dying minutes of the first period that the Reds finally got a break, with Emerson steaming through the back line and firing off a blistering shot from a very sharp angle which just caught the corner of the net and gave Urawa a 1-0 half time lead.

But just moments after the second half kickoff, a crucial blunder in the back line produced a Tokyo chance, and a defender's flailing boot knocked the ball into his own net. For the remainder of the match, the Reds pushed furiously for the winning goal, but despite rattling the woodwork two or three times, they were held off by heroic defending from recent national team call-ups Akira Kaji and Teruaki Moniwa , at the heart of the FC Tokyo defence. Despite some close calls, time ran out on Urawa and they had to settle for a single point.

0 - 0

However, that could not alter the basic dullness of this contest, which must have put many a viewer to sleep as it was replayed on nationwide satellite TV, by taped delay, at midnight. Thankfully, this fan set his video recorder and went to bed, and was able to watch the "highlights" on Sunday morning in about five minutes of fast-forward replay. Though the Marinos have a chance to claim an uncontested league championship by winning the second stage, if they continue to play like this down the stretch, it aint gonna happen.

2 - 0

The S-Pulse jinx very nearly struck once again, very early in this match, when Tuto took advantage of the atypically thin Kashima back line, made a dash into the penalty area and finished it off with a very blatant dive. Though Akira Narahashi protested (with some legitimacy) that Tuto had felled him with an elbow to the chest, and then dove over his legs, Tuto's performance was rewarded with a penalty kick all the same. But the Brazilian ace rushed his kick and sent it off the right post, letting the Antlers off the hook. Following the Tuto dash, Kashima's three defensive midfielders adopted a more cautious attitude, and this took some of the crispness out of the Antlers attacks, though S-Pulse for their part found occasional room down the wings, but had difficulty creating anything dangerous.

The see-saw battle continued through the first hour with no result. Though the Antlers could claim the majority of possession and field position, S-Pulse did a very good job of cutting off the final pass, and even when Kashima did put a ball through the back line, Tomoyuki Hirase managed to waste the opportunity, as seems to be his habit. The closest the Antlers came to scoring were two corner kicks that produced dangerous headers on net, but one was tipped away on an acrobatic save by Takaya Kurokawa and the other came back off the crossbar and was cleared.

With about 20 minutes to play, Toninho Cerezo finally went to his bench for reserve striker Masaki Fukai as well as veteran wing back Naoki Soma, who is still not fully recovered from a leg injury, but made his return to the lineup this week. The changes made an immediate difference, as the speed and dexterity of Soma and Fukai on the left wing devastated the tiring S-Pulse defence, and suddenly the Antlers began to produce scoring chances in bunches. After two or three close calls, Fukai made a nice interception, chasing back and on the left side of midfield, and wheeled around looking for space. Soma slanted across Fukai's path, taking the ball away and heading for the sideline, but no sooner had the S-Pulse defenders reacted to his move then suddenly Soma launched the ball down the wing, with Fukai sprinting away in pursuit. Soma's slant and pass collapsed the entire right side of the S-Pulse defence, and the deep defender, Ryuzo Morioka had no choice but to chase after Fukai as he turned towards the box on the left wing, leaving the middle wide open. Mitsuo Ogasawara drifted into the box, casually waiting for Fukai's cross, and when it came, he had only to side-foot the ball into the net.

The goal completely altered the nature of the match, forcing S-Pulse to push forward from midfield, leaving the ball-savvy Antlers room to work with on the counterattack. It didnt take long for the killing blow to arrive. Five minutes after Ogawawara's strike, Fernando cut off a long pass, just one step on the S-Pulse side of midfield. As he wheeled about, Ogasawara and Hirase dashed forward on the left and Fukai made a sprint to the right, with S-Pulse defenders scrambling after them in pursuit. But Fernando played a soft, rolling lead pass into the vast, unoccupied corridoor in the center of the pitch, and Soma dashed through from the left wing to meet it. With no defenders in sight, Soma only had to pick his spot and roll the ball under the outrushing keeper, for another easy goal.

In the dying moments, Alex Santos demonstrated why he can be as much of a danger to his team as a benefit. With just a minute of injury time to play, and no chanced whatsoever to get back into the match, Santos took exception a foul call and began protesting vigorously to the linesman. The referee, Mr. Kawakami, came over and showed Alex a yellow card, hoping to cool him down. But this only sent Santos into a bigger tirade. After putting his finger to his lips three times, Kawakami finally decided to provide a more lasting lesson, and exchanged his yellow card for a red one. This will cost S-Pulse severely next week, when they will have to face FC Tokyo without their star midfielder.

1 - 2

Kobe were fortunate to claim an early lead on a defensive blunder by Grampus, which produced an own goal. The match see-sawed back andm forth for the next 20 minutes before a defensive error on the opposite end leveled the score. Grampus played a long ball deep into the Vissel end, and left defender Tomo Sugawara approached it on the first bounce and tried to head it clear. However, his placement was exceptionally poor, and the ball looped high in the air to young Ryuta Hara, just outside the right top corner of the penalty box. Hara headed the ball on into the box and it fell to Marques, cutting in from midfield. Marques was slightly off balance but managed to swing a boot at the ball and send it skidding just inside the left post, to level the score.

But just moments later, Ryuji Bando put on a brilliant display of persistance on the right side of the Grampus box, taking a long pass and dribbling to the end line with Andrej Panadic draped all over him, cutting back to find space, making an unsuccessful feint into the box, and then pulling it back out, before finally dropping an overlap pass to Keiji Yoshimura. The Vissel wing tried to cross into the box, but when it was cleared, Bando was on hand yet again to scoop up the rebound and drive across the top of the area. He fired a shot through a crowd of players and it happened to zip right into the shin guards of Oseas, posting up at the penalty spot. Oseas pounced on the loose ball and drove it into the net, giving Vissel the lead once more.

The second half was all Nagoya's, as Vissel retreated deeper and deeper into a defensive shell and nearly paid the price. Grampus even won a penalty kick midway through the half, but the shot was blocked brilliantly by Makoto Kakegawa and Vissel managed to preserve their lead through the final whistle, moving a half-step out of the relegation zone.

2 - 0

Trinita managed to hold their own for most of the first half, and as the hour mark approached, they might have been starting to think about a possible scoreless draw and a valuable point. But one fortunate bound changed the entire complexion of the match. In the 55 minute, Jubilo won a corner kick on the left side, and Hiroshi Nanami lobbed the ball in for the near post. A crowd of players all challenged for the ball, but it deflected lazily out to the ende of the penalty area. Unfortunately for Trinita, Aleksandr Zivkovic was cutting across the middle and the ball fell right at his feet while in full stride. He took a few steps wide to create space for his shot, then looped a high ball over the stranded keeper and into the top right corner.

This completely altered the dynamic, as Oita were forced to try to score, and Jubilo were able to exploit the resulting openings for chance after dangerous chance. With fifteen minutes to play, Nanami again started off a scoring play, feeding Zivkovic on a through pass to the left edge of the box. Zivkovic crossed to a wide-open Rodrigo Gral at the far post, and Gral finished with a soft header, putting the match out of reach.

1 - 2

0 - 2

Verdy, however, have been playing extremely well since Ossie Ardilles took over as head coach, and when their ace striker Patrick Mboma is in the lineup, they usually manage a victory. Reysol gave them trouble at times, but after Atsuhiro Miura connected on a 30-meter blast that caught the keeper napping, Reysol were stuck in catch-up mode for most of the match.

Early in the second half, Reysol brought in young Kisho Yano to replace Keiji Tamada, putting the team's teenaged trio of Yano, Yuji Unozawa and Toru Nagata all on the pitch at the same time. But despite a few close calls, Verdy's defence held.

Midway through the second half, Mboma showed why his presence is so vital to the Verdy success story. Though he seems to be almost invisible for long stretches of the match, when he does make an appearance it is usually to score a crucial goal. This week was no different. In the 73 minute, Miura took a throw-in on the left side and sent an arching lob to the edge of the box. Takuya Yamada headed the ball on and Mboma made a sudden dash through the middle to head it home, to the delight of the Verdy supporters. With the win, Verdy move level with Yokohama on points, and with a three goal lead on goal difference.

0 - 2

Ten minutes into the second act, Yasuhito Endo found the towering target of Magrao in front of goal, and the big striker deflected the cross into the net. Thereafter, the only real question was whether or not Gamba would add to their lead, as Cerezo more or less curled up and died. Ten minutes before full time, Joao misplayed a clearance and allowed Takahiro Futagawa to snatch the ball away and take off towards goal. Futagama made a lovely run, changing directions three times to keep the retreating defenders off his shoulder, and when he reached the edge of the box his shot was a bullet into the far corner that gave Gamba its final 2-0 margin.

And so, this week we have yet another contender at the top of the league table. Verdy and Yokohama Marinos are level on points, while Urawa Reds and JEF United are close on their heels, a point back. Fifth-place Kashima are also in striking distance, two points adrift, and even Jubilo Iwata, three points back, have a shot at the title. The final five matches of the season promise to make a thrilling run for the finish line, so by all means, stay tuned.