July 19, 2020
Please Spread the Word
As more and more people are discovering, the J.League boasts some of the most entertaining and unpredictable football on the planet. The people who maintain and operate JSoccer Magazine and the JSoccer.com website have been following the J.League since its inception, and we do our best to spread the excitement and energy to football fans around the globe. But after two decades and change... a whole LOT of change... the task of reaching people has become increasingly difficult.
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We hope you will continue to support JSoccer.com, and share your love of Japanese football as we try to make the site more interactive and more informative to fans around the world. Now lets get to the stuff you came here for . . . a full rundown of the action in J1, this weekend.
1 - 5 
In last week's report, I discussed the impressive results delivered by newcomers Yokohama FC, in the first four weeks of the season. Though half of the players on his roster are famous, formerly-great over-30somethings, Coach Takahiro Shimotaira has stuck with a group of younger, far-less-famous players who offer far greater long-term potential. It would seem that the Fulie, after two decades of OAP-related lethargy, may be making the changes needed to regain a spot among Japan's first-tier contenders. After a win and two draws, Yokohama FC entered the weekend at midtable, one notch above their hometown rivals the Marinos.
However, on Saturday they ran up against the team that currently seems to be in the best form in J1. Kawasaki Frontale are deservedly atop the table as one of only two undefeated teams. It took a wjhile for the Blue Dolphins to get into gear, but once they did, they blew Yokohama off the pitch. The first half was a bit more closely fought, though Frontale eventually managed to break down the Fulie defense. In the 28th minute, Leandro Damiao rose high to head a cross off the crossbar. The rebound fell right to Yasuto Wakizaka who scooped the rebound into the back strings and gave Frontale the early edge
In the second haｌｆ, Yokohama FC came out with a rush of attacking pressure as play resumed, and created a string of chances between the 50 and 60 minute marks. The equaliser finally arrived in the 59th minute as Tatsuki Seko sent in a cross from the left flank, Kazunari Ichimi, Ichimi tried an acrobatic overhead kick that failed to connect, but, the ball bounded out to Matsuo who played a bank shot off the shin guards of Masakazu Tashiro and into the net. Matsuo got credit for the goal, but Tashiro got a critical "assist".
But that was the last gasp for Yokohama. Frontale responded almost immediately, with a blistering attack that kept the ball almost continuously in Yokohama's end of the pitch for the next 15 minutes. Fulie defended bravely but the experienced Frotale attack continued to apply the pressure until, in the 73rd minute, Kaoru Mitoma picked up the ball to the left of the penalty area and burst into the box on the dribble, only to be upended by Calvin Jong-a-Pin. Yu Kobayashi struck the spot kick and the Dolphins were back in front.
To make matters worse, just two minutes later on a Frontale corner kick, Seko accidentally knocked the ball out of play with his forearm. This time Akihiro Ienaga took the spot kick and extended the Blue Dolphins' lead to 3-1. The two back-to-back penalties destroyed Yokohama's morale, and from that point on it seemed Frontale could create chances at will. The fourth goal could have arrived much sooner, but in the 83rd minute Yu Kobayashi finally landed the killer blow, collecting a ball well inside the penalty area and spinning to shoot into the right corner.
Koki Saito put on a good show in the second half, trying to create scoring chances all by himself. But even with playmaking duties handed over to Shunsuke Nakamura, the Fulie simply couldnt breach the experienced Kawasaki defense. Instead, on the final play of the contest, the Blue Dolphins won a corner kick on the left side. 22 delivered a perfect cross, which hung like a piniata over the edge of the six-yard box. Shogo Taniguchi's run was also flawless, rising high over the backs of the Yokohama defenders and powering the ball into the back of the net. Frontale retain their spot at the top of the table
| Date: 18 July, 2020 |
Attendance: 2,733 |
Location: Mitsuzawa (NGKSpring) Stadium |
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5
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| Masakazu Tashiro (59') |
Scoring |
Yasuto Wakizaka (28') Yu Kobayashi (75') Akihiro Ienaga (78') Yu Kobayashi (83') Shogo Taniguchi (90+6') |
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| Cautions | ||||||||
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1
Yuta Minami; Kyowaan Hoshi, Masakazu Tashiro, Tomoki Kobayashi; Kosuke Sato, Tatsuki Seko (Shunsuke Nakamura 84'), Katsuhiro Nakayama (Sho Kumagawa 70'), Takuya Matsuura (Kohei Tezuka 76'), Yusuke Matsuo (Takaaki Shichi 76'); Kazumi Ichimi (Yusuke Minagawa 84'), Koki Saito.
Jung Sung-Ryong ; Miki Yamane (Hidemasa Morita 84'), Shogo Taniguchi, Shintaro Kurumaya, Kyohei Noborizato (Kazuya Yamamura 89'); Tanaka, Ryota Oshima (Hokuto Shimoda 84'); Yasuto Wakizaka, Akihiro Ienaga, Tatsuya Hasegawa (Kaoru Mitoma 60'); Leandro Damiao (Yu Kobayashi 60'). 
2 - 0 
The marquee match of the day took place at Tokyo's Ajinomoto Stadium, where FC Tokyo played host to Urawa Reds in a top-of-the-table clash. The two teams seemed to be closely matched, and cautious of one another's offensive capabilities. The first half was a cagey affair, with both teams probing cautiously and avoiding dangerous counterattacks.
On the stroke of half time FC Tokyo took the lead, albeit almost by accident. Sei Muroya took a pass into the right corner and looped a long cross for the far post. The ball sailed just over the heads of two leaping Reds defenders. Diego Oliveira was curling in at the far post, but couldnt see the ball until the last second, obstructed by the Reds players. It hit him squarely in the chin, then his chest, and bounded into the net.
After their game plan had been upset by such a sudden concession, the Reds tried to make adjustments at half time that would sharpen up the attack, but despite bringing on Takahiro Sekine, Martinus and Leonardo before the 60 minute mark, the visitors simply couldnt get untracked. Tokyo continued to control the preponderance of possession, and by the time the second goal arrived the Capitol City Coon-dogs were in full control. In the 61st minute Coach Hasegawa went to his bench for the first time, bringing on Adailton to replace a tiring Kensuke Nagai in the front line. Just minutes after taking the pitch, Adailton made a nice interception deep in Urawa territory, and broke away on a counterattack. Adailton took the ball all the way down the right channel by himself, outpacing Mauricio by a half-step and firing a shot past Shusaku Nishikawa.
Thereafter, Tokyo brought on a half-dozen fresh legs to bolster the defense, and cruised the rest of the way to the final whistle. Tokyo's victory puts them one point behind Frontale, and level with Cerezo on points in second place.
| Date: 18 July, 2020 |
Attendance: 4,705 |
Location: Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium |
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0
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| Diego Oliveira (45') Adailton (66') |
Scoring |
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| Hotaka Nakamura | Cautions | Leonardo Takahiro Sekine |
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2
Akihiro Hayashi; Sei Muroya, Tsuyoshi Watanabe, Masato Morishige, Ryoya Ogawa (Hotaka Nakamura 82'), ; Keigo Higashi (Arthur Silva 82'), Kento Hashimoto, Shuto Abe (Yojiro Takahagi 89'); Diego Oliveira (Kazuya Amano 89'), Kensuke Nagai (Adailton 61'), Leandro.
Shusaku Nishikawa; Daiki Hashioka (Everton 68'), Takuya Iwanami, Mauricio, Ryosuke Yamanaka; Kazuki Nagasawa (Martinus 57'), Takuya Aoki, Kai Shibato, Koya Yuriki (Takahiro Sekine 45'); Shinzo Koroki, Kenyu Sugimoto (Leonardo 57'). 
1 - 2 
As the top Kanto-area clubs - Kawasaki, Tokyo and Urawa - battled for frontrunner status, Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Cerezo Osaka met head to head at the spacious Hiroshima Big Arch (site of the 1992 Asian Cup) to see which of the clubs from Western Japan would join them among the early leaders. For those who have never seen the Big Arch (now corporate-branded as "Edion Stadium"), it has a deceptively spacious appearance for its rated capacity of 36,894. Even when the Purple Archers draw 20-25,000 fans, there seems to be lots of elbow room - almost as if the stadium was designed to anticipate the Coronavirus. On Saturday the crowd at Hiroshima Big Arch was just 3,084, but they did their best to make noise and provide a fitting backdrop for this important early-season clash.
Both teams played an expansive, end-to-end style which takes advantage of the new substitution rules, and lets almost the entire team, play at a pace that hits the wall around the 50-60 minute mark. With their relatively deep squads, Cerezo and Sanfrecce can bring on subs in almost any position, without a significant decline in quality. In the early stages of this contest, both teams had a roughly equal share of possession, but as the contest advanced, Cerezo shifted more and more into a counterattacking stance, allowing Sanfrecce to move the ball around the perimeter while looking for chances to charge the passing lanes. The opening goal, however, was carefully set up, with the Pink Wolves working the ball into the right corner for Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, who made a nice dribbling run at his defender before firing low for the near post. Sho Sasaki was too preoccupied with holding off the bulk of Ken Tokura, and managed to deflect the ball into his own net.
Sanfrecce now took the initiative, and the remainder of the first half played out with a similar dynamic -- the Purple Archers working hard to break down a tightly organized Cerezo defense while snuffing out the occasional dangerous counter. Hiroshi Kiyotake very nearly doubled Cerezo's lead on a set play, but his free kick slammed off the crossbar and was cleared safely.
Cerezo extended their lead just after the break, thanks to a lovely bit of ball perssure and quick counterattacking. In the 50th minute a sudden ball press got the Sanfrecce back line a bit flustered. Tokura and Kiyotake nearly snatched the ball in Sanfrecce's penalty area, when a weak back pass had to be cleared by the keeper. But Naoyuki Fujita kept the pressure on, winning the ball near the center circle and dishing it off to Kiyotake, who set off down the middle with teammates in pursuit. Fujita dashed through the left channel to get a return pass from Kiyotake, and slid his shot into the low right corner.
But on the very next play, the Purple Archers swarmed forward on an offensive sprint, and Douglas Viera was upended as he chased the ball into the Cerezo box. Viera drilled the spot kick and cut the Cerezo lead to one.
The final half hour was very entertaining, as Sanfrecce battled for the equaliser and Cerezo tried to kill off their hopes on the counterattack. Cerezo defended extremely well down the stretch, sitting back in a two-line block and watching the passing lanes, then launching long balls for big Ken Tokura to collect and dish off to Kiyotake and Hiroaki Okuno. Hiroshima showed a lack of that decisive penetration skill that the injured Yoshifumi Kashiwa usually provides, and simply could not break down the Pink Wall. Victory takes Cerezo into a virtual tie with FC Tokyo for second place, a point behind Frontale, while Sanfrecce drops to midtable.
| Date: 18 July, 2020 |
Attendance: -- |
Location: Hiroshima Big Arch |
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2
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| Douglas Viera (53') |
Scoring |
Own Goal (20') Naoyuki Fujita (50') |
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| Tomoya Fujii | Cautions | |||||||
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1
Takuto Hayashi; Yuki Nogami, Hayato Araki, Sho Sasaki; Rhayner, Hayao Kawabe (Chajima 55'), Toshihiro Aoyama (Shunki Higashi 85'), Kohei Shimizu (Tomoya Fujii 45'); Ryu Nagai (Douglas 45'), Tsukasa Morishima, Leandro Perreira (Gakuto Notsuda 75').
Kim Jin-Hyeon; Riku Matsuda, Yusuke Maruhashi, Ayumu Seko, Matej Jonjic; Naoyuki Fujita (Yasuki Kimoto 90+3'), Leandro Desabato, Hiroshi Kiyotake (Eiichi Katayama 82'), Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Hiroaki Okuno (Suzuki 90+1'); Ken Tokura (Yuta Toyokawa 82')
4 - 2 
As we noted in last week's report, the Kashima Antlers' poor start to the season is getting a lot of media coverage, but it only comes as a surprise to those who have not been paying attention. The Golden Herd of Ibaraki - at least the one most casual fans are familiar with - has gone off to graze in greener pastures, in Europe. Although there is ample evidence that the young bucks and yearlings who have taken their place will eventually restore the Herd to their usual place near the forefront of the league, 2020 was always going to be a "rebuilding year." The underlying content of play that the Antlers have delivered - against fairly solid opposition (Sanfrecce, Frontale, Consadole and Reds) - was encouraging. But the lack of real experience, individual guile and team cohesion is bound to hold them back, at least for a while.
The Antlers' schedule continues to be daunting. On Saturday they welcomed the reigning League Champions, Yokohama Marinos, to Kashima Stadium, aka. the House that Zico Built. The Marinos' pedigree as perennial contenders is nearly as good as Kashima's, with four league titles - one in each of the J.League's three decades - and an even greater history of success in the semi-pro (JSL) era. The height of Yokohama's glory came under former National Team coach Takeshi Okada, in 2001-05, when the Tricolore secured two league titles and an Emperor's Cup. Now, another former national team gaffer - Australia's Ange Postecoglou - is hoping to match or even surpass "Oka-chan"s benchmark, by securing back-to-back titles.
However, the Bay-City Seagulls are off to almost as weak a start as the Antlers, if you consider relative competitiveness. Defensive errors were a cause for concern, not only in the Marinos' 1-3 loss to FC Tokyo last weekend, but also in their 3-2 victory in the Kanagawa Derby match, against Bellmare. Coach Postecoglou prefers to play an open, high-scoring type of football, so conceding goals is not a problem in itself. But even with the scoring talent at Ange's disposal, and as this contest clearly demonstrated, the Marinos cannot afford to continue allowing 2-4 goals per match.
Over their first four matches the Antlers have been struggling to finish off scoring opportunities. But as we have noted, it is only a matter of time before their "close calls" start to turn into goals. Just four minutes after kickoff, Everaldo and Ayase Ueda finally made the connection that has been eluding them up to now. The Brazilian's cross was perfectly placed, just clearing the defense and dropping for the U-23 National Team prospect to collect just outside the far (right) post. Ueda setled the ball with his first touch, then lashed a shot across the face of goal and into the left side netting.
The Marinos responded with a concerted surge on offense, and pulled back level in the 12th minute. Teruhito Nakagawa unlocked the Antlers defense with a nice run down the right channel and a one-touch pass for Marcos Junior, slashing towards the left post. Marcos Junior slammed his shot past Kwoun Sun-Tae and the Seagulls were back on level terms. But following the Marinos' goal, Kashima took the initiative back, and enjoyed the preponderance of the scoring opportunities for the remainder of the first half. The Antlers probably should have gone in at the break with a lead. But two poor finishes by Ueda - missing the target with the net at his mercy - let the Marinos defense off the hook and kept the scores level at the break.
The Marinos' share of possession is an important benchmark for the coach; this team may be pacy, but they are not really well suited to counterattacking. Therefore the Antlers dominance in the first half was sufficient to convince Ange of the need to dial up the volume on offense. He brought on Masato Ito and Keita Endo at half time, and just six minutes after the restart he replaced Erik with Ado Onaiwu.
This failed to really change the run of play, however; the Antlers continued to dictate the pace for the first 15 minutes of the half and to create chances. As the hour mark approached, Ueda finally managed to hit the target. Leo Silva set things in motion with a long ball into the right corner that sent wingback Rikuto Hirose (signed from the Marinos at the end of 2019) on a blistering run down the flank. Hirose's inlet pass led Ueda perfectly, as he slanted in from the opposite side, and all he needed to do was make contact to poke the ball into an open net.
If their finishing had been anything close to the level typical of Antlers it could have been 3-1 or 4-1 by the middle of the half. But poor finishing allowed the Marinos to stay in touching distance until the final quarter of the contest. But in the 67th minute a rolling counterattack that involved half of the Antlers team was finished off by Juan Alano's slanting pass across the face of goal and Everaldo's galloping finish at the left post.
Yokohama dug deep in search of the response that Postecoglou had been asking of his team since half time. In the 68th minute the Marinos won a corner kick on the left side and took it short, playing the ball to Marcos Junior on the edge of the box. Before the Kashima defense could close him down, the Brazilian sparkplug hooked a right-footer across the face of goal and into the high, right corner, securing his brace.
But in a very typical fashion, the Marinos drove the final nail into their own coffin with a bit of inattentive play in the back line. Sho Ito, another former Marino, came on in place of Ueda with ten minutes left, and quickly made an impact. In the 82nd minute Ito and Shoma Doi put pressure on the ball, trapping Shinnosuke Hatanaka against the sideline and forcing the Marinos defender to play a weak pass back towards Masato Ito on the opposite side of the pitch. Ryohei Shirasaki, who was lurking in the centre of the pitch and targeting the passing lane, strode forward to intercept the ball in acres of open space, looked up to see the keeper dash off the goal line, and chipped a gentle rainbow shot over Kajikawa and into the back of the net. The Antlers secured their first points of the season, while Yokohama's loss drops them to 14th place, just a point above the Antlers.
| Date: 18 July, 2020 |
Attendance: 3,090 |
Location: Kashima Stadium |
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2
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| Ayase Ueda (04') Ayase Ueda (58') Everaldo (67') Ryohei Shirasaki (82') |
Scoring |
Marcos Junior (12') Marcos Junior (70') |
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| Cautions | ||||||||
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4
Kwoun Sun-Tae; Rikuto Hirose, Tomoya Inukai, Koki Machida, Katsuya Nagato; Yuto Misao (Ryota Nagaki 53'), Leo Silva, Juan Alano (Shoma Doi 71'), Yasushi Endo (Ryohei Shirasaki 71'); Everaldo (Ryuji Izumi 80'), Ayase Ueda (Sho Ito 80').
Yuji Kajikawa; Ken Matsubara, Thiago Martinez Masato Ito 45'), Shinnosuke Hatanaka, Teerathon; Takahiro Ogihara (Jun Amano 69'), Takuya Kida, Marcos Junior (Kota Mizunuma 80'); Teruhito Nakagawa, Edigar Junio (Keita Endo 45'), Erik (Ado Onaiwu 51').
3 - 1 
While the Antlers claimed their first victory of the season, the other team that started the week pointless - Shimizu S-Pulse - travelled west to play star-studded Vissel Kobe. The Crimson Cows of Kobe are off to a rather disappointing start themselves, at least for a team that views itself as a potential title contender. Kobe has played well in spurts, but produced few goals, so as the clock ticked into injury time of the first half with the scorecard still blank, Some fans might have been thinking about another draw.
But on the final play of the half, Andres Iniesta won a corner kick on the left side and fired a low drive that met Kyogo Furumoto at the near post. Furumoto flicked a header off the gloves of the keeper and into the back netting.
S-Pulse started the second half well, working the ball down the flanks through Carlinhos and Teerasil Dangda, but a sudden counterattack led by Furumoto in the 53rd minute knocked the Wingheads back to earth. Furumoto played a diagonal ball into the box for Douglas to chase. The speedy Brazilian managed to get a flick on the ball just before it reached the keeper, and sent it bounding into the back of the net.
S-Pulse brought on a series of offensive substitutions to try to change the momentum, but never again managed to put Kobe under real pressure. The Kansai Crimson began to control possession more securely now, and a sequence of potshots from distance eventually took its toll. Douglas headed a cross from the left corner slamming off the crossbar in the 65th minute, and the rebound dropped right to an unmarked Furuhashi, to complete his brace.
The Wingheads claimed a consolation goal in the 74th minute when an atrocious back-pass across the top of the box was snapped up by Kenta Nishizawa and drilled past the keeper. But the result was already secure; Vissel tightened up the defenses and waited out the clock, claiming their second win of the season and moving up to midtable. S-Pulse drops to dead last, as the only team without a single point.
| Date: 18 July, 2020 |
Attendance: 3,494 |
Location: Kobe (Noevir) Stadium |
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1
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| Kyogo Furuhashi (45'+2) Douglas (54') Kyogo Furuhashi (65') |
Scoring |
Kenta Nishizawa (75') | ||||||
| Douglas | Cautions | Keita Nakamura Makoto Okazaki |
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3
Hiroki Iikura; Reo Oosaki, Sergi Samper, Hirofumi Watabe, Daigo Nishi (So Fujitani 71'); Hotaru Yamaguchi, Andres Iniesta (Takuya Yasui 90+2'), Gotoku Sakai; Keijiro Ogawa (Junya Tanaka 71'), Douglas (Noriaki Fujimoto 71'), Kyogo Furuhashi (Yuta Goke 81') .
Togo Umeda; Elsinho (Makoto Okazaki 60'), Valdo, Hwang Seok-Ho, Ryo Okui; Keita Nakamura (Mitsunari Musaka 86'), Ryo Takeuchi (Renato Augusto 60'), Yusuke Goto; Shota Kaneko (Kenta Nishizawa 71'), Teerasil Dangda (Yuito Suzuki 71') Carlinhos Junior . 
2 - 2 
One factor that is sure to play an important role in determining team success, this season, is the depth of the squad; that is to say, the quality of second-string players could be nearly as important as the quality of the first string. Even the youngest and fittest players are going to experience fatigue if they play three matches a fortnight, every week, for several months. As discussed above, several of the more competitive teams are already trying to establish a rotation that keeps key players fresh. But if your second string players are a major step down in quality, managing this sort of rotation can be very difficult, if not impossible.
Consadole Sapporo and Vegalta Sendai are both in a difficult situation, due to the lack of depth in the squad. For example, Vegalta started ten of the same players that they used last weekend, and only made three changes between last Wednesday's starting unit and the one that started on Saturday. Consadole has done a bit more to spread the burden, switching between Jay Bothroyd, Douglas Oliveira, Lucas Fernandez and Musashi Suzuki in the front line, but the defense and midfield have remained largely unchanged. It is still early days, so the issue of fatigue is not yet having a visible impact. Nevertheless, we will have to keep an eye on this situation, particularly for teams like Consadole, Vegalta, Trinita, Sagan and Bellmare.
In this battle between the J1's two northernmost teams, it was the Snow Owls of Sapporo who set the early pace, Yoshiaki Komai and Chanathip Songkran each having a chance to set up Douglas Oliveira in the early going. But it was the Golden Eagles of Sendai who struck the first blow. After a prolonged offensive series by Consadole, Alexandre Guedes managed to intercept a pass as the Sapporo midfield tried to recycle the ball. Guedes cleared the ball to Kunimitsu Sekiguchi who took charge of the counterattack on his side of midfield. Driving straight at the two remaining Sapporo defenders, he waited for his speedy teammates to catch up and roll down the flanks. Sekiguchi timed his pass to Ryo Germain, in the right channel, to perfection. Germain accelerated to collect it just outside the penalty area, and feinted for the near post to bamboozle the keeper, before rolling the ball casually into the far (left) corner.
This knocked the wind out from under the Snow Owls' wings, and their early advantage in possession evaporated under a more energetic Vegalta press. Though there had been a fair amount of physical contact prior to the next key incident, it was hard to figure out exactly what might have triggred it. On the stroke of the half hour, Takuma Arano set himself to collect a high ball in the center circle, only for Sekiguchi to go over his back. Fouls like this are not uncommon, and did not seem any more egregious than usual; but for some reason Arano snapped, and lashed out at Sekiguchi with his boot. Sekiguchi put on a rather unnecessary acting performance, to draw attention, but the ref was already going for the red card.
Reduced to ten men, Consadole now spent a greater share of the time playing defense, but Vegalta's forte is counterattacking. Their attempts to construct chances against a tight Sapporo defense were ineffective, but when they had a chance to counterattack they peppered Takanori Sugeno with shots from distance. At the break, the score was still 1-0 but it seemed that Vegalta had all the momentum.
At half time Coach Mihailo Petrovic adjusted the formation, bringing on the big, athletic rookie Shunta Tanaka and the equally solid Lucas Fernandez to solidify the midfield. Though listed as a defender, Tanaka has very good ball skills and looked very comfortable providing the midfield link between defense and offense. Sendai used its numerical advantage to work the ball around for a quick delivery to target-man Shun Nagasawa, but despite a couple of shots that Sugeno had to parry away, it was Consadole's counterattacks which seemed more dangerous. At the other end, Yuma Obata had to make a fine save to deny Lucas Fernandes in the 55th minute and another to punch away a free kick three minutes later. But as the hour mark approached, Sendai struck suddenly. Keiya Shiihashi snatched a stray ball at midfield and broke through the middle, unleashing a powerful drive from the top of the penalty arc that thundered into the top left corner.
The scorekeepers were still jotting down the details of Shiihashi's goal when Consadole struck back. Tanaka carried the ball forward out of midfield, passed ahead to Yoshiaki Komai, who fed it into the corner for Lucas Fernandes. The cross came in on a line drive, to meet a very unlikely target - Chanathip Songkran at the edge of the six-yard box for a thumping header!
Though still at a numerical disadvantage, Consadole seemed to take heart from the goal, and began to work the ball forward with the efficiency they showed in the first half. Petrovic added fresh legs to the attack, with Tomoki Takamine at the hour mark and Jay Bothroyd, six minutes later. Vegalta continued to maintain the edge in possession, thanks to their extra man, but the Snow Owls gradually began to turn the screws, looking for the equaliser. Vegalta may have been a bit too complacent, thinking they could protect their lead (at home, with a man advantage), but as the second half advanced it was Consadole who seemed to be the ones with more men around the ball.
With ten minutes to play, Petrovic played his last card, adding the speedy Takuro Kaneko on the left flank. Though this produced two shots on net, by Jay and Chanathip, Consadole just couldnt break through the Golden defensive block. A minute into injury time, Sapporo won a corner kick on the left side. Lucas Fernandes' delivery found Jay Bothroyd, who headed the ball down and towards goal. It slammed off the back of Shunta Tanaka's calf, and bounded into the net.
There was still enough time for set play opportunities at both ends, but the contest concluded with the score still 2-2: a result that Consadole fans will view as some sort of victory.
Sent OffTakuma Arano
| Date: 18 July, 2020 |
Attendance: 2,597 |
Location: Sendai (Yuasa) Stadium |
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0
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| Ryo Germain (23') Keiya Shiihashi (60') |
Scoring |
Chanathip Songkran (62') Shunta Tanaka (90+2') |
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| Kunimitsu Sekiguchi Takayoshi Ishihara |
Cautions | Daiki Suga Chanathip Songkran Ryosuke Shindo Hiroki Miyazawa |
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2
Yuma Obata; Koji Hachisuka, Kyohei Yoshino, Yasuhiro Hiraoka, Takayoshi Ishihara; Ryohei Michibuchi, Keiya Shiihashi, Kunimitsu Sekiguchi (Wataru Tanaka 57'); Ryo Germain (Yamada 81'), Shun Nagasawa (Akasaki 57'), Alexandre Guedes (Nishimura 62'). Yoshiki Matsushita
Takanori Sugeno; Ryosuke Shindo, Hiroki Miyazawa, Akito Fukumori (Tomoki Takamine 63'); Kensuke Shirai (Lucas Fernandes 45'), Takuma Arano, Kazuki Fukai (Shunta Tanaka 45'), Daiki Suga (Takuro Kaneko 77'); Yoshiaki Komai, Chanathip Songkran; Douglas Oliveira (Jay Bothroyd 69').
2 - 1 
Full match report will be posted shortly
| Date: 18 July, 2018 |
Attendance: -- |
Location: Suita (Panasonic) Stadium |
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0
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| Takashi Usami (37') Ademilson (48') |
Scoring |
Daiki Watari (78') | ||||||
| Cautions | ||||||||
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2
Masaaki Higashiguchi; Hiroki Fujiharu, Genta Miura, Kim Young-Gwon, Ryu Takao; Kosuke Onose (Yuya Fukuda 81'), Yosuke Ideguchi, Shinya Yajima; Ademilson (Kazuma Watanabe 81'), Yuji Ono (Shu Kurata 63'), Takashi Usami (Patric 75') .
Shun Takagi; Yuto Misao, Yoshinori Suzuki, Tomoki Iwata, Kento Haneda (Keita Takahata 53'); Yuki Kobayashi (Toshio Shimakawa 53'), Rei Matsumoto (Kenta Inoue 79'), Tatsuya Tanaka, Yushi Hasegawa; Kei Chinen, Daiki Watari (Kazuki Fujimoto 63').
1 - 0 
Full match report will be posted shortly
| Date: 18 July, 2020 |
Attendance: -- |
Location: Toyota Stadium |
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0
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| Naoki Maeda (62') |
Scoring |
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| Shinnosuke Nakatani Yutaka Yoshida |
Cautions | Yohei Toyoda Thiago Alves Thiago Alves |
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1
Mitch Langerak; Shumpei Naruse, Shinnosuke Nakatani, Yuichi Maruyama, Yutaka Yoshida; Takuji Yonemoto, (Joao Schmidt 45'), Hiroyuki Abe, Sho Inagaki; Matheus '(Gabriel Xavier 45'), Ryogo Yamazaki (Naoki Maeda 56'), Yuki Soma.
Yohei Takaoka; Ryoya Morishita (Lopes 78'), Eduardo, Yuto Uchida; Daiki Matsuoka, Hideto Takahashi, Riki Harakawa, An Yong-Woo (Thiago Alves 56'), Ryan Yong-gi (Fuchi Honda 56'); Tomoya Koyamatsu (Yuzo Kobasyashi 78'), Yohei Toyoda (Takeshi Kanamori (71).
3 - 2 
Full match report will be posted shortly
| Date: 18 July, 2020 |
Attendance: 2,645 |
Location: Kashiwa (Sankyo) Stadium |
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2
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| Michael Olunga (19') Michael Olunga (44') Hayato Nakama (70') |
Scoring |
Temma Matsuda (63'') Naoki Ishihara (83') |
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| Yuta Kamiya | Cautions | Tarik | ||||||
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3
Kosuke Nakamura; Taiyo Koga, Yuji Takahashi, Takuma Oominami, Hiromu Mitsumaru; Hidekazu Otani (Masatoshi Mihara 81'), Richardson, Yuta Kamiya; Ataru Esaka (Taisho Goya 76'), Hayato Nakama; Michael Olunga.
Daiki Tomii; Taskuya Okamoto (Hiroshi Ibusuki 84'), Keisuke Saka, Kazunari Ono; Hirokazu Ishihara (Shota Kobayashi 45'), Mitsuki Saito, Akimi Barada (Daiki Kaneko 45'), Tenma Matsuda, Toichi Suzuki; Tarik (Naoki Ishihara 59'), Hiroto Nakagawa (Naoki Yamada 77') .
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