Admire Moriwaki’s run for the winner from WAY back – not tracked, which didn’t help Nagoya’s cause – MY kind of run! Literally – I mean I do that kind of thing for my team :-0) Not necessarily with the same end result, though!

http://youtu.be/e5lRHjL-pkw

Kashiwa Reysol 3-1 Consadole Sapporo
Goals from Otani and Kudo put the home team in the driving seat by half time. Otani then hit a post – with Leandro Domingues missing an open goal with the follow-up – before Junya Tanaka scored the 3rd goal for Reysol, coming off the bench, to seal the points, after Consadole had threatened a comeback with an 81st minute goal from Sakaki.

Cerezo Osaka 0-2 Nagoya Grampus
Goals from a Taguchi free kick – the ball going through everyone after Tulio elbowed Takahashi in the back of the head to put the defender off – and Kennedy, stretching at the far post to poke home a speculative low cross, sealed the points for Nagoya, after the game was delayed by over an hour because of lightning storms!

Shimizu S-Pulse 1-1 FC Tokyo
Ishikawa hit the bar for Tokyo in the 21st minute, while Kim came close in the 32nd minute for S-Pulse before Genki Omae robbed Yoneyama about 35 yards out, turned, took a touch and unleashed a long drive that took a deflection on the way in, 1-0 S-Pulse at half time. FC Tokyo equalised just before the hour through Vucicevic, who worked a short corner before blasting home through a forest of legs.

Omiya Ardija 1-0 Sagan Tosu
The vital winning goal came from a Kikuchi header, and the same player hit the post late in the game. The win allowed Ardija to pull out of the bottom three on the following result …

Kawasaki Frontale 2-2 Kashima Antlers
The away team took a two goal lead through a Koroki shot in the 6th minute and a penalty kick by the same player on 16 minutes – his first goals for 11 games! But just when it looked like Kashima would walk away with the game, Saneto pulled a goal back for Frontale and the home team grabbed a point on a long shot from Oshima, that keeper Sogohata completely fumbled. Juninho missed a late open goal and the chance to give Antlers three points against his old team!

Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-1 Vegalta Sendai
In the battle of the top two teams, Sanfrecce came out on top with 2nd half goals the order of the day. Koji Morisaki will be credited for the first Sanfrecce goal, in the 48th minute, but it did take a huge deflection. Sendai equalised through a diving header from Akamine in the 70th minute. Just as Vegalta thought they had a point in the bag,Takahagi latched onto a palm out by the keeper and blasted home from close range, just! His volley hit into the ground and just kept under the bar when it could easily have bounced over! His goal takes Sanfrecce back to the top of J1.

Yokohama F.Marinos 1-2 Urawa Reds
Reds came from behind to take all three points after a Marquinos header, from a Yuji Ono cross has given the home team the lead in the 5th minute. Reds came back through goals from Kashiwagi – a beautiful delicate chip over the keeper after being played through by Makino – and Makino himself, who got the winner in the 64th minute, following up a Haraguchi blast that was only palmed out by Iikura in the Marinos goal.

… and our two featured games this week :

Vissel Kobe 1-2 Jubilo Iwata

With Japan international centre back Inoha suspended, Vissel coach Nishino called upon Lee as his replacement alongside Kitamoto in the back line. Yoshida and Hayashi were also out through injury.

There was a bright start for Vissel, with Kitamoto, Okubo amd Ogawa all getting chances in the opening exchanges, Okubo’s nicely controlled volley in the 23rd minute working the crowd up nicely for the opening goal of the game moments later. A Tashiro header from a Tanaka’s cross beat the keeper but was going wide, but Ogawa steamed in and popped the ball into the open goal!

Vissel were put up against the wall, though, in the 62nd minute when Okui’s challenge for the ball was deemed a yellow card – his second – and Vissel were down to ten men. Why the referee deemed a genuine attempt for the ball, with four other Vissel players in close proximity, a yellow card is anyone’s guess, but, once again, a referee influenced a match result, it would seem.

Maeda hit a post with a follow-up header in the 66th minute, after a fine save from Tokushige, before Yamazaki bundled the ball home at the second attempt. A defender on the far post would have denied the goal with ease – is it just me or does anyone else think defenders on posts is a basic tactic at corners!?

Yamada won it for the away team in the 82nd minute, controlling the cross, shoving Mogi off illegally with his right arm – the referee yards away and with a perfect view – to break the hearts, (and almost, Mogi’s jaw in the process?) of the home fans.

Vissel Kobe – Tokushige, Okui, Kitamoto, Lee (Takagi, 76), Soma, Hashimoto, Tanaka, Nozawa (Mogi, 66), Ogawa, Tashiro (Fernando, 72), Okubo

Gamba Osaka 1-1 Albirex Niigata

Gamba took the lead on the 14th minute, after threatening to do so for a few minutes… an Endo free kick hit the wall, but the ball fell back to the no.7, who slipped it to Leandro on the left. The striker turned inside and curled the ball home at the far post.

The Brazilian striker broke free again in the 30th minute, but his final set-up touch was blocked before he could finish and the game went in 1-0 at half time, with Iwashita having headed home but the whistle having gone for a foul! Albirex registered not a single goal attempt in the opening session – that was about to change!

In the 1st minute after the break Mikado advanced on to a Bruno Lopes pass, forcing a fine save from Fujigaya. The follow-up was acrobatically put just wide by Michel. The same player zinged a grass-cutter past the post minutes later, then headed a chance right at the legs of the Gamba keeper.

Just as the fans thought that Gamba had weathered the storm, Michel advanced into the area in the final minute of normal time, and was upended by Iwashita. Bruno Lopes drove the penalty kick home and earned Albirex a point.

Gamba Osaka – Fujigaya, Iwashita, Konno, Niwa, Fujiharu, Myojin, Endo, Futagawa (Yokotani, 65), Kurata (Takei,74) , Sato, Leandro

The weekend saw Round 2 of The 92nd Emperor’s Cup (see other story) and there were some shocks in store for some J1 clubs, not least for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who were beaten by FC Imabari! In fact both of the top two teams had a fight on their hands, but Vegalta Sendai managed to beat neighbours Sony Sendai by a solitary goal, earning a 3rd round home game against Roasso Kumamoto on October 10th – when all Round 3 games will be played.

Other “big” names to fall to lower opposition were FC Tokyo (lost at home 1-0 to Yokogawa Musashino), Vissel Kobe (went down 2-1 to Sagawa Shiga) and, less of a surprise, Consadole went out on PKs to Nagano Parceiro. On Sunday Sagan Tosu were added to that list, beaten by Kamatamare Sanuki!

Saturday Sept.8th, 13.00 kick offs:

Cerezo Osaka 4-0 Nara Club at Kincho/Nagai 2nd
Gamba Osaka 3-0 Kansai Univ. at Bampaku
Kashima Antlers 7-1 Tsukuba Univ. at Kashima
Kashiwa Reysol 3-0 Kashiwa Reysol U18 at Kashiwa
Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 Tokuyama Univ. at Todoroki
Vissel Kobe 1-2 Sagawa Shiga FC at Himeji
Ventforet Kofu 0-0 Fukushima United FC (Fukushima won 4-3 on PKs AET) at Chugin/Kose
Roasso Kumamoto 4-3 FC Gifu (AET) at Kumamoto
Consadole Sapporo 1-1 AC Nagano Parceiro (Nagano won 5-3 on PKs AET) at Atsubetsu
Vegalta Sendai 1-0 Sony Sendai FC at Yurtec/Sendai
Shimizu S-Pulse 5-0 Arterivo Wakayama at Nihondaira
Shonan Bellmare 1-0 Ehime FC at Hiratsuka
Tochigi SC 0-1 Yokohama FC (AET) at Tochigi Green
Tokushima Vortis 5-1 Fagiano Okayama Next at Naruto
Tokyo Verdy 3-0 HOYO Oita at Nishigaoka
Urawa Reds 2-1 Volca Kagoshima at Komaba
Montedio Yamagata 3-0 Tonan Maebashi at Yamagata
Yokohama F.Marinos 4-2 Y.S.C.C. at Mitsuzawa

15.00 kick offs:
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-2 FC Imabari at Fukuyama
Matsumoto Yamaga FC 1-3 Kyoto Sanga FC at Matsumoto
Nagoya Grampus 2-0 FC Kariyaat Fukui

Sunday September 9th, all 13.00 kick offs:

JEF Utd Ichihara Chiba 1-0 V-Varen Nagasaki at Chiba
FC Tokyo 0-1 Yokogawa Musashino FC at Ajinomoto
Avispa Fukuoka 4-2 Fukuoka Univ. at Hakatanomori
Jubilo Iwata 7-0 FC Suzuka Rampole at Yamaha
Machida Zelvia 1-1 Giravanz Kitakyushu (Zelvia won 5-4 on PKs AET) at Komazawa
Albirex Niigata 2-1 Saurcos Fukui (AET) at Niigata Athletic
Oita Trinita 2-2 Mito Hollyhock (Mito won 5-3 on PKs AET) at Oita
Fagiano Okayama 2-0 Kataller Toyama at Okayama
Omiya Ardija 2-0 Blaublitz Akita at Kumagaya Athletic
Sagan Tosu 0-1 Kamatamare Sanuki at Tosu
Gainare Tottori 2-1 Thespa Kusatsu at Tottori

If you’d got your cash on one of those giant-killing acts at the likes of partycasino.com you’d be rolling in the money now – I hear someone had 20p on Kamatamare over Sagan Tosu The magic of football!

(Image from WikiMedia)

Nabisco Cup Semi Final, 1st Leg, September 5, 2012, Ajinomoto Stadium

Proud of Our Orange Soldiers…

I am proud of our integrity, sportsmanship and honesty. Not once, but many times this season we have experienced unjust decisions and unsporting behavior. We have always kept close to our heart the true spirit of competition, and never sacrificed our integrity for the thrill of a victory. Winning games at any cost is against the spirit of the beautiful game, and it sends the wrong message on behalf of our sport to the entire globe. Children are watching with open eyes, copying every action and reaction of their heroes. We have a responsibility to set the right example, and I hope we remind ourselves of this fact every time we step across the line.

We started the game well with an attacking attitude seeking victory and away goals. Takagi suffered a hamstring injury in the early minutes of the game, and we were forced to use our first substitute after 14 minutes. We came close several times, before a well executed free-kick earned us the first goal of the match. The goal was tagged as an own goal, but Lee Ki Je’s service to a soaring Kim Hyun Sung, who headed the ball back to the middle of goal, was met by our own Hiraoka and Tokuunaga of F.C. Tokyo. We almost doubled the lead soon after on efforts from Nabeta and Kim Hyun Sung, as they both came close.

F.C. Tokyo broke through in the 35th minute as Ishikawa sprinted behind our defense. I had no doubt he was offside, as I had a perfect view from the technical area. Ishikawa ran free behind our defense and cleverly served the ball to the top of the penalty box and found the onrushing Kajiyama, free and open. His first touch blast beat Yamamoto just under the cross bar. Half time came with the scores level, and we felt we were the better side and could get the valuable away victory. F.C. Tokyo out played us in the opening minutes of the second half, but several reaction saves from Yamamoto inspired us to raise our concentration. We started to control the game, and the Kim Hyun Sung and Genki Omae had the best chances to give us the lead. At the other end, Yuichi Maruyama took a dive in the 79th minute – by kicking his own leg – deceiving the referee Mr. Yoshida into pointing to the spot, as well as yellow carding Kawai and eliminating him from the 2nd leg game. The experienced Lucas made no mistake from the spot and gave F.C. Tokyo the lead. Our players were too frustrated and cheated to stage a comeback in the final 10 minutes.

The away goal will be valuable, and down 1-2 we have everything to play for. The 2nd leg will be held on Saturday, October 13th at Outsourcing Stadium. A clean sheet victory will be enough to qualify us to the final. I hope you will join me for our quest for the Nabisco Cup.