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Reports
Jリーグ J1 9月1日 Reports!!
コンサドーレ札幌０-２清水エスパルス （10783人）
秘かにリーグ制覇を狙うエスパルス、アウェイ戦を堅実な勝利で勝ち点３。
浦和レッズ１-１大宮アルディージャ （39814人）
埼玉ダービー。浦和は１人少ない大宮を一方的に攻め立てたが、運にも見放され、逆に前半終了間際の東のゴールで、勝ち点１を分け合う。
ＦＣ東京３-１横浜Ｆマリノス （26950人）
前節のセレッソ戦の敗戦でバブルのはじけたマリノス。ルーカスの２得点など、ＦＣ東京のそつない攻めに沈む。
ジュビロ磐田１-１サンフレッチェ広島 （11115人）
得点はリーグ・トップの49点ながら、失点も下から４位とディフェンスの弱い磐田、首位広島を迎えてのホームゲームに観客わずか11000人。試合は引き分け、佐藤がまたゴールを奪い、得点王争いを独走中。
鹿島アントラーズ１-０ヴィッセル神戸 （13798人）
降格争いからは安全圏に逃れたアントラーズだが、まだまだ本調子には程遠い。大迫のドライブのかかった長距離弾の得点を守り切る。ＧＫはセーブできたシュートだった。
ベガルタ仙台２-１川崎フロンターレ （17159人）
フロンターレの先制も、ベガルタが後半の２点で逆転勝ち。勝ち点３で、この日引き分けのサンフレッチェから首位奪還。
アルビレックス新潟０-１セレッソ大阪 （24601人）
電撃復帰したクルピ監督の第一の使命はセレッソのＪ１残留。この勝利でまずは安全圏。後半36分の柿谷のゴールで、実質上６の勝ち点をゲット。
名古屋グランパス１-０柏レイソル （14193人）
６試合ぶりに復帰のケネディからのスルーパスに、玉田が反応、右足で振り抜いたシュートの１点を、グランパスが守り切った。共に後半からの出場だったが、このゲームを決めるプレーの幅がケネディの真骨頂。この「巨人」の復帰は、永井と玉田には何よりも心強い。
サガン鳥栖４-１ガンバ大阪 （19729人）
開始早々のＦＫを決めた鳥栖が終始ゲームを支配した。ガンバの１点は、焼け石に水の感。完全復活に至らないもどかしさが感じられる試合だった。
仙台が首位に返り咲き、広島と浦和を交えた三つ巴の状態で、混戦Ｊ１はますます面白くなってきた。この３チームのすぐ下にも６チームが連なり、浮上のチャンスを窺っている。
一方、下位では、セレッソに敗れたアルビレックスが大きく後退。大宮とガンバは勝ち点１を積み上げたが、セレッソとアントラーズは降格争いからはひとまず安全圏内へ。気になるのは坂を転がり落ちているフロンターレだ。ガンバと大宮の復調次第では、順位の入れ替わりも起こり得る。
Japan 3-1 Korea FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Japan 2012 – quarter final result
Well done Young Nadeshiko Japan Ladies, who destroyed Korea with ease last night … Japan 3-1 Korea, often in 2nd gear (to use an old footballing cliche)…. bring on Germany or Norway.
If you have an interest in football and have not seen the ladies yet, check some highlights – they are good – the future is bright. And I am talking about the team who already won the 2010 World Cup – the next generation ain’t too bad 
Nigeria beat Mexico in the other quarter final, 1-0… and two more tonight. Japan will play the winner of Germany v. Norway, next Tuesday. Hoping for a Japan v. North Korea final.
J1 Round-Up August 25th – Top Team Sanfrecce Taken Out by Tokyo!
Kashima Antlers 0-1 Albirex Niigata
Endo hit the post from distance and Juninho followed up with a header that went wide when it was easier to score!
Albirex got what turned out to be the winner on a 38th minute counter attack that began with a quick thinking roll out from keeper Higashiguchi to Bruno Lopes, he fed Michel who rounded the keeper and chipped the ball home!
Juninho missed another easy chance just after the half as Niigata got a vital win in their fight against relegation.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0-1 FC Tokyo
Sanfrecce were beaten at home for the second successive game – the curse of the top spot – while FC Tokyo ended a dire run to ensure they didn’t drop into the relegation scrap. A 49th minute goal for no.49 – Lucas – gave the capital team maximum points for the first time since.. a long time ago! With wins for Reds and Vegalta, too, the top of J1 closed up again!
Omiya Ardija 1-3 Vegalta Sendai
Omiya took the lead in the 25th minute through Yu Hasegawa’s long range half volley but the away team equalised through Wilson just before the break and the tide turned in the 2nd half and Vegalta ran out worthy winners on goals from Kamata and Matsushita.
Kashiwa Reysol 0-3 Jubilo Iwata
Yamada opened the scoring for Jubilo as early as the 5th minute, before Kondo saw red for the home team for a studs-up challenge over the top of the ball – it was a dangerous challenge, and a justified red card and the player could have had no complaints, even though it was doubtful that there was any malice aforethought.
Komano added a 2nd with a deflected free kick before the half hour was up and Maeda completed the scoring in the 78th minute to give Jubilo the points.
Shimizu S-Pulse 0-2 Urawa Reds
An injury and suspension depleted S-Pulse defence couldn’t hold off Reds, with Umesaki scoring a textbook half volley before earning a dubious PK for Abe to dispatch and it was 2-0 to Urawa before half time. The home team got more into the game in the 2nd half, coming close through a superb Takagi free kick that forced a fine save. Reds close the gap on the top spot, S-Pulse’s revival comes to a temporary halt.
Photo from afshinghotbi.com
Cerezo Osaka 2-0 Yokohama F,Marinos
A deserved win for Cerezo, as predicted in these very pages, of course, which ended Marinos superb run of 16 games without defeat. The opening goal came just after the hour mark from the left foot of Yamaguchi, before a mis-placed Saito pass put Kakitani through on goal and he made no mistake and the points were in the bag!
Kawasaki Frontale 0-1 Nagoya Grampus
For Nagoya, Tamada was back in the starting line-up in front, but they were missing Masukawa and Daniel through suspension, and Danilson through injury, so Tulio reverted to his centre back role.
Gamba Osaka 7-2 Consadole Sapporo
Gamba continued their rise to safety with a seven goal haul against hapless bottom club Consadole. A hat trick for Leandro, two for Sato, one for the returning nero enaga and a comical own goal sums up the scoring for the home team. Of course, Gamba didn’t keep a clean sheet, goals from Hidaka and Uehara and punctating the Gamba goals against the tide of ablut 25 goal attempts to 4 in favour of Gamba Osaka.
Vissel Kobe 0-0 Sagan Tosu
An uneventful game, Tosu came closest when Tashiro headed against his own post clearing from a corner, and Toyoda hit the Vissel bar late in the game, while Vissel had the ball in the net from a Tokura header, but the referee disaalowed it for a foul on the keeper.
Shimizu S-Pulse 0 – 2 Urawa Reds
Ecopa Stadium, August 25, 2012
Attendance: 23,188
We played poorly and did not help our cause by conceding two goals in the first 20 minutes of the match. There are a lot of reasons, but in the end it was a lost opportunity to close the gap to six points to the top of the table. Urawa defended well and took advantage of our, and the officials’ errors to get maximum points. Our options were limited coming into the game, missing Jong-A-Pin and Lee due to suspension and Yoshida to injury. Without three key defenders, we had to shuffle our selection and move Muramatsu to central defense, Alex to a defensive role in midfield, and 19 year old Inuki had to start in the right back position for his J.League debut.
The first ten minutes started as predicted, with Urawa sitting back and defending with all 11 players waiting for counter attack opportunities. Omae and Takagi had chances to give us the lead, but the first and decisive goal came when Ishige was fouled in a wide position after a corner was cleared by Kato, the goalkeeper of Urawa. The referee and the linesman close to the play both ignored the foul and allowed Urawa to counter attack. A diagonal pass found Hirakawa behind our defense, and, yes, he was offside. Hirakawa’s service found a free Umesaki on the back post, beating young Inuki to the inside position. The goal rattled our players, and we lost concentration. Alex lost the ball in the back third, then his chase into our box gave an opportunity for slightest contact, a dive, and a penalty kick. Down two goals with only 20 minutes gone, we did not psychologically recover until half time.
In all fairness, we gave a great effort in the 2nd half and dominated the entire 45 minutes. We needed a break to climb back into the game, but it was not meant to be. Our wave of attacks met with a resilient Urawa defence, and Kato made the save of the game on Takagi’s superb free-kick. We should have been awarded two penalties, as an Urawa player definitely handled the ball in the early part of the 2nd half, and Kim Hyun Sung was clearly brought down in the box later. Both were waved off, and the frustrating evening ended with a costly defeat.
On a positive note, we had a wonderful month of August winning 4 out of 5 games. Hiroshima, the league leaders also lost, and this softened the blow, as the margin to the top of J1 remains 9 points. With 11 matches to play, we still are in the race and hope to cut the lead next Saturday, as we will visit Sapporo. Until then, so long.
Afshin Ghotbi
Afshin Ghotbi on Sagan Tosu 0-1 Shimizu S-Pulse
Hard Fought Victory …
An important fixture for both teams, as the J.League table is congested and a few points can be the difference from the top to the middle of the table. The atmosphere in the team was perfect approaching the match. The return of Muramatsu and the new signing of Kim Hyun Sung, both returning from the London Olympics, increased our options. The Best Amenity Stadium provided a perfect football setting for an exciting encounter. Sagan Tosu’s “kick and rush” style matched their British stadium atmosphere, posing a different challenge for our team.
We started well and controlled the early exchanges, but a quick counter attack after we lost the ball in midfield changed the tides in the first half. Tosu nearly scored from a couple of dangerous set pieces, and the cross bar came to our rescue when we made four individual mistakes in a row allowing a volley to beat Yamamoto. The sound of the ball smashing against our cross bar was a wake up call. We improved in the latter stages of the half and Kim, Takagi, Ishige and Muramatsu all came close to scoring before the end of the half.
During the intermission,I had an opportunity to make the necessary adjustments in our attacking and defending organization. In short, in attack we needed to find the free space earlier and move the ball swifter, and defensively we needed to stay more compact in midfield and pressure the ball higher. We improved a great deal in the 2nd half. We were finally rewarded through a well-taken corner from Omae and a powerful header from Muramatsu. Alex Brosque, returning from his national team duties arrived one day before the match and was not fit to start, but his inclusion in the 2nd half played a key role in our victory. He had a golden chance to double our lead late in the game, as he was clear behind the defense, but Tosu’s goalkeeper, Okuda, made the big play, blocking Alex’s shot. The closing minutes in the six minutes of added time were action-packed, with intense duels making an exciting conclusion to a hard fought game…
Again, special thanks to all the traveling S-Pulse fans for making the long journey. You are always with us. We will meet Urawa next Saturday in a key J.League fixture. Until then, so long, and thanks for all the fish.
(Note – he didn’t actually say, “… and thanks for all the fish”!)
Text and photo courtesy of www.afshinghotbi.com
Original article at http://www.afshinghotbi.com/en/article/?q_id=2659
J1 Matchday 22 – Saturday August 18th – Round-Up
Consadole Sapporo 2-4 Vissel Kobe at Atsubetsu (attendance 8,117)
Vissel looked confident, albeit against the bottom team, and goals from Tashiro and Tokura, and a brace from Nozawa saw them continue to rack up the points! Full report at http://www.jsoccer.com/blog/?p=2306
F.C.Tokyo 0-1 Omiya Ardija at Ajinomoto 18,342
FC Tokyo succumbed to an average Omiya Ardija – the goal coming from a cool turn and shot dispatched by Novakovic on the sandpit that is Ajinomoto Stadium.
Vegalta Sendai 0-0 Kashiwa Reysol at Yurtec 17,715
A hard-fought scoreless draw by the rising Reysol and the faltering Vegalta. This probably helped Reysol more than it did Vegalta as Sanfrecce pull away at the top of J1.
Albirex Niigata 0-2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Tohoku Den 32,014
Niigata outclassed by Hiroshima as they opened a gap of four points at the top on goals from Sato and Ishihara.
Nagoya Grampus 0-5 Gamba Osaka at Toyota 30,354
Rampant Gamba destroyed Nagoya Grampus, who played the complete 2nd half with ten men, it should be noted. But Nagoya looked a shadow of the team that won the league two seasons back, while Gamba look to have turned the corner. Leandro, Sato, Konno, Paulinho and and Endo PK were that stats that matter. Full report at http://www.jsoccer.com/blog/?p=2310
Jubilo Iwata 4-3 Cerezo Osaka at Yamaha 10,939
Cerezo went one down, but then came back to take the lead on goals from their Olympic midfield duo of Yamaguchi and Ogihara. Goals came thick and fast after that and a late double from Maeda gave the points to Jubilo.
Sagan Tosu 0-1 Shimizu S-Pulse at Best Amenity 11,933
Shimizu S-Pulse continued their recent winning ways – and their rise up the table – by taking out Sagan, who have been very impressive at home this season. The single goal from Olympic defender Muramatsu enough to win it. See the winning goal at
Urawa Reds 2-1 Kashima Antlers at Saitama 44,131
Reds held off a late resurgent Antlers to get the win here, with goals from Ugajin and Haraguchi doing the trick. Iwamasa got the goal for Antlers that meant a large percentage of the 44,000+ crowd were treated to a nervous final half hour!
Yokohama F.Marinos 2-2 Kawasaki Frontale at Nissan 33,584
Marinos pulled out into a two goal lead on strikes from Marquinos in the 11th and 34th, before two from ex-Marinos Yusuke Tanaka meant that the Kanagawa Derby saw shared points.
Nagoya Grampus DESTROYED by Rampant Gamba Osaka …
J.League Matchday 22 – August 18th – Nagoya Grampus 0-5 Gamba Osaka
Gamba Osaka went into this tough away game at Nagoya on an unbeaten J1 run of three games – a great improvement on what had gone before – and knowing that a win, and results going well elsewhere, would go a long way to seeing them edge toward safety from relegation. The team were confident, and the fans were boisterous, but who could have predicted this result?!
Gamba had the better of the opening exchanges including Sato forcing a fine save from Narazaki in the Nagoya goal when the Gamba fans were already on their feet celebrating!
But it was heading toward half time when the breakthrough finally came. An Endo corner was headed point blank at the keeper by a defender. Narazaki made the snap save, but the ball fell to Leandro who, in classic poacher mode, controlled, and blasted home from close range with his left foot to open the scoring in the 38th minute. It was soon 2-0 – and the home team were down to ten men – from an Endo penalty kick, after Masukawa had made a hash of controlling the ball, lost out to Sato, the Gamba forward advancing into the area and being brought down by the Grampus defender. Masukawa took an early bath, Endo doubled the score from the spot.
Leandro just missed adding to the score as half time approached, his 20 yard strike coming back off the bar with the keeper beaten. But the score was increased in the 68th minute, a short Endo corner was returned to the influential no.7 and his deep cross found Konno at the far post to head home – his first J.league goal for Gamba – and it was 3-0, Gamba cruising, and, moments later, it was 4-0 – a low, hard Futagawa cross deftly flicked past the helpless keeper by Sato to take his goal tally for the season to 10.
Yet it was not over for Nagoya, who must have been hoping for a final whistle sooner rather than later and Paulinho, on as a substitute minutes before, rounded out the scoring with another close-up finish from a low cross as Gamba ran rampant on the wings. Nagoya Grampus 0-5 Gamba Osaka and Gamba made it two wins, two draws in their last four games as the journey to mid-table consolidation, or beyond, continued apace.
More importantly, perhaps, for the Gamba defence was that clean sheet. After dropping points against the likes of Urawa Reds and Sagan Tosu, while dominating those home games for long periods, perhaps the winning mentality has finally returned. Not a moment too soon! Gamba moved to within two points of Ardija (who won) and Cerezo (who lost), and above Albirex. Bring on Consadole Sapporo next week!
Gamba Osaka – Fujigaya, Iwashita, Niwa, Konno, Fujiharu, Myojin, Endo (Omori, 81), Futagawa (Takei, 71), Kurata, Sato, Leandro (Paulinho, 71)
Sagan 0-1 S-Pulse, Muramatsu's goal from a fan's point of view!
Muramatsu’s first ever J.league goal gained three valuable points for S-Pulse and helped continue the momentum up J1!
August 18th, 14.00 – Consadole Sapporo 2-4 Vissel Kobe
Consadole Sapporo 2-4 Vissel Kobe
With Ogawa suspended after last week’s harsh red card (or technically two yellows) Mogi was given his first start of the season, partnering Tashiro up front, with Okubo in a left attacking midfield role.
There was a dream start for Vissel Kobe in Sapporo, looking to build on last week’s home win over Urawa Reds, when they went 1-0 up in the opening exchanges. A superb Soma cross found Tashiro, who unleashed a bullet header and forced a fine reflex save from the keeper, but the rebound found the Vissel forward as he was falling and he volleyed it home before he hit the ground. It was Nozawa who found Tashiro for the ex-Antlers forward’s chance of a second goal but, after his initial excellent control, he skied the ball and the score remained 1-0 at the break.
Just before that break, Okubo had been carried off and replaced by Vissel veteran Yoshida and there were no further changes at the beginning of the 2nd half.
Vissel deservedly added to their lead when Nozawa earned a free kick and got up off the ground to slot it into the goal himself, 2-0 53 minutes gone. But then the game turned when Consadole were awarded a PK as Ramon collided with Mogi and went down theatrically. He soon got up and converted his chance to make it 2-1 on 66 minutes. And then came an unlikely equalizer as Uehara connected with a looping header that Tokushige in the Vissel goal saw go in off the post. 2-2 and back level with less than 15 minutes to go.
To add urgency to his attack, and go for maximum points, Vissel coach Nishino threw on Tokura, for Tanaka, and this soon paid off as the sub held off a challenge from behind – moving on to a pass from Tashiro – allowing Nozawa to scoop the ball into the net from close range for the Kobe captain’s second goal of the game, and Vissel were back in front to stay on 81 minutes,
Two minutes later, the 4-2 goal came to clinch the points after good work on the left wing saw Soma put the ball on a plate for a first time cross from Nozawa that hung in the air before Tokura headed it home at the back post. Vissel Kobe win again, three more points, and are slowly climbing the table.
Vissel’s next three games are at home to Sagan and Jubilo and away to Kashima. All three teams ate there for the taking and nine points would take Vissel into position to challenge for a top three spot come the end of the seaso… can they do it? Watch this space!
Vissel Kobe – Tokushige, Okui, Kitamoto, Takagi, Soma, Hashimoto, Tanaka (Tokura), Nozawa, Okubo (Yoshida), Mogi (Park), Tashiro