To review J1 Matchday 2, played last Saturday and Sunday, a J-Talk record five (5) guests joined Ben Maxwell to discuss the games they watched. Many thanks to Sam Robson, Steve Barme, Alan Gibson, Bryan Cooper and Cesare Polenghi for being so gracious with their time.

Following our chats, the episode ends with Ben on a quick look back at J2 Matchday 2, and a brief look ahead to the J3 season, which kicks off this Sunday.

If you’d like to skip to a particular J1 game, the guest and game(s) they chat about are: Sam – Kawasaki v Shonan from start; Steve – Omiya v Kashiwa from 13:15 ; Alan – Kobe v Niigata and Kofu v Gamba Osaka from 24:10; Bryan from 41:18; and Cesare from 51:00. I briefly round up the other three from 1:09:23.

Kashiwa Reysol (above)

Vegalta Sendai (above)

Kashima Antlers (above)

Venforet Kofu (above)

Gamba Osaka (above)

Sanfrecce Hiroshima (above)

Machida Zelvia (above)

Tokushima Vortis

Ehime FC (above)

Nagoya Grampus (above)

Goalkeepers:
Nishikawa (Reds)
Higashiguchi (Gamba)
Hayashi (Sanfrecce)

Defenders:
Nishi (Antlers)
Makino (Reds)
Ota (FC Tokyo)
Morishige (FC Tokyo)
Nakazawa (F•Marinos)
Endo (Bellmare)
Yonekura (Gamba)
Shiotani (Sanfrecce)
Chiba (Sanfrecce)
Mizumoto (Sanfrecce)

Midfielders
Ogasawara (Antlers)
Caio (Antlers)
Kanazaki (Antlers)
Shibasaki (Antlers)
Abe (Reds)
Kashiwagi (Reds)
Nakamura (Frontale)
Nakamura (F•Marinos)
Leo Silva (Albirex Niigata)
Endo (Gamba)
Aoyama (Sanfrecce)
Kashiwa (Sanfrecce)

Forwards
Muto (Reds)
Cristiano (Reysol)
Okubo (Frontale)
Ademilson (F•Marinos)
Usami (Gamba)
Patric (Gamba)
Douglas (Sanfrecce)

＜ ２０１５Ｊリーグ　優秀選手賞　受賞選手（32名） ＞
※下記32名の中から「最優秀選手賞」、「ベストイレブン」が選ばれます

■ゴールキーパー（3名）
西川　周作 　浦和レッズ
東口　順昭 　ガンバ大阪
林　卓人 　　サンフレッチェ広島

■フィールドプレーヤー（29名）
●ＤＦ
西　大伍 鹿島アントラーズ
槙野　智章 浦和レッズ
太田　宏介 ＦＣ東京
森重　真人 ＦＣ東京
中澤　佑二 横浜Ｆ・マリノス
遠藤　航 湘南ベルマーレ
米倉　恒貴 ガンバ大阪
塩谷　司 サンフレッチェ広島
千葉　和彦 サンフレッチェ広島
水本　裕貴 サンフレッチェ広島

●ＭＦ
小笠原　満男　　鹿島アントラーズ
カイオ　　　　　鹿島アントラーズ
金崎　夢生　　　鹿島アントラーズ
柴崎　岳　　　　鹿島アントラーズ
阿部　勇樹　　　浦和レッズ
柏木　陽介　　　浦和レッズ
中村　憲剛　　　川崎フロンターレ
中村　俊輔　　　横浜Ｆ・マリノス
レオ　シルバ　　アルビレックス新潟
遠藤　保仁　　　ガンバ大阪
青山　敏弘　　　サンフレッチェ広島
柏　好文 サンフレッチェ広島

●ＦＷ
武藤　雄樹　　　　浦和レッズ
クリスティアーノ　柏レイソル
大久保　嘉人 　　 川崎フロンターレ
アデミウソン　　　横浜Ｆ・マリノス
宇佐美　貴史　　 ガンバ大阪
パトリック　　　　ガンバ大阪
ドウグラス 　　　 サンフレッチェ広島

It must be confidence-boosting for Sanfrecce and Vissel to be “riding high” and for the likes of Reysol, Grampus and Kofu, for example, to be gaining points and entering the top 6.

A long way to go but confidence and a winning mentality always help in the long run.

Points shown only

1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 9
2 Vissel Kobe 7
3 Kashiwa Reysol 6
4 Kawasaki Frontale 4
4 Ventforet Kofu 4
6 Nagoya Grampus 4
6 Gamba Osaka 4
8 Sagan Tosu 4
9 Urawa Reds 4
9 F.C.Tokyo 4
11 Kashima Antlers 4
11 Shonan Bellmare 4
13 Montedio Yamagata 3
14 Albirex Niigata 3
15 Matsumoto Yamaga F.C. 3
16 Yokohama F･Marinos 2
17 Shimizu S-Pulse 2
18 Vegalta Sendai 1

Head to Head – 10 wins for Antlers, just 2 for Reysol, and 5 draws since 2003. Both of Reysol’s wins came last season in their Championship winning year.

Match Preview – Kashima Antlers now have nothing left to play for, having gained J1 safety last week due to an away defeat of Nagoya Grampus. Coach Jorginho will be looking for a win that could pull his team up a couple of players, but it would still not be as high as the fans would have expected. Will a Nabisco Cup win be enoughfor Jorginho to keep his job? We shall see. Koroki should be back from injury but Dutra is coming good, finally, and might benefit from being show the team has confidence in him by leaving him in the starting XI?

For Kashiwa Reysol this is a do or die match for a place in the 2013 ACL and, even if they win, they have to rely on Sagan Tosu not winning. Influential C is back and in form and the other decent Brazilian they have, Jorge Wagner, scored the match-winning goal against Vissel Kobe last week . . a big finish for this team and then they have to wait and see what happens in Tosu. EXPECT a DRAW anyway!

Head to Head
4 wins for Antlers, 2 for Sendai and 1 draw. Just the last three seasons and a season in 2003 is all we have between these two teams.

Match Preview
Vegalta Sendai lost ground on Sanfrecce Hiroshima last time out and MUST win this to stay in touch, presuming that Sanfrecce don’t slip up against Urawa Reds – a big presumption, indeed. Sendai have two draws and two wins in their last four but it has not been enough to keep track with the top spot, so this is a must-win today for them. They have no suspensions and just Uemoto missing and really need to dispatch Kashima Antlers today.

Kashima Antlers fought out a hard-earned goalless draw with fellow strugglers Omiya Ardija after being victorious in the Nabisco Cup Final. Antlers are five points clear of relegation with nine points available to Gamba and Albirex so they will know they need at least another win out of their final three games to be sure of safety. They will not make it easy for Sendai. They are missing Endo through suspension, but have more than enough cover and Shibasaki is on a high – the man to be careful of? EXPECT a DRAW!

Reysol 2-2 Gamba
S-Pulse 0-1 Albirex
Sanfrecce 3-0 Consadole
Vegalta 1-1 Cerezo
Frontale 4-2 Reds
Ardija 0-0 Antlers
Vissel 1-2 Marinos
Nagoya 1-0 FC Tokyo
Tosu 3-2 Iwata

Updated table at: http://www.jsoccer.com/tables/

Head to Head – In 16 matches between these two teams since 2003, Ardija have won only once, with 4 draws occurring. 11 wins for Antlers.

Match Preview – Kashima Antlers come into the game still in relegation trouble, but wih the boost of a Nabisco Cup Final win at the weekend. Will they be on a roll, or will they be hungover? Their Nabisco win was not emphatic, by far, a penalty kick and a counter attack won the game for them on a very defensive display. Perhaps a similar approach will get them a point, or three, and secure their J1 place for 2013? Osako and Koroki are off form, but Dutra is creating space and chances, and their midfield gets the goals. And will again.

Omiya Ardija are the in-form team and a win today will see them quite probably safe from relegation and pull Antlers into that fight. It is a real six-pointer. They may be disillusioned by quotes from Novokovic in the German press this week that emphasised him saying he looks forward to returning to the Bundesliga in January. Possible out-of-context, and possibly not missed in the end, but the timing was not good. EXPECT a DRAW!

Taken from http://www.afshinghotbi.com

Another great result in a gutsy performance from our orange men secured an important three points. Inspired by earlier results around J1, we started sharply and were rewarded by an early goal in the 7th minute. Hiraoka sprang Yoshida free behind the Kashima defense, and his first touch found Kim Hyun Sung free in the danger area. Kim showed his class scoring from short range after taking three delicate and precise touches, blasting the ball high into the net from close range. Kashima came back into the game scoring off a corner kick in the 43rd minute. After Hiraoka got blocked, Iwamasa got free and his volley bounced off Sugiyama’s body, deflecting past Hayashi into our net. We reacted brilliantly to this setback by scoring immediately from the kick-off at the 44th minute. This time Kim became the provider, finding Omae’s head for the winning goal. With a one-goal lead, we defended well in the second half, weathering Kashima’s attacks and securing a deserved victory marking an undefeated month of October.

All the results favored us, and we are within seven points of the top spot and only one point off the ACL spot. With four games to go, our dream lives on.

We will face Kashima again in the final of the Nabisco Cup on Saturday November 3rd. Join me at Tokyo National Stadium and let’s make history together.

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