May 5, 2010
Golden Days
In the busy scramble of competition that constitutes the Golden Week Sprint, it can be difficult to keep up with all the football action, particularly if - like this writer - you take advantage of the holiday period and the beautiful weather to go watch a match yourself. The high stakes J2 clash between league leaders Kawasaki Frontale and third-placed Ventforet Kofu was a tense and closely contested affair that might not have sparkled with offensive energy and brilliance, but the atmosphere and setting were truly magnificent. The hazy sun was tempered to just the perfect pitch by the cool blue skies, while the towering mountains that surround Castle Kose were coated in fresh bundles of green growth, laid out across the landscape like the overflowing trays of broccoli at a Red Lobster salad bar. Some 15,000 chanting, cheering fans filled the concrete bowl in seething masses of blue and gold - the sort of storybook setting that even a Hollywood set designer would have a hard time topping. And though neither team managed to lift their game to a level that they could be completely happy with, this mainly reflected the determination of both defences, and the importance that they clearly were placing on the matchup. All in all, fans got a good show and both candidates for promotion were able to increase their points total.
Unfortunately, the afternoon excursion prevented us from viewing the full details of all this week's J1 matches. So we will have to make do with a few breif comments and the match data.
2 - 4 
Atsushi Yanagisawa ranks as one of the league's top scorers, but his career tally has been stuck on 99 goals for a very long time. This week, just a few days after his 33rd birthday, he finally reached the century mark as Kyoto Sanga got off to a quick start against Shimizu. Just a few minutes later Dutra headed home a free kick and Sanga had a remarkable two-goal halftime lead over the league leaders.
But the Kyoto fans who thought this was simply too good to be true were proven correct. The lead did not last long, as S-Pulse came out of the locker room, fired up the engines and roared off on a four-goal second-half scoring spree.The referee played a major role in the comebac, awarding two PKs and sending off a Kyoto player to support S-Pulse's revival, but he dealt some blows to the Wingheads as well, sending off Kosuke Ota and showing Shinji Ono and Eddy Bosnar their fourth yellows of the year. All three players will be missing when S-Pulse plays Albirex Niigata, on Sunday.
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2
2 - 2 
At Hiratsuka Stadium, two struggling teams faced off in a contest that both badly needed to win, in order to move away from the drop zone. Vissel's Ken Tokura displayed the finishing touch that made him last year's J2 scoring leader, scoring two goals in the first half to give Kobe a 2-1 advantage at half time (Yamaguchi headed home a corner kick in the 36 minute for Shonan's goal). But Bellmare's hard running and opportunism paid off with an equaliser in the 78 minute by Kazushi Mitsuhira, and the two teams each had to settle for a single point apiece.
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2
2 - 1 
Just a few days ago, the Kashima Antlers edged past the Black-and-Blue half of Osaka, but the Flaming Pink half took revenge with a hard-fought 2-1 victory. Shinji Kagawa broke a nervy stalemate in the 67minute, and though Kashima responded just a few minutes later, on a goal by Nozawa, Amaral scored the winner in the 77 minute on a powerful blast from the top of the penalty arc.
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2
2 - 1 
Nagoya Grampus took a first-half lead at Saitama Stadium on a running header by Josh Kennedy, but Urawa responded immediately after the break, when Yosuke Kashiwagi claimed his first goal of the season. This turned the momentum strongly towards the home team, and ten minutes later they surged in front on a goal by Genki Haraguchi. A wild and wooly final 30 minutes saw both teams come close on several occasions, but neither one was able to change the score line further, and the Reds claimed all three points
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2
4 - 4 
The wildest contest of the day took place at Banpaku Stadium, in the evening, as Gamba Osaka faced off against Kawasaki Frontale. Young Takashi Usami continued his scoring run with a goal in the 33 minute, to get things started. But the Blue Dolphins equalised on a shot from Yusuke Mori, and the two teams went to the locker room at the break on level terms.
Shortly after the restart, Takahiro Futagawa played a one-two with Lucas at the top of the penalty box and fired a low shot into the left corner. Moments later, as Frontale pressed forward looking for an equaliser, a long clearance sent Lucas Severino away on a scoring dash, extending the lead to 3-1. However, coach Takahata went to his bench and brought on young Jumpei Kusukami, whjo more than fulfilled his coach's expectations. With 20 minutes to go Renatinho fired a shot that was deflected by keeper Yosuke Fujigaya, but Kusukami poked it home, narrowing the gap to a single goal. Just a few minutes later Kusukami took off on a goal rush and stroked a shot past the keeper to pull the two teams level. But less than a minute later, Tomokazu Myojin put Gamba back in front.
It looked like the veteran midfielder would have the last word, but as the clock moved into injury time Kusukami ran onto a looping pass from Nakamura, fired a shot off Fujigaya's fingertips and then displayed lightning-quick reflexes to volley the rebound inside the right post.
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0
1 - 0 
In Yamagata, the Mountain Kings of Tohoku edged past struggling Omiya Ardija with a PK goal in the 63 minute.
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1
0 - 0 
FC Tokyo has been on a remarkable run in recent weeks, managing to play up (or down) to the quality of their opponent with amazing accuracy. The result has been one draw after another, and this week proved to be no different, as the Terrible Tanuki matched Vegalta Sendai in a stunning display of scoreless inefficiency. Neither side could hit the net, no matter how close they were or how wide open the shot might have been. The best thing of all about this match was that I didnt have to watch it.
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0
2 - 1 
Two goals by Ryoichi Maeda, early in each half, were enough to carry Jubilo Iwata past Sanfrecce. Koji Morisaki gave the Purple archers the early lead, but ten minutes later Maeda equalised, and Jubilo took the lead for good shortly after the break.
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2
2 - 1 
Albirex Niigata got a big helping of sissy-team rules for their home match against Yokohama Marinos (of course, we all knew that the league would never allow Albirex - and their 35,000+ weekly attendances - to get relegated, didnt we?). The Seagulls were grounded by the very quick whistle of Mr. Iida, who is earning a reputation as a top-class fixer. He handed out six yellow cards - all of them to Yokohama players - to help overturn an early strike by Kazuma Watanabe. Cho Yon-Chol and Marcio Richardes were the scorers for Albirex.
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2
