July 17, 2010
Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight
The J.League made its full-fledged return to action this weekend, with a sizzling lineup of matches that promised as much heat and fireworks as you could hope for on a mid-July evening. Among the highlights of this week's match card were two of the biggest derby contests in the J.League calendar - the Shizuoka Derby between Shimizu S-Pulse and Jubilo Iwata, and the first Michinoku Derby in three years, between Montedio Yamagata and Vegalta Sendai. So great was the hype for these two local clashes that SkyPerfecTV began its coverage almost an hour before kickoff, and displayued highlights of past contests between the teams going back as much as 16 years.
The media certainly didnt need any more reasons to hyperventilate, but there wree a lot of news stories percolating in the background, which added intrigue and interest to even some of the less high-profile contests. For example, FC Tokyo's clash against Vissel Kobe featured a farewell address from wingback Yuto Nagatomo, who has signed with Serie A newcomers Cesena. and even JEF United had cause for some fanfare, as the team announced the most unlikely of trade deals: striker Seiichiro Maki, who has proven so incapable of finding the net against J2 opponents that he has been relegated to the bench, signed a deal with Russian Premier division club Amkar Perm
We will try to update you on those stories and many more, so sit back, turn up the air conditioning and pour yourself an icy cold drink, as we begin by running down the scores of Saturday's matches
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Historically, the Shizuoka Derby has been the most consistently competitive, and the most intense of all the J.League's local derby matches. This year matched past versions in effort and intensity, but neither teamk seemed to be able to scrape off the rust that accumulated during the World Cup break, and produce goals. Despite the lack of scoring, though, key players on each team did their best to demonstrate the reasons why they should have been in South Africa. S-Pulse's playmaker Shinji Ono and Jubilo ace Ryoichi Maeda took turns impressing the crowd with slick dribbling moves and pinpoint passes, and though the contest may have ended scoreless, it certainly was not for lack of chances.
The result of this contest, as well as some of the matches on Wednesday evening, suggests that more than a few teams lost their killer instinct during the layoff. It will be interesting to watch and see how quickly each team rediscovers the scoring touch, because a slump at this point in the season would be very damaging to S-Pulse's hopes of claiming their first league title
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3 - 1 
The sheer quality of the two teams taking part in Michinoku Derby might not have been quite as high as those on display in Shizuoka, but they made up for it with sheer offensive intensity. It took just a few minutes for Montedio to open the scoring, as Masaru Akiba let loose a powerful blast from about 30 meters out, and it rocketed into the top right corner
But Sendai fought right back into the contest, scoring the equaliser as they usually do - on a free kick by Ryan Yong-Gi. The North Korean playmaker took a kick from above the top left corner of the penalty area and curled a low sizzling drive right in front of a mob of players charging towards the goal mouth. In truth, two Montedio players each made slight contact with the ball and may have altered its trajectory enough to merit awarding it as an own goal, but the official scorer credited the kicker, and the match was deadlocked at half time
Although the opening 45 minutes had been closely contested, in the second half, Yuzo Tashiro took control of the match and carried his team to a comfortable victory. A minute before the hour mark, Katsuyuki Miyazawa got behind his defender on the left flank, charged into the corner, and fired a low bounder across the face of goal. Tashiro strode in and side-footed a shot past the stranded keeper. Ten minutes later he put the contest out of reach, stuffing home the rebound after the keeper spilled a shot from Chikashi Masuda right into his path at the right post.
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The earliest kickoff on Saturday took place at Omiya Park, where the Mighty Squirrels played host to the Red Whales of Nagoya. Omiya struggled a bit in the early part of the season, and with the relegation zone looming in front of them, they replaced coach Chang Won-Rya with former Niigata boss Jun Suzuki. Under their new head coach, Ardija has played a slightly more aggressive style of football which will certainly provide some entertainment, though it remains to be seen whether it can deliver a steady flow of victories.
Whatever else you might say about the Orange Rodents, they certainly seem to be playing more aggressive football under their new coach. On Wednesday evening they played Kawasaki Frontale to a stalemate over about 75 of the 90 minutes, and though they did concede two truly dangerous chances, Frontale failed to take advantage, even when striker Masaru Kurotsu had the keeper on the ground and the entire net at his mercy from five yards out. This week they enjoyed similar luck against Grampus for all but the final 15 minutes.
During the first half, Ardija seemed to live a charmed existence, as first Josh Kennedy and then Naoshi Nakamura failed to finish off chances after getting behind the Ardija defence. However, Omiya was unable to make their own chances count either, with chances by first Chikara Fujimoto and then Rafael tipped around the goal frame by keeper Seigo Narazaki. On the stroke of half time, though, the biggest break of all fell to the home team, as Igor Burzanovic clumsily kicked Naoki Ishihara in the buttocks, and earned his second yellow card of the contest.
The second half was a bit more frustrating for Omiya fans, and perhaps for Grampus supporters as well. Despite the man advantage, the Mighty Squirrels were unable to break down the Nagoya defence, and the match devolved into a lot of uneventful Omiya possession in areas just beyond the Nagoya box, punctuated by occasional counterattacking breaks that failed to carry the entire length of the pitch, for lack of players. Finally, with just over 10 minutes remaining, an Omiya defender failed to effectively clear a ball from the edge of his own area, following a set play, and Marcus Tulio Tanaka snatched it up, dashing into the right corner. Looking up, Tulio spotted Kennedy slipping in front of goal and fired a low cross, which Kennedy met with a diving header. The ball narrowly eluded the keeper and Nagoya had the lead.
Omiya threw men forward in an earnest effort to claim the equaliser, but some fine work in net by Narazaki turned away two or three high-quality shots in the final few minutes, and Nagoya claimed the victory.
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2 - 2 
The front office of FC Tokyo has been very busy over the past few weeks, crafting deals that could make the team more competitive, despite the loss of Nagatomo. The money earned from the deal that sends Nagatomo to Italy on a one-year loan was immediately re-invested in bringing former NT striker Masashi Oguro across the Tama river, from Yokohama FC. Oguro immediately provided the sort of movement and disruptive influence in the front line needed to free up players in the second line of attack. Ten minutes after kickoff Oguro slanted in towards the top right corner of the box, collected a pass, and then spun suddenly to fire a cutback pass that sent Ricardinho into the box. Ricardinho fed the ball back to Yohei Kajiyama, directly in front of goal, and the midfielder stuffed a shot past Tatsuya Enomoto.
The Tokyo Tanuki extended their lead ten minutes later on a powerful dribbling run around the left flank by Ricardinho. The Brazilian playmaker bulled his way past two Kobe defenders, refused to leave his feet even when pulled back from behind, and then slid the ball in front of net to young Yohei Otake at the penalty spot, for the easiest of finishes.
The second half was very different indeed, as Vissel slowly started to battle their way back into the contest. It was not until the 85 minute, though, that the Crimson Tide finally managed to pull a goal back, as Botti slashed in towards the right post on the dribble and chipped a perfectly placed lob into the opposite top corner.
Despite this late concession, it looked like Tokyo had the contest won, but deep into injury time, as Vissel desperately booted the ball into the box hoping for a miracle, Masato Morishige see4med to lose his bearings and his hand inadvertently made contact with the ball. Even on replay it was hard to figure out what Morishige thought he was doing, but whether deliberate or not, the handball was visible enough for the referee to spot, and penalize with a penalty kick. Yoshito Okubo took the PK and trickled it into the right corner, pulling Vissel level as the final whistle sounded, ending the contest on a wildly climactic but somehow disappointing note, especially for the many fans preparing to bid farewell to Nagatomo.
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2 - 1 
Kashima Antlers and Kawasaki Frontale may not view themselves as "local rivals", but in recent years their head-to-head meetings have taken on some of the intensity of a derby. After all, they have finished one-two in the league for the past two seasons, and while they entered this week's clash a few points off the pace set by Shimizu S-Pulse, both are once again challenging for the league title
Kashima lost this fixture last season in a wild and wooly match that was interrupted for three weeks by a sudden downpour. THis week the weather was a bit more obliging, but the content of play was as stormy as ever. The hosts took the lead in the 21 minute on a play where the sheer impetus of the attacking line overwhelmed Frontale's defence. Marquinhos took an inlet pass at the top of the box and spun past his defender, feeding the ball off to young Yuya Osako, as he charged through the left channel. The keeper was out quickly and dove in to block Osako's shot, but the ball caromed high into the air, and Fellype Gabriel galloped in behind the play to bundle the ball across the goal line with his chest.
But Frontale fought back with intense physical pressure and slowly began to win a larger share of possession. In the 35 minute, following a corner kick by the Antlers, Masaru Kurotsu made up for his woeful miss on Wednesday evening with a spectacular penetration run and shot. As the ball was cleared to midfield, Kurotsu made a sudden dash down the right sideline and was sent on his way by Yusuke Tasaka. As he drew level with the box, Kurotsu made a sudden cutback move to turn past Gilton, and then drove into the box. Before the central defenders could leap in to cut off his angle, Kurotsu fired a rising line drive that rocketed into the roof of the net, giving Hitoshi Sogahata no chance whatsoever.
But Kawasaki was living dangerously in this match, trying to use physical pressure to keep the Antlers offence out of its rhythm, and just a few minutes after the equaliser, Junichi Inamoto Inamoto went a bit too far. As the Antlers made a sudden counterattacking rush, Inamoto launched himself feet-first and upended Marquinhos as he charged down the right channel, earning his second yellow card. Though the foul was not particularly violent, Inamoto was a victim of circumstance, as there had been four or five cynical tugs from behind by Kawasaki players in the preceeding ten minutes that the referee had blithely ignored, despite Kashima protests, and Inamoto's was just one hack too many for the notoriously inconsistent Mr. Maeda.
The second half was suspenseful. but not all that exciting, as Kawasaki packed their defence tightly, did their best to deny the Antlers any open shots, and limited their counterattacking efforts to the speedy and dangerous, but thoroughly outmanned efforts of Renatinho and Vitor Junior to create something on their own. While they managed to create some excitement with a variation on the old blues theme "flip flop and fly", Mr. Maeda was circumspect enough not to award TOO many free kicks for their antics, and also exercised a lot of restraint in tolerating the antics and not sending another Kawasaki player off. Kashima clamped the vise on and slowly began to tighten it,
In the 75 minute the pressure finally took its toll, as a shot by Endo was palmed over the bar by the keeper and Kashima earned a corner kick. Nozawa placed the ball right on the forehead of Lee Jung-Soo, and the Korean defender sent it into the top left corner, restoring the Antlers' lead. Kawasaki spent the final minutes making more and more desperate efforts to either score the equaliser or find their way into Mr. Maeda's book, but both the referee and the home team managed to hold their nerve till the final whistle, boosting Kashima to the top of the table.
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At Niigata "Big Swan" Stadium, an impressive crowd of 37,000 turned out to watch the Mighty Swans take on visiting Cerezo Osaka. They got an intriguing, if slightly sloppy display, as both teams died their best to convince viewers that they will be able to remain clear of the relegation battle this year. Cerezo Osaka, as we noted last week, have lost their inspirational playmaker Shinji Kagawa to Dortmund, but Takashi Inui and Akihiro Ienaga have stepped into the gap, providing a lot of hard work and flashy moves in midfield for the Flaming Pinks.
Cerezo's players surely recognized that their 5-0 victory over Sanfrecce at midweek was a bit of a fluke, and that they whould have to work a lot harder against Albirex. But they managed to create some half chances and then, on the stroke of half time, they finally took the lead. Adriano found space in front of goal as a corner kick came in from the right side, and headed the ball past keeper Noriaki Higashiguchi.
The second half, however, was dominated by the home team, which will feel that they coud have won the match if they did a better job of finishing off their chances. Unfortunately, despite a major share of possession and about a half-dozen near misses, Niigata's only goal of the evening came on a free kick, thundered over the wall and underneath the crossbar by Marcio Richardes.
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3 - 2 
The main event on Sunday was the matchup between Urawa Reds and Gamba Osaka, at Banpaku Stadium. This season, both teams have been struggling to live up to the high expectations that fans have acquired in recent years. Though they clearly have enough talent to remain competitive, neither Gamba nor the Red Rhinestones have the sort of depth and talent that made them top title contenders in the latter half of the Naughties. While they can trouble the best of opponents on a given evening, the two are already beginning to lose touch with the league leaders, and fans have started to grow restless.
From a long-term perspective, though, these two teams can look forward to improvement in the future, as youngsters such as Urawa's Genki Haraguchi, Tomoya Ugajin and Naoki Yamada, and Gamba's Shoki Hirai and Takashiu Usami develop into core contributors. Gamba also picked up a useful offensive contributor during the break, signing Lee Keun-Oh from Jubilo in late June. The historical record between the two teams was finely balanced at 16 wins apiece and 8 drawscoming into the contest. In typical style, the two teams battled back and forth for 94 minutes before the final result was decided.
The Reds took the early leadin the match on a goal by Edmilson. But just before the break, Gamba finally managed to pick apart the Reds defence with quick passing. Yasuhito Endo picked up a ball on the break and immediately threaded it through a seam to Usami on the edge of the Reds penalty area. The youngster pushed the ball slightly off to his right to create a better angle, then fired a low shot into the opposite corner
Midway through the second half, Gamba edged into the lead thanks to some poor concentration in the Reds back line. Endo spotted Hirai making a dash forward into the Reds box and tried to loop the ball over the defence to meet his charge. Reds defender Nobuhisa Yamada was caught flat-footed, and though he reacted in time to get a head on the ball, it looped high over the head of the keeper and into the Urawa goal net. But shortly after this goal, the Osaka Boys were reduced to ten men when Lucas Severino collected a straight red card, on a play that looked like another case of overreaction by the referee. While Lucas did go in a bit hard on his attempted tackle, a yellow surely would have sufficed
The Reds used their man advantage to press forward in search of the equaliser, but the referee would intervene once again, before the contest was settled. As the clock moved towards the 90 minute mark, Nobuhisa Yamada made a sliding trap to keep the ball in the attacking zone, reaching the ball first but sliding into Hirai on the follow through. There could be little quesiton in anyone's mind that Yamada was playing the ball - since his back was to Hirai he may not even have seen the Gamba player until he left his feet. Furthermore, while the collision was nasty, it was Yamada who touched the ball first. Yet somehow, the referee contrived to award a red card on this play as well, restoring the two teams to numerical parity.
This call, on top of the previous one against Lucas and the fact that the ref chose to ignore a number of uncalled tugs and pushes, intensified the level of emotion on both ends and set up what would be a truly dramatic finish. Two minutes deep into injury time, Urawa won a corner kick on the right side, and the ball was flicked on to Edmilson, who headed it powerfully into the back of the net, giving Urawa a share of the spoils . . . or so it seeemed.
But while the Reds players were still milling about in celebration, Gamba put the ball back into play and charged forward, looking for the winner. The clock was already into the fourth minute of injury time and the referee began looking at his watch, but after charging through the inattentive Reds players and taking the ball to the left corner, newcomer Lee Keun-Oh fed the ball in to Yasuhito Endo, who was almost completely unmarked, at the top of the penalty area. With plenty of time to settle the ball and take aim, Endo drove a shot into the top left corner, sending the home crowd into wild celebrationsand giving Urawa a harsh lesson on the dangers of failure to maintain focus until the final whistle.
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3
0 - 1 
In Kyoto, the Purple Birds remained grounded, unable to generate the goals they need to climb clear of the relegation battle. Bellmare are also struggling at the moment, but they received a useful boost from contributions by two newcomers - Yet ANOTHER veteran Brazilian who goes by the name of Emerson, and a slightly younger compatriot who has been playing in China for the past few seasons - Erivaldo "Valdo" Saraiva. Just after the break, Shonan took the lead as Abe collected a looping cross from Emerson the right flank, chested it down and fired quickly inside the left post to finally break the deadlock.
That was all the offence that either team could manage in a rather disappointing match between two relegation rivals.
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3 - 0 
After showing the negative aspect of their unflinchingly offensive approach to football on Wednesday evening, Sanfrecce displayed the positive side with a 3-0 drubbing of the still-flat Yokohama Marinos. The first goal came quite suddenly, when an abortive penetration move by Hisato Sato was cut off and the ball squirted out to Koji Nakajima about five meters outside the box. He strode forward and fired a blasth through the crowded penalty area, sneaking it just inside the left post.
The second goal also involved an element of luck, with Sanfrecce taking advantage of lucky bounces. As the Purple Archers moved forward on the attack, Mikic tried to loop a pass over the defence for Yamagishi, drifting towards the right corner. The ball was a bit too long, overshooting Yamagishi, but he threw a boot at it with a wild lunge, and made contact, sending it in a high arc towards the top of the penalty box. The ball dropped right at Sato's feet and he immediately flicked it on net, catching the keeper off guard and hitting the top left corner, to extend Hiroshima's lead to 2-0
At half time, Naoki Matsuda made his return to action for the first time since an injury back in April. However, while his contributions and those of young rookie Yuji Ono made the second half a lively one at both ends of the pitch, Sanfrecce's two goal lead allowed them to sit back, focus on containing the Marinos, and launch occasional quick counterattacks. On the stroke of the hour, one of these sprang Koji Morisaki for the clinching third goal, and Sanfrecce might have extended the punishment even further if substitute Shinichiro Kuwata had done a bit more with two one-on-one breakaways late in the contest.
The comprehensive victory lifted Sanfrecce past the Marinos in the standings.
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