Meiji Yasuda J1 League

Match 16

Shimizu S-Pulse 3-0 FC Tokyo

Wednesday May 26th 7:00pm

IAI Stadium Nihondaira , Shizuoka

S-PULSE GOALS Thiago(14), Valdo(45+3), Katayama(49)

YELLOW CARDS

RED CARDS

ATTENDANCE 4919

LINE UP

GK Gonda

DF Elsinho,Suzuki, Valdo, Okui

MF Katayama, Nakamura, Miyamoto, Carlinhos

FW Suzuki, Thiago

SUBSTITUTIONS

Kawai on for Nakamura(77)

Goto on for Thiago(77)

Disaro on for Suzuki (77)

Nakayama on for Carlinos(81)

Fukumori on for Okui(88)

REPORT

At last, a win! The first win at home this season!

Whereas the score might imply, it was not a one-sided game, but this time S-Pulse took their chances at the most opportune time with a rare killing instinct.

After soaking up some early pressure which saw Gonda having to parry what proved arguably the first and last real chance given away to their opponents, they scored an opportunistic goal early in the 14th minute to force Tokyo to take more risks. It was started by Nakamura from his own half in a move than saw Katayama, Yuito Suzuki relay the ball before Elsinho unleashed a shot from the edge of the box. The ball was slightly deflected and could only be parried by Tokyo’s keeper’s legs before a lurking Santana calmly scored on the rebound.

That calmed the S-Pulse’ players’ nerves until they scored a vital second goal just before the interval when Nakamura curled the perfect corner kick all over the defense for Valdo to head in at the far post.

It was a third goal from another corner kick by Nakamura 4 minutes inside the second half that put the game on ice. This time he kicked low behind the defense for charging backs to come into the picture. Katayama was first on the ball to give an unassailable lead. After that, a composed defense did not give anything away S-Pulse even came close to scoring a fourth goal by Nakayama.

The difference between the two teams is that Tokyo wasted 11 corner kicks whereas S-Pulse scored from 2 of the only 5 they managed to get although they shot twice more at the goal than their opponents. It was a rare ideally-conducted win.

Now, will it prove to be an eye-opener or just another straw fire? The team will have to prove their worth through a sterner test on Saturday away against Yokohama F Marinos. Let us hope this will prove the real beginning of a new venture!

NEXT GAME

Meiji Yasuda J1 League

Match 17

Shimizu S-Pulse vs Yokohama F Marinos

Sunday May 30th 1:00pm

Nissan Stadium, Yokohama