NAGOYA GRAMPUS 1-2 Shimizu S-Pulse
Paloma Mizuho Stadium, Aichi

S-PULSE GOALS Douglas(68), Nishizawa(90)
YELLOW CARDS Futami(3), Renato(47)
RED CARDS
ATTENDANCE 19,501

LINE UP
GK Nishibe
DF Elsinho, Seok Ho, Futami, Matsubara
MF Renato, Takeuchi, Kaneko, Nishizawa
FW Douglas, Kitagawa

SUBSTITUTIONS
Musaka on for Kaneko (60)
Kawai on for Takeuchi (74)
Nakamura on for Douglas (86)

REPORT
Heads up!　That is the rallying cry of Shimizu S-Pulse whatever the adversity!

Two teams with a very different style and philosophy. Nagoya had most of the possession in the first half but S-Pulse had the real chances when a fast attack in the 5^th minute led to a point blank heading by Kaneko which flew past the far post. Takeuchi in the 27^th minute was even nearer when his shot following short passes on the right flank was barely kept out of goal by the opposite keeper. Nagoya had one chance but it was wasted over the bar.

The second half saw S-pulse creating even more chances. In the 50th minute it took another world class save to deny Kitagawa’s superb diving heading to conclude a fast counter on the left flank ending with Nishizawa’s perfect cross.

S-Pulse finally borke the deadlock in the 67^th minute with a very clever goal. Following a throw in Elsinho played cat and mouse with the defense before sending a pass through to Renato running on the right flank. The latter’s pinpoint low cross was slotted in then by Douglas overstretching himself running at full speed.

But the drama was far from ended. S-Pulse thought they had the game well in control when 1 minute into additional time they conceded the equalizer through a medium range shot slightly deflected by Matsubara’s knee leaving no chance to keeper Nishibe. But S-Pulse just refused to accept the result when Nagoya did not show he same will.

Once again Elsinho played cat and mouse with the defense on the right flank before sending a short pass to Nakamura waiting in ambush along the touch line. The latter’s quick fick found Kawai beating the off side trap before sending a low cross behind the opposite defense. A running in Nishizawa struck the perfect low sharp shot to barely beat the opposite keeper and send the many S-Pulse fans into rapture.

Some teams higher placed are starting to look nervously over their shoulders with another team coming blowing on their necks faster than they would have imagined only a few weeks ago. But the next game is a long trip to Saga Prefecture in Northern Kyushu against a team desperately needing points. It promises another tough and unpredictable encounter! But the tough supporters who will make the trip will have reasons to believe!

NEXT GAME
Meiji Yasuda J1 League
Match day 17
SAGANTOSU vs Shimizu S-Pulse 
Sunday June 30th, 7:30pm
EKIMAE REAL ESTATE STADIUM, Saga