©︎︎︎S-PULSE
Shimizu S-PULSE 1-1 Vegalta Sendai
IAI Stadium Nihondaira, Shizuoka
S-PULSE GOALS Kaneko 9
YELLOW CARDS
RED CARDS
SHOTS 7
CORNER KICKS 3
FREE KICKS 18
PENALTY KICK
ATTENDANCE 13965
LINE UP
GK Rokutan
DF Tatsuta,Seok Ho, Freire, Matsubara
MF Takeuchi, Kawai, Kaneko, Duke
FW Kitagawa, Crislan
SUBSTITUTIONS
Tese on for Kitagawa (66)
Kusukami on for Duke (82)
REPORT
The best defense in Japan on the offensive.
The game turned into an unexpected scenario although with a little insight one should have guessed things would not run along predicted lines. For one Vegalta knew too much about their former team mate, namely Crislan, to give him an inch of freedom. On the other hand this allowed relative freedom, that is, at the beginning of the game, to Kaneko who scored a goal from long range in the 9th minute that will stay in the annals of the 2018 J1 League season. S-pulse could and should have scored and killed the game during the first half but that did not happen.
The second half turned into trench war where all S-pulse players, including all the forwards, had to defend their goal against the incessant attacks of Vegalta and at the 70th minute Vegalta somehow scrambled a goal home. But contrarily to last year’s nightmares, S-pulse did not fold and managed to earn a hard-drawn game point for their efforts. The applause of the fans and handshakes from the staff proved that even in adversity this year’s players are earning the respect of all.
In his post-match press meeting Team Manager Jőnsson expressed his regrets about the midfield losing too many balls due to lack of precision but nonetheless praised the mutual loyalty of his players and the defense running the extra mile in defending their goal. At the beginning of the season he had clearly stated that it will not be always an easy task in a long season but if the spirit and will are there, good days will come aplenty!
After a much needed two-week rest S-pulse should be refreshed enough to tackle a difficult opponent in the name of Yokohama F Marinos and will need all the support of their fans!
NEXT LEAGUE GAME
Meiji Yasuda J1 League
Match day 5
Shimizu S-Pulse vs Yokohama F Marinos
Saturday March 31st, 2pm
IAI Stadium Nihondaira