©︎︎︎S-PULSE
Emperor's Cup JFA 98th Japan Football Championship 2nd round
S-PULSE 1-0 FC.IMABARI
IAI Stadium Nihondaira
S-PULSE GOALS Kawai 77
YELLOW CARDS
RED CARDS
ATTENDANCE 2189
LINE UP
GK Nishibe
DF Tatsuta, Freire, Futami, Matsubara
MF Kawai, Shirasaki, Kaneko, Ishige
FW Tese, Kitagawa
SUBSTITUTIONS
Hyodo on for Ishige (68)
Kusukami on for Tese (77)
Hasegawa on for Kitagawa (84)
REPORT
Why do Shimizu S-Pulse have problems playing normally against lower teams?
FC Imabari, for all their spirited play and lack of complex, are playing no less than 3 divisions below S-Pulse, but they were not the ones making simple defense mistakes with lazy back passes or show culpable complacency.
To make matters worth Kitagawa and Tese should have scored before half time which finished level at 0-0, but the score could have easily been standing at 4-2 for the Ehime Prefecture team.
S-Pulse continued to play as disappointingly as in the first half but somehow managed to escape punishment and at long last in the 77th minute Tese surged down the left wing before sending the perfect cross to Kawai who just had to head the ball into the goal with the Imabari’s defense left helplessly watching.
S-Pulse won the game but their fans sent off FC Imabari to a rousing ovation while their players discreetly left the field.
Team Manager Jan Jőnsson, to say the least, was not very pleased by the day’s performance and will very probably field a very different team on July 11th when S-Pulse face Ventforet Kofu, who in spite of being stranded in the second tier of the J League has made the cups their goals this year. S-Pulse was not convincing in the two fixtures played against them this year and will probably need a team at full strength.
The fans will be there to cheer but the players will have to deserve their encouragements!
NEXT GAME
Emperor’s Cup 3rd Round
Shimizu S-Pulse vs Ventforet Kofu
Wednesday July 11th, 7pm
