©︎︎︎S-PULSE
Shimizu S-Pulse 1-2 Kawasaki Frontale
IAI Stadium Nihondaira, Shizuoka
S-PULSE GOALS Douglas 5
YELLOW CARDS
RED CARDS
ATTENDANCE 18129
LINE UP
GK Rokutan
DF Tatsuta,Seok Ho, Freire, Matsubara
MF Shirasaki, Kawai, Kaneko, Duke
FW Douglas, Kitagawa
SUBSTITUTIONS
Ishige on for Douglas (43)
Murata on for Duke (61)
Hasegawa on for Kawai (84)
REPORT
Just too strong!
Kawasaki Frontale proved once again why they were Champions last year and might very well be crowned again this year.
S-Pulse came up with an ultra-defensive strategy which seemed to work when they took their first chance in the 5th minute through a fine counter splendidly finished by Douglas. They resisted well until the 32nd minute when finally Frontale managed to bend a dangerous cross behind S-Pulse’s defense to be headed in. Truth to tell, had it not been for Rokutan’s fine final defense S-Pulse might have conceded 3 goals by then.
The second half followed the same pattern with Shimizu’s packed defense looking for a quick counter. But it never came about. Frontale finally broke the deadlock in the 64th minute by attacking the center instead of attempting bypassing S-Pulse’ defense flanks. It was a bit ironical that that the man who scored, Oshima, is from Shizuoka City (formerly, Shimizu City)!
But the fans recognizing that their team fought hard until the very end were happy enough to clap Shimizu S-Pulse for their efforts, a definite progress on last year’s woes.
S-Pulse will very probably finish safely inside the soft belly of the J1 league but they will need a little more to progress higher next year. Well, that is for the moment being. Let’s hope they will show their teeth on Wednesday 15th in Osaka against Cerezo. Incidentally, Tatsuta being selected for the Japanese Under-21 team will be absent for a while. What team will defend our colors will be decided only a few hours before kickoff. Let’s hope for the best. The boys deserve it!
NEXT GAME
Meiji Yasuda J1 League
Match day 22
Shimizu S-Pulse vs Cerezo Osaka
Wednesday August 15th, 7pm
Kicho Stadium
