©︎︎︎S-PULSE
IAI Stadium Nihondaira, Shizuoka
S-PULSE GOALS Kitagawa 1' 72', Douglas 38' 61', MURATA 90+4'
YELLOW CARDS Kitagawa 45+1', Takeuchi 73'
RED CARDS
ATTENDANCE 19,159
LINE UP
GK Rokutan
DF Tatsuta, Freire, Seok Ho, Matsubara
MF Takeuchi, Shirasaki, Kaneko, Ishige
FW Douglas, Kitagawa
SUBSTITUTIONS
Crislan on for Kitagawai (79)
Murata on for Ishige(88)
Mizutani on for Kaneko (90+2)
REPORT
Promises at last fulfilled!
S-Pulse had long promised such a well-planned and executed game only to fail in the last moments or because of silly lapses.
But this time they to the game against their local rivals by the scruff of the neck, taking the maximum out of an inferior possession.
The main reason is the striking pair of veteran Douglas and young Kitagawa (incidentally called for national duty) who are steadily becoming one of the most feared pair in the J1 League not only because of their deadly accuracy but also because of their ability to defend and retrieve balls before using them with the ease of midfielders.
At the very first minute Dougas stole the ball from the opposite central defense to send Kitagawa through the box for the latter to shoot across the goal inside the right post. At the 38th minute this time Kitagawa turned provider for his fellow striker who beat three defenders before also shooting across the goal inside the right post.
The second half started with a usual but this time rare S-Pulse defense error to allow a soft goal in the 51st minute.
But in the 61th minute Kitagawa turned provider again for Douglas who precisely shot across the goal again leaving no chance to the opposite goal keeper.
In the 72nd minute the game was sealed once for all when Ishige sent Kitagawa through into the box with the perfect pass and the young striker waited for the goalkeeper to come at him before slotting the ball in with his right foot instead of his usual left one.
To make the day perfect Murata scored a splendid long range goal in extra time as a perfect birthday celebration.
All in all, despite a minimum possession S-Pulse had been in secure command of the game striking with deadly accuracy when offered the chance proving their growing maturity which should make them a feared team for the rest of the season and next year now that the worries of relegation have disappeared in place for more promises.
Nevertheless Manager Jőnsson refused to be carried away and is always concentrating onto the next game against Hiroshima Sanfrecce, a team he knows well for having helped them stay in the J1 league last year.
NEXT GAME
Meiji Yasuda J1 League
Match day 30
SHIMIZU S-PULSE vs SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA
Saturday, Oct 20th, 14:00pm
IAI Stadium Nihondaira, Shizuoka
