Shimizu S-Pulse 1-0 Cerezo OSAKA
IAI Stadium Nihondaira, Shizuoka

S-PULSE GOALS Kitagawa 82
YELLOW CARDS Musaka 78
RED CARDS 
ATTENDANCE 11028

LINE UP
GK Rokutan
DF Elsinho, Seok Ho, Tatsuta, Matsubara
MF Renato, Takeuchi, Kaneko, Kawai
FW Tese, Kitagawa

SUBSTITUTIONS
Musaka on for Takeuchi (64)
Douglas on for Tese (71)
Futami on for Kitagawa (89)

REPORT
82nd minute: the IAI Nihondaira Stadium erupted in joy!

It had been a gritty match with few occasions on both sides, nonetheless with a marked advantage for Cerezo who grabbed twice as much possession and also passed twice as much but could never shoot from close range.

The fortunes of the games were decided at both ends of the second half. On the 51st minute another long range shot by Cerezo was not properly cleared and resulted in a horrible scramble within two meters of the goalmouth. The last Cerezo player to touch the ball in front of flying S-Pulse defenders somehow botched a golden chance which finally ended tamely inside the safe hands of Rokutan. On the 82nd minute the same Rokutan easily caught a weak cross coming from his left before turning round and noticing Elsinho running unmarked along the right side. His pin point kick found the Brazilian right-back ahead of a pedaling defense. His shot past an advancing goalkeeper out of his box seemed fated to roll away past the far post when Kitagawa who had run all the way from his own half somehow managed to reach it a meter or two before it rolled out and his hurried left shot saw the ball bounce inside the far post from an impossible angle. This probably will stay at this season’s Shimizu S-Pulse Goal of the Year! A feat accomplished by only three players in a glimpse of the eye! Now this is the kind of fortune grabbed at the best of times that will mark the belated start of an eventful season!

Head Coach Jônsson readily admitted it had been a hard win, the whole made more difficult by too many passes given away, but so full of positives with a harder defense achieving their first blank sheet of the season, with a bench of high quality to depend on, and certainly greater discipline than their opponents of the day. The opposing head Coach claimed they had made a gift of the game but maybe for the first time of this season S-Pulse had shown a relentless willingness to resist any attack and grab the few chances that came by them. A sure sign of maturity in soccer/football!

The next game will take place at home for an important Levain Cup game that may well decide the fate of the competition! Let’s hope that the fans will help their team to achieve the right result!

NEXT GAME
J.LEAGUE YBC Levain CUP GROUP STAGE 4th Sec
S-PULSE vs MATSUMOTO YAMAGA FC
Wednesday April 24th, 7pm
IAI Stadium Nihondaira, Shizuoka