Shimizu S-Pulse 2-1 Vissel Kobe
IAI Stadium Nihondaira, Shizuoka

S-PULSE GOALS Kitagawa(26), Douglas(68)
YELLOW CARDS Seok Ho(67), Nishibe(71)
RED CARDS 
ATTENDANCE 15420

LINE UP
GK Nishibe
DF Elsinho, Seok Ho, Futami, Matsubara
MF Renato, Takeuchi, Kawai, Nishizawa
FW Douglas, Kitagawa

SUBSTITUTIONS
Musaka on for Kitagawa (77)
Kaneko on for Kawai (82)
Tatsuta on for Elsinho (90+2)

REPORT
Special!　And S-Pulse certainly needed something special to break the deadlock in an intense game which could have gone either way. And it came in a very unusual manner.

The first half on the whole was well-balanced with both teams sharing the same number of opportunities, notably by Douglas and his opponent of the day, Villa. Both teams scored a goal resulting from individual performances. In the 26^th minute Douglas picked a clearance inside his own half before sprinting along the right side beating grabs and lunging tackles, all the while barely keeping his balance before passing the ball though the last defender’s legs to Kitagawa to tap in a simple goal. 3 minutes later it was the turn for Villa to score a goal through the center of the defense through remarkable dribbling.

At half time S-Pulse changed from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-1-4-1 strategy and started to mount a concerted assault and could have scored through Kitagawa in the 58^th minute. Then came a move in the 69^th minute that will stay in the annals of the J 1 League 2019 season. S-Pulse won a throw-in well inside Kobe’s half left side. Futami then threw an enormous arch which found Douglas stretching his body all over the Kobe’s defense to head the ball out of reach of the opposing powerless goalkeeper.

Then S-Pulse erected the barbed wires and all for the efforts of their dangerous opponents they stood firm never allowing them full freedom even during the most harrowing moments. Truth to tell the game had been tilting on a wire all night but S-Pulse won it through sheer grits, a little luck and a lot of unpredictable moves. The defense, although still perfectible, is beginning to assert itself and the offense is steadily becoming a threatening force in a league whose clubs are separated by very little.

Next game will see a trip down to Osaka where S-Pulse has not only to confirm their progress but also get some revenge! Fans will surely travel in droves to support their orange team!

NEXT GAME
Meiji Yasuda J1 League
Match day 19
Gamba Osaka vs Shimizu S-Pulse
Saturday July 13th, 7pm
Panasonic Stadium Suita, Osaka