Shimizu S-Pulse 2-2 KAWASAKI FRONTALE
Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, Kanagawa

S-PULSE GOALS Douglas(30),Renato(65)
YELLOW CARDS
RED CARDS
ATTENDANCE 24398

LINE UP
GK Okubo
DF Tatsuta, Yoshimoto, Futami, Matsubara
MF Renato, Takeuchi, Nakamura, Nishizawa
FW Kawai, Douglas

SUBSTITUTIONS
Kanaeko on for Nakamura (62)
Kamata on for Kawai (77)
JUNIOR DUTRA on for Douglas (87)

REPORT
Fantastic! After such a nightmare the previous week end S-Pulse has managed to come back with a draw away from a team that were champions last year and had beaten them 4-0 at home in Shizuoka in April!

Respect! For proving that last Sunday’s game was just an aberration and showing heir fighting spirit in front of the courageous fans who had made the trip to encourage them!

Optimism! A gift to all the fans who will not have to worry for the rest of the season!

The team travelling to Kawasaki had a less changes than one could have expected after last week’s debacle proving Head Coach Shinoda’s skills at motivating his players. Although they expected a continuous barrage from their much vaunted opponents S-Pulse attacked from the very beginning and Matsubara with a little more luck could have scored within the first minutes. They still could not prevent Frontale to score a well-taken goal in the 14^th minute which had little to do with poor defense.

But they reacted well when Douglas curled a beautiful free kick from almost 30 meters in the 30^th minute. After that it became a question of frustrating Kawasaki’s incessant attacks and pouncing on the rare occasions grabbed away by a tenacious defense.

Which happened in the 65^th minute when ever present Renato cut a midfield pass, relaying to Douglas while running ahead at full speed. Douglas’ through pass found Renato again who scored when the ball hit the post but could not be retrieved by the Frontale defenders.

Unfortunately Frontale equalized in the 79^th minute, a goal reminiscent of the first one but S-Pulse held on to bring back a point back home. It must be pointed out that despite their unexpected performance Head Coach was not happy not being able to bring the full three points.

Next game will take place next Sunday against another difficult opponent in the name of Kashima Antlers. But anything could happen as shown last weekend when all results went beyond prognostics! S-Pulse fans will come in large numbers to the IAI Stadium Nihndaira in spite of their last disappointment. These are the best fans in Japan by far and they deserve a win!

NEXT GAME
Meiji Yasuda J1 League
Match day 25
Shimizu S-Pulse vs Kashima Antlers
Sunday September 1st, 6pm
IAI Stadium Nihondaira, Shizuoka