Meiji Yasuda J1 League

Match 9

Shimizu S-Pulse 0-0 Sagan Tosu

Sunday April 17th 3:00pm

Ekimae Real Estate Stadium, Tosu

S-PULSE GOALS

YELLOW CARDS

RED CARDS

PENALTY KICK

ATTENDANCE 7519

LINE UP

GK Gonda

DF Hara, Valdo, Yoshinori Suzuki, Yamahara

MF Naakayama, Miyamoto, Ronaldo, Goto

FW Yuito Suzuki, Oh Se-Un

SUBSTITUTIONS

Santana on for Oh Se-un (67)

Takeuchi on for Ronaldo (75)

Kamiya on for Goto (75)

Katayama on for Nakyama (87)

Matsuoka on for Miyamoto (88)

REPORT

A gritty draw and a clean sheet, but it could and should have been better!

Against the best defense in the League S-Pulse had enough clear chanced to take the match away even if Tosu had chances they sometimes badly missed.

We had once again had to do without a few injured main members, but the “second-string” players are doing an increasingly good job, indicating for a rosier future in spite of the present low standing.

In the 22nd minute Yamahara cleverly sent Yuito Suzuki inside the box, but the angle was too acute and the young striker had no time to control the ball he had to volley with his left foot but it was somehow repulsed by the opposite goalkeeper.

In the 25th minute it was the turn of Yuito Suzuki to send a clever short cross into the box but Nakayama’s heading barely flew over the bar.

In the 34th minute Tosu had their first chance but a great final cross was completely wasted.

In the 42nd minute Tosu had their second chance when they ran past S-Pulse left side but the cross was headed outside the left post.

In the 47th minute Tosu had another chance when they found their way through S-Pulse right flank but the final shot went straight to Gonda.

In the 52nd minute Yuito Suzuki the chance of the match when he managed to steal the ball from the opposite goalkeeper outside the box but his shot went over the bar of an empty goal.

Tosu did no better in the next 55th minute when their center forward had his third chance of the day inside the box following a short corner kick poorly defended by S-Pulse but his final shot almost at point blank went directly to Gonda.

In the 62nd minute S-Pulse had a good chance but the final heading could lob the opposite goalkeeper.

In the 79th minute S-Pulse should have taken the match after and interception saw Kamiya send the perfect pass to Santana, but the latter after having gone past two forwards saw his final shot evade both the goalkeeper and the goal into agonizing frustration.

At least the defense is at last starting to find its marks. It is now the turn for the defense to come with better finishing.

Next game will probably decide whether we go through to the Levain Cup playoffs, but we have to beat Nagoya on our ground on Saturday to achieve that.

For once we are hoping for a good crowd of supporters in a Levain Cup match to cheer the team!

NEXT GAME

Levain Cup

Group B

Match 5

Shimizu S-Pulse 1-1 Nagoya Grampus

Saturday April 23rd 2:00pm

Pocari Sweat Stadium, Naruto