Meiji Yasuda J2 League

Match 2

Shimizu S-Pulse 0-0 Fagiano Okayama

Sunday February 23rd 1:00pm

City Light Stadium, Okayama

S-PULSE GOALS

YELLOW CARDS Matsuoka (77)

RED CARDS

PENALTY KICK

ATTENDANCE 15695

LINE UP

GK Gonda

DF Yoshida, Takahashi, Suzuki, Yamahara

MF Kitagawa, Ronaldo, Matsuoka, Carlinhos

FW Disaro, Santana

SUBSTITUTIONS

Nishizawa on for Carlinhos (76)

Kamiya on for Disaro (76)

Kishimoto on for Kitagawa (82)

Morishige on for Santana (90 +7)

REPORT

Another frustrating draw in front of a big crowd for the J2 League.

S-Pulse did most of the play, had more shots at goal but had problems piercing through a massed defense.

The first half was equally shared,

In the 12th minute Ronaldo’s low cross was headed just wide by Santana.

In the 19th minute, Gonda had to produce one of his finest saves when S-Pulse was completely caught off guard and was lucky not to concede a goal then.

In the 28th minute Kitagawa could have done better by crossing to Santana lurking alone instead of shooting wide.

One minute later it was the turn for Carlinhos to miss a golden chance shooting over the bar from less than 10 meters after some good work inside the box by Santana.

In the 44th minute Gonda was helped by the bar.

The second half saw more domination from S-Pulse but their attackers kept shooting from a long range making the work of the opposite defense easier.

Only in the 54th minute did they create a clearcut chance when it was the turn of Okayama to be saved by the bar.

On the positive side Kamiya is back from a long injury and rookie Morishige was given a chance, even for a few minutes. We still have to deal with some injuries, but it takes time to produce an all-attacking team against massed defenses. But we are on the right path.

Our next game is again an away game at V-Varen Nagasaki. S-Pulse should at last show their real potential!

NEXT GAME

Meiji Yasuda J2 League

Match 3

Shimizu S-Pulse vs V-Varen Nagasaki

Saturday April 4thth 1:00pm

Transcosmos Stadium, Isahaya