J2 League

Match 29

Shimizu S-Pulse 1-0 Tokyo Verdy

Sunday August 5th 6:00pm

Ajinomoto Stadium (Chofu)

S-PULSE GOALS Yuito Suzuki (35)

YELLOW CARDS Kololli (22), Hara (30), Inui (87)

RED CARDS

PENALTY KICK

ATTENDANCE 17802

LINE UP

GK Gonda

DF Yoshida, Yoshinori Suzuki, Ibayashi, Hara

MF Carlinhos, Shirasaki, Yuito Suzuki, Ronaldo, Nakayama

FW Kololli

SUBSTITUTIONS

Takahashion for Ibayashi (19)

Inui on for Yuito Suzuki (58)

Kitazume on for Nakayama (58)

Santana on for Kololli (58)

Kitshimoto for Hara (70)

REPORT

Another big win!

And a gritty one at that!

In front of mainly S-Pulse fans who seemed to have come from all over Tokyo, S-Pulse proved again that their defense had grown tough enough to win the game in spite of being dominated in possession most of the time.

The opponents of the day had absolutely to be beaten to keep our chances to vie for the second automatic promotion spot.

Right away in the 7th minute Gonda had to produce a great save against s shot fired inside the box.

In the 17th minute Ibayashi had to leave early because of injury.

In the 32nd minute we were saved because of poor control from our opponents hassled as they were by a determined defense.

In the 35th minute we scored on our first real chance when a long pass sent Hara on the right side before sending a cross behind Verdy’s defense who missed their clearance before Yuito Suzuki who had fumbled a first attempt with the rebound volleyed by Carlinhos being blocked the ball came back to Yuito Suzuki who calmly shot inside the far-right post to score his first goal in Japan since he came back from a stint in France.

From then on it was basically gritty defense with counters.

In the 52nd minute Verdy were close to equalizing from a corner kick that had not been cleared.

One minute later Yuito Suzuki could have doubled his tally after Yoshida sent the perfect cross but his heading flew directly to the opposite keeper.

In the 59th minute Verdy were lucky enough to escape from a very dangerous incursion in their box with Inui narrowly missing goal with the last shot.

The next minute another incursion ended with Carlinhos firing from close range following a 1-2 pass with Kitazume but once again the Verdy keeper saved his side with another great reflex parry.

In the next minute again S-Pulse wasted another chance when a fine free kick found Takashi alone in front of the goalmouth but his shot went wide from the far post.

By then S-Pulse could and should have killed the game.

But in the end they had to live dangerously fending of chances in the 81st and 85th minutes.

A gritty game we should have nonetheless won by a bigger margin to help a determined defense.

Next game will see us at home playing against Yamaguchi, a seemingly easier game we will have to take very seriously!

NEXT GAME

J2 League

Match 30

Shimizu S-Pulse vs Renofa Yamaguchi

Saturday August 12th 6:00pm

IAI Stadium Nihondaira (Shizuoka)