J League Cup (Levain Cup)

First Round

Shimizu S-Pulse 3-1 SC Sagamihara

Date: Wednesday March 26th, 6 pm

Gion Sagamihara Stadium (Sagamihara)

S-PULSE GOALS Own Goal (39), Kitazume (83), Doi (83)

YELLOW CARDS

RED CARDS

PENALTY KICK

ATTENDANCE 3993

LINE UP

GK Umeda

DF Haneda, Sumiyoshi, Takagi

MF Kotake, Yumiba, Miyamoto, Yoshida,

FW Kozuka, Ahmedov, Nakahara

SUBSTITUTIONS

Kitazume on for Yoshida (46)

Matsuzaki on for Kozuka (73)

Yajima on for Nakahara (72)

Doi on for Kotake (72)

Kitagawa on for Ahmedov (80)

REPORT

Expected straightforward team even if Sagamihara (J3 League) did better than expected and never gave up.

It was a rare chance for young players to prove their worth and generally speaking it turned out to be a positive exercise, especially with the surprise late inclusion of 17-year-old Doi.

On the whole S-Pulse had more shots at goal (10 to 7) and a ton of corner kicks (7 to 1) with the opposition conceding almost twice as many free kicks.

S-Pulse took the lead in the 30th minute when Nakahara curled a free kick into the box where Sumiyoshi headed the ball back form the far post only for a Sagamihara to clear it into his own goal.

In additional time Sagamihara were unlucky when a very dangerous curling long-range shot hit the far top corner of the woodwork.

The second half witnessed more defense and quick counters from S-Pulse against the home team.

In the 49th minute it was the turn of S-Pulse to be unluck when a good move on their right ended up with a fierce shot by Kozuka which bounced of the foot of the near post.

In the 53rd minute following a line out Miyamoto forced the opposite goal keeper into a fine save from a middle-range shot.

Then in the 82nd minute a long kick by keeper Umeda was first controlled in midfield before being moved inside the box where KItazume beat the opposite keeper from close range when the latter’s defense could not clear the ball.

Two minutes later half of the team combined into a smooth move which ended with Kitagawa sending the perfect pass to 17-year-old Doi who brilliantly scored his first ever goal in his first ever professional game, not to mention he had been elevated to a second-tier professional status only a few days prior to the game.

Sagamihara nonetheless never give up and in the last seconds of the game they exploited some lax defense from S-Pulse to score a goal that will encourage them in their first season in J3 League.

The second round will be a Shizuoka Derby against Jubilo Iwata on Wednesday April 9th, probably in Shizuoka.

But before that we will have a lot to prove against Shonan Bellmare at home, a team which are doing far better than expected. Incidentally this is also a Derby called the “Shirasu Derby”! We will certainly need all the support from our faithful fans!

NEXT GAME

J1 League

Game 8

Shimizu S-Pulse vs Shonan Bellmare

Date: Saturday March 29th, 1 pm

IAI Stadium Hihondaira (Shizuoka)