J1 League

Game 18

Shimizu S-Pulse 3-2 Vissel Kobe

Date: Sunday May 25th, 2:00 pm

IAI Nihondaira Stadium (Shizuoka)

S-PULSE GOALS Kitagawa (15), Takagi (24. 71)

YELLOW CARDS Uno (41), Oki (90 +3)

RED CARDS

PENALTY KICK

ATTENDANCE 17528

LINE UP

GK Oki

DF Yamahara, Takahashi Sumiyoshi, Takagi

MF Capixaba, Inui, Bueno, Uno, Matsuzaki

FW Kitagawa

SUBSTITUTIONS

Yumiba on for Uno (58)

Yajima on for Matsuzaki (72)

Kozuka on for Capixaba (86)

Kitazume on for Uno (77)

Doi on for Inu (86)

REPORT

Welcome if gritty win!

That will consolidate a precarious situation!

Truth be told, we were dominated in almost all departments to the tune of 44% possession against 56%, 302 passes against 382, 13 attempts at goal against 18, but we made the difference with 9 shots on target against 4, a vast improvement on last Sunday’s debacle. But the latter masks the fact that 2 of our 3 goals were achieved by a back to only 1 by a forward. We had more corner kicks, 9 against 4, which played a decisive role in our victory.

It also proved to be a very tense and at times rough game against an uncompromising adversary, ending with 2 yellow cards on both sides.

Vissel took the game by the scruff of the neck and right in the 4th minute they just wasted a golden opportunity from a close free kick with the last shot missing goal from meters away.

In the 8th minute Vissel produced a middle-range pass to a lone forward inside the box who could only produce a weak attempt under S-Pulse’s defense pressure.

In the 11th minute S-Pulse had their first opportunity with Takagi running down the field before passing to Inui on his right who produced a looping cross met by Capixaba’s head that did not fool Vissel’s goalkeeper.

But in the 15th minute S-Pulse came out with a great goal when first Uno intercepted a weak pass before sending Inui running and dribbling past Vissel’s right flank. The veteran’s cross found Kitagawa running at full speed to somehow squeeze the ball between the near post and the goalkeeper for arguably his best goal of the season.

In the 23rd minute a blunder by the Vissel’s defense allowed Inui to try his luck from close range but at a very cute angle that Vissel’s keeper somehow parried with his leges into a corner kick.

Matsuzaki’s ensuing corner kick curled past the Vissel’s defense to find an unmarked Takagi who gleefully headed the ball in.

But Vissel was not prepared to give up and in the 43rd minute they ran past S-Pulse’s left flank only for the last shot to fly past the far post.

The second half started in the 47th minute with Kitagawa slotting in from a vicious free kick but his goal was rightfully cancelled for the smallest of offsides.

In the 51st minute a flat-footed S-Pulse’s defense allowed too much space and time but Vissel missed a golden opportunity from close range, the ball being parried by Keeper’s face.

But in the 56th minute Vissel were gifted a soft goal on a corner kick with the last Vissel forward unmarked for an easy header to the obvious disappointment from Oki who once again had a great game.

In the 72nd minute a weak clearance by Vissel’s defense found Inui in midfield who passed to Kitagawa whose cross shot was desperately pushed into a corner kick by the Vissel’s keeper.

But once again Matsuzaki produced the perfect corner kick to find Takahashi who deflected the ball high in the air down to the feet of lurking Takagi who did not make any mistake, scoring a vital goal at a vital time.

But Vissel still kept the pressure and it paid off in the first minute of extra time when once again S-Pulse allowed a soft goal with a flat-footed defense who did little to prevent an easy cross to find an unmarked Vissel forward who headed the ball past a desperate keeper.

S-Pulse switched to survival mode, not the best of moves in such a situation and were lucky to escape from a last second’s attempt from Kobe who once again missed the goal by so little.

We somehow survived the endless extra time to secure a precious win!

Note that 18-year-old S-Pulse Youth Team Doi was given his given his first chance at the highest level in the last minutes of the game.

We will have to confirm our revival next Sunday in Osaka against veteran midfielder Inui’s former club, Cerezo. A positive result would make a mountain of difference!

NEXT GAME

J1 League

Game 19

Shimizu S-Pulse vs Cerezo Osaka

Date: Sunday June 1st, 3:00 pm

Yodoko Sakura Stadium (Osaka)