Sagan Tosu 2-0 S-PULSE

CAUTIONS Novakovic 28

ATTENDANCE 5231

GK Kushibiki

DF Jakovic, Hiraoka, Jong a Pin, Yoshida
MF Kawai, Takeuchi, Musaka
FW Omae, Novakovic, Takagi T

Murata on for Kawai (58)

Sugiyama on for Takeuchi (58)

REPORT

In the unfamiliar surroundings of the Saga Prefectural Athletics Stadium, Sagan Tosu were Shimizu’s conquerors for the second time this May, on this occasion courtesy of goals from Toyoda and Mizunuma. Shimizu’s best chances came in the first half, in particular after the explosive acceleration of Canadian international Jakovic in the 17^th minute. His pace allowed him to beat the Tosu midfielder and charge almost the entire length of the pitch. After playing the ball over to the left hand side, Takagi was able to rattled off a shot which Hayahsi had to be at his best to stop.

However, perhaps victims of a congested schedule taking its toll on top of the near 500 mile journey to Tosu, S-Pulse rarely were able to get into their rhythm. Shortly before half time the hosts broke through by way of a set piece. A long corner floated to Kikuchi beyond the far post was drilled back low to be met by marksman Yohei Toyoda. He beat Kushibiki to poke it home and Tosu went in at half time with the lead.

Just minutes into the second half Omae was released on the counter attack but uncharacteristically was unable to unleash an early shot and the danger was eventually nullified. Not many more opportunities presented themselves and with time starting to run out, it was Tosu’s Kota Mizunuma who let fly a speculative effort from outside the penalty area. Kushibiki got down well, but was unable to stop it squirming past him and into the net.

At 2-0 the home side dug in and ran down the clock to record their second victory of this Nabisco Cup campaign. Despite recent defeats S-Pulse remain in Group A’s 2^nd place, with one game left to play. Victory at Kashima would guarantee progression to the quarter finals, while a win by two goals would see Shimizu end the group in first. So thanks to earlier endeavors, S-Pulse occupy an enviable position with regard to securing a quarter final berth.

Tune in at 3pm on Sunday to cheer your favourite team on in their hunt for silverware!

NEXT GAME

Kashima vs S-PULSE

Sunday, June 1st, 15:00

Kashima Soccer Stadium, Ibaraki prefecture