Shimizu S-Pulse 3-0 Kashiwa Reysol

S-PULSE GOALS Novakovic (30) Own goal (49) Hiraoka (58)

CAUTIONS None

ATTENDANCE 11095

GK Aizawa
DF Jakovic, Yoshida, Hiraoka, Sugiyama
MF Honda, Musaka, Kawai
FW Omae, Novakovic, Takagi T

Hiroi on for Kawai (87)
Murata on for Omae (89)
Ishige on for Takagi T (90)



REPORT

The Japanese summer has been reaching its peak this weekend, with temperatures up to 35 degrees Celsius heating up the IAI Stadium Nihondaira. Fans arrived early and took any shade they could as they waited for kick off. There was little cloud cover to provide respite from the Shizuokan sun, so it was with relief when evening began to draw in and the heat began to fade. Despite the humidity, Shimizu began the game with energy and enterprise, creating a number of opportunities within the first 10 minutes. Yoshida on the left flank especially gave the visitors a torrid opening. Speedy and fluid exchanges with the free roaming Omae saw Shimizu behind the Reysol back line on more than one occasion, providing a preview of the game to come.

Industry and tireless leg work is typical of Omae’s play, so it was inevitable that it was he who was instrumental in the opening goal. Novakovic was his partner in a lightening quick one-two move which began in the centre of the park and ended by the Slovenian dinking the ball past the yellow haired Sugeno. It was a tough game to take one’s eyes off. Shimizu, with the bit between their teeth and clearly eager for the taste of victory, tore at the Kashiwa defence with a hunger that was palpable. In one ten second spell they hit the woodwork and had a header scrambled off the line. Shimizu were unlucky to go in at the break without a greater lead.

Beginning the 2^nd half in the manner they played the 1^st, it took only five minutes to see that lead doubled. While it will go down in the records as an own goal, Novakovic did everything but place it home. Again finding himself chasing down the ball against Sugeno, once again he was the first to reach it. His shot was blocked by the keeper, but a deflection off a defender saw it squirm into net. Maintaining the breathless attacking pace, in the 58^th minute Toshiyuki Takaki brought a fine save out of Sugeno. In palming it over the crossbar however, it merely delayed what was on the way – Shimizu’s third goal. The corner was pitched deep into the danger zone where Hiraoka was waiting to nod the ball home in a finely executed set piece.

With a commanding lead Shimizu were able to ease off a little, and the final third of the game saw a team comfortably in control, absorbing what attacking impetus the opposition could muster. S-Pulse were a picture of composure, biding their time and hitting on the counter attack with verve and swagger. Novakovic, Omae and Honda all went close to extending the lead even further, but while a fourth goal would have been the cherry atop the S-Pulse victory cake, there can be no complaints with the full time score of 3-0. It was a fine performance with Shimizu racking up 13 shots to Reysol’s 3. Especially when viewed in the context of Wednesday’s defeat in Kansai, it was an important and big victory.

Our next J. League fixture is this Saturday and sees us travel to the capital. We’ll take on FC Tokyo, so why not catch a bullet train north to cheer on your orange heroes? Alternatively, you can tune into our Twitter @spulse_eng service to stay right up to date with all the action as it happens.

Forza S-Pulse!



Manager’s comments

We went through a very difficult period and I’m very proud of our club and our players, how they stepped up in a very difficult moment. They gave nearly a perfect performance against a very good Reysol team. I though in the 1^st half we were very good at defending in midfield and created some good chances. We saw how dangerous we were at winning the ball in midfield and quick counters. We continued that in the 2nd half with the 2^nd and 3^rd goals. The third goal was a brilliant set piece, a great goal. I said earlier “near perfect” because I thought in midfield we dropped too far back, we could have stayed higher and continued playing the same way.

I hope this victory gives our players confidence to use this as a tipping point for the season. In my three and half years at the club every year we have these moments, then when our backs are against the wall, our players, our fans and our club shows the spirit of Shizuoka. So I really look forward to the rest of the season.

We actually wanted to play this [system], but with Takeuchi’s injury, and Kawai wasn’t 100% fit, we went back to the system we’ve been playing all year. Then I thought today was the right moment to go back to what we wanted to do. I think having the tactical flexibility is something that’s missing in Japanese football. If we can develop a team that can have this flexibility depending on who is available over a long season, then we can we can get good results game after game. I think that people who are following the team regularly they realize we’ve has some really unfortunate injuries. Hopefully with everybody coming back I think we’ll be very strong.

I thought that after you have two very bad results, especially when you lose 4-0 away from home, it’s important to start the game very stable, very organized and compact. We tried to pick our moments to score a goal or create chances and I thought we did a great job. Especially Reysol have some fantastic strikers. We are a little bit shorthanded without Jong a Pin at the back.

Honda missed pretty much the first half of the season through injuries, and he came to our club having not played regularly for three seasons in a row. This was his third start in a row, and we saw in every performance he’s growing and he’s improving. Today by far was his best performance I’ve seen in an S-Pulse shirt.  



NEXT GAME

FC Tokyo vs S-PULSE
Saturday August 2^nd, 18:30
Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo