J1 League

J1 100 YEAR VISION LEAGUE WESTERN GROUP

Game 17

Shimizu S-Pulse 0-2 Fagiano Okayama

Date: Sunday, May 17th, 2:00 pm

Kanko Stadium (Okayama)

S-PULSE GOALS

YELLOW CARDS Sumiyoshi (63)

RED CARDS

PENALTY KICK

ATTENDANCE 13758

LINE UP

GK Oki

DF Brunetti, Honda, Sumiyoshi, Kitazume

MF Bueno, Uno, Shimamoto

FW Matsuzaki, Oh, Toshiki Takahashi

SUBSTITUTIONS

Chiba on for Toshiki Takahashi (60)

Hidaka on for Kitazume (60)

Kozuka on for Matsuzaki (70)

Ahmedov on for Shimamoto (82)

REPORT

Another game to forget!

Whereas this was the last chance for many a player to secure their starting member status with the real J1 League around the corner and with the loss of at least one young star player moving abroad we ended up into a general failure.

For all our domination (57% to 43% in possession, 340 passes against 257 and even a better pass accuracy) we had only 9 shots at goal with a miserly 2 on target against their 11 attempts with 4 on target.

They scored. We did not.

Simple mathematics.

And to make things worse they scored at the worst times of all, effectively killing the game at ideal times.

The lesson is evident: the defense for all its excellency cannot be at the mill and the oven at the same time. The offense will have to react or else. We did not lose through strategy but through impotent striking. With a few more goals, especially at home, we would be leading the League. Some difficult decisions will soon have to be made.

But before that we will play the last game of this unique competition before the playoffs as a “home game” next Sunday in Tokyo against Gamba Osaka for the benefit of our many fans residing in the Capital and for better coverage notwithstanding financial reasons.

Time for the whole team to show who they really are!

NEXT GAME

J1 League

J1 100 YEAR VISION LEAGUE WESTERN GROUP

Game 18

Shimizu S-Pulse vs Gamba Osaka

Date: Sunday, May 24th, 7:00 pm

National Stadium (Tokyo)