S-Pulse 5-1 Sendai

Barry writes:

清水エスパルス　５対１　ベガルタ仙台

S-Pulse 5-1 Sendai
Johnsen 24 --------------- Nakahara 89
Honda 45
Hiraoka 60
Fujimoto 63
Nagai 79

Att. 17522

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Tsujio
DF Hiraoka (yellow 22)
DF Bosnar
DF Arata

MF Hyodo
MF Honda
MF Ono

FW Okazaki
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs used

Nagai on for Okazaki (71)
Omae on for Johnsen (76)
Ito on for Ono (84)

Report

It's all about taking your chances. The first half wasn't a walk in the park by any means, and neither really was the second. That was until Jungo smashed home Hyodo's rebounded shot to make it three nil. Up till that point the game was pretty evenly balanced, with Sendai creating as many chances as ourselves. But that was the difference today - putting those opportunities in the back of the net.

I'll always have a soft spot for Sendai

Sendai's excellent travelling support, gracious in defeat, probably felt much the same way. Their one consolation goal at the death was probably earned over the 90 minutes in terms of efforts, but we gave a ruthless finishing display today putting away nearly all our clear cut chances.

Johnsen's opener, the big man's first of the season, got things rolling, and Honda's strike just before the break was top draw. On a mazy run into the heart of the Sendai half, he exchanged not one but two lightening one-two plays before despatching the ball past the keeper.

Nagai showed his class today

The goal which pretty much ended Sendai's resistance came on the hour mark, and we have Fujimoto to thank for his razor sharp reactions. Hyodo's thundering shot came back off the post and Jungo was alert and fast enough to beat the defender to it. Three nil, and Hiraoka made it four three minutes later from a corner, and that was pretty much that. There was still two more goals to come, though, ours from sub Nagai who chased and beat a retreating defender before smashing the ball into the corner in a strike of pure quality. Sadly we let in a sloppy goal at the end, but fair play to Vegalta, at 5-0 down they were still having a go.

Ono was instrumental again

So not much to complain about today. We're still without Iwashita, Edamura and Aoyama through injuries, so to continue to maintain such a good start to the season is hugely encouraging. I've said it before, but the influence of Ono cannot be understated. He's different class, and the more I see of him the happier I am he came home to Shizuoka.

As for Sendai, for a newly promoted team they're not a bad side, but it's fairly safe to say their J1 honeymoon is over. They're a likeable club with a very good support, but some of their players spent more time chewing the ref's ear than anything else. I think they succeeded in annoying pretty much everyone inside Nihondaira (quite possibly including their own fans).

Case in point: Fernandinho. He wouldn't make our starting 11 these days, but he won a lot of fans in his spell with us a couple of years back. It was a while ago, but I'm pretty sure he never used to harangue the ref at every decision. He was lucky not to talk his way into the book today as he bitched and moaned constantly, at one point demanding the ref card one of our players.

But apart from that, no complaints, just aching legs and a sore throat. Gamba Osaka away on Saturday will be a tough game seeing as they've just had their first win of the season, but avoiding defeat there and a win next week at home to Omiya should see us remain in the upper reaches of the table. Yeah, we're top, but it's early, early days.

Right, I'm off to bed to dream of GOALS. :)

Videos

Full highlights to come as and when, but till then, here's our goals, starting with Johnsen. All come from YouTube user ssnnddttyy's personal cam.



Honda:



Fujimoto:



Hiraoka:



Nagai. He didn't manage to catch this one, so it's a partial view of the big screen highlights. Not perfect, but better than nothing!



And this week's bonus vid:



Yes, it is as fun as it looks. :)