Kyoto 2-4 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

Kyoto Sanga 2-4 S-Pulse
Yanagisawa 31 ---------------------- Fujimoto 54 (pk)
Dutra 34 ---------------------------------Johnsen 59
Nakayama sent off 69---------------Fujimoto 78 (pk)
----------------------------------------------Bosnar 83
--------------------------------------------- Ota sent off 79

Att. 14016

Line Up

GK Takeda

DF Takaki
DF Hiraoka
DF Bosnar (yellow 84)
DF Ota (yellow 27, red 79)

MF Honda
MF Ono (yellow 1)
MF M. Yamamoto

FW Okazaki
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

Tsujio on for Takaki (HT)
Hyodo on for M. Yamamoto (HT)
Kodama on for Ono (80)

Report

That was one hell of a game of football. Me and Yujiro arrived at Shimizu Dream House for the public viewing in plenty of time - or so we thought. Well over an hour before kick off it was standing room only as the place was swamped with fans hoping to see us extend our unbeaten run to ten games. In the event, that's just what they got to see, but, man, what a ride it was!

Standing room only

After a wretched first half we were two nil down and deserved nothing less. Kenta was still without Nishibe in goal, so rookie Takeda started, and the boss had also chosen to rest regular starters Hyodo and Tsujio. We visibly missed Hyodo in particular, and the first 45 minutes were painful to watch at times. Mistake after mistake after mistake, and when we did get within shooting range we blasted it over time and again. The worst offender was Ono when, after a head down by Johnsen, the midfield wizard was all alone with time and just the keeper to beat. He hit it first time into row Z.

Kyoto were clinical with the two best chances they had, although they should have made it three just before the break. The referee was card and whistle happy all game. The free kick which led to Kyoto's second looked like a fair challenge to me, but I'm not a referee and I wasn't there, so I'll give the man in black the benefit of the doubt. The kick was floated into the box and a purple-propelled header was sent home totally unhindered by anything as troublesome as defenders.

The atmosphere was one of utter dejection, and it felt like our unbeaten start to the season was as good as gone when the first half whistle went. While it wasn't quite as simple as Hyodo and Tsujio's absence causing all the problems, we were a transformed team in the second half when both were back on the pitch.

We were allowed back in the game via a Jungo penalty converted after Okazaki was clumsily bundled over. In the twenty minutes that followed, Mizutani, the Kyoto shot-stopper, pulled off two stunning saves in five minutes to deny Okazaki, but wasn't able to beat Johnsen to a pin point Ono cross which levelled the score. The equalising goal fired us up to the point that to my eyes we looked line a team of lions with had tasted blood and was tearing up and down the pitch eager for more. We were absolutely ravenous, with lightening play between the likes of Ono, Jungo and Johnsen carving routes through the home team and culminating in shots which on another day would have gone in.

The sending off of Nakayama only added fuel to the fire, and the inevitable happened when Okazaki was bundled down in the area for another Fujimoto penalty. It was a soft penalty for sure, but this ref was giving everything. He sent off Ota for a second yellow after a mid-air collision with no malice whatsoever, and he booked Bosnar for, I can only presume, his celebrations after he sent a 35 metre free kick into the back of the net. Bosnar's second goal of the season surprised everyone - the Sky Perfect TV cameraman included - and had the hundreds packed into Dream House dancing in the aisles.

The travelling hordes caught on the big screen

It was a performance of two halves, the first one shocking, the second, at times, awesome. We extended our lead at the top to four points after both Kashima and Nagoya lost, and Kawasaki dropped points in Osaka. There's absolutely no time to let up though, and we should be looking to beat Niigata on Saturday. After the cards for Ota, Bosnar and Ono, we'll be without all three, which will mean some rearranging will be necessary.

Videos

Full highlights (only half of Bosnar's wonder strike, though):