Takagi on for Brosque (55) Edamura on for Sugiyama (73) Yamamoto on for Tsujio (80)
Report
You have got to be joking. Well, at least it wasn'tfour.
Oh, hold on, as I type this, it is four. :( Another 94th minute goal for the opposition.
Are we trying for our worst ever goal difference? What the hell has gone wrong these last three games? This season was always going to be transitional, so here's to us finding our feet again and stopping this horrific run at home to Omiya on Saturday.
We only drop one place to 10th thanks to a bit of a cushion from our recent good run. I don't think anyone except the current bottom three will be going down, so let's not panic or get on anyone's back just yet.
But seriously, though. This can't go on.
Ghotbi Says
Translated back to English, so not his exact words, but the gist.
"We gave everything we had. We were unlucky to go one nil down and end the first half behind. We have a lot of injured players and people who aren't at full fitness and having a hard time of it. A positive is that even at 3-0 down we never gave up and were attacking until the end.
We're getting all our bad luck at once. I'm happy that our next game is at home where we can play in front of our own fans and stop this bad run."
Videos
Highlights.
Reaction from our travelling fans at full time. Can't say I blame them.
In other news, Brighton scored an 98th minute winner to mark a dream start to life at The Amex Stadium. After the last three weeks, I bloody needed this, I can tell ya!
S-Pulse 2-1 Niigata Ono 57---------------------- Ishikawa 5 Takahara 90 -------------- Suzuki sent off (55)
Att. 13599
Line Up
GK Usui
DF Muramtsu DF Hiraoka DF Bosnar DF Ota
MF Yamamoto MF Edamura MF Ono
FW Kobayashi FW Takahara FW Brosque
Subs Used
Omae on for Koboyashi (HT) Nagai on for Ono (78) Takagi on for Edamura (78)
Report
I'm bloody knackered, so I'm going to write this either Sunday or Monday. In a nutshell, Niigata were the most one dimensional team to come to Nihondaira this year, and despite taking an early lead, we always controlled the game. After the red card, Niigata's game plan was to keep nine men behind the ball with the Brazilian striker waiting upfield for long balls to hit us on the counter.
An S-Pulse moon was out
Tuesday update
Well, it's a bit later than I hoped, but I've had a busy weekend celebrating a UKU wedding (not mine!) and have finally just been able to sit down and write a bit more. As I mentioned, Niigata were not so good, but their goal was very well taken and they almost had two after we made a mess of a back pass.
With the man advantage we were always in control, save for a couple of the counter attack breaks. We just didn't seem able to create the killer chance. That was until a Takagi shot forced a corner, and another piece of perfect predatory positioning penetrated the Niigata defence. The goal, right on the stroke of the 90th minute sent us all barmy and Takahara was visibly loving it. If he keeps this up (and I think he just might) I might just forget he ever used to play for iwata.
We're up to sixth and face Cerezo on Saturday for a chance to climb into the top three. Ole!
Full time
By the way, out of our starting 11, EIGHT were natives of Shizuoka prefecture. Ota was the only non Shizuokan Japanese, and that is pretty impressive if you ask me.
Ichikawa on for Tsujio (HT) Fujimoto on for Ono (65) Hara on for Nagai (75)
Report
There isn't one, because I was on holiday when I went to this and didn't get back to Shizuoka until the Saturday. So instead of the game, here's three pictures of anything but.
UKU on tour
Excellent travelling support for a midweek night game
Takaki on for Hiroi (HT) Nagai on for Ito (70) M. Yamamoto on for Tsujio (70)
Report
Crap, I'm meant to write something here, aren't I? OK, where to start? Excuses? OK then. We were without top two keepers Nishibe and Kaito, defenders Ota, Iwashita and Bosnar, and midfielder Ono. So yeah, nearly half the team being out is going make any game an uphill struggle. Still, regardless of that, we were the better team in the second half. It was the first 45 where we blew it. A header at the near post from a corner, and an inability to curtail a run deep into our penalty area gave Niigata the chances they needed.
I was briefly wondering if starting the second half 2-0 down was some kind of grand plan. You know the type of thing - give ourselves a challenge and that. On Wednesday it gave us a chance to enjoy a truly memorable come back, and for the first ten minutes of the second half against Niigata it looked like the same thing was about to play out. We were charging up the field with purpose and within moments of the restart only a stunning save from point-blank denied Jungo.
The chances continued to come. Ten shots in the second 45 compared to one in the first, and 8 corners compared to two tell a lot of the story, but when it's not going to go in, it's not going to go in.
As time wore on, Niigata, who came out nervy and hesitant, grew in confidence and started looking dangerous on the counter attack. As time wore on Niigata also started the inevitable play acting and time wasting to help run the clock down. A mock substitution where the man to be replaced saunters at a snail's pace to the touchline only to turn around and rejoin play? That was 90 seconds run down right there. An Albirex player falling down and laying flat out for a good ten seconds before suddenly rolling over in supposed agony? Then waiting five seconds before rolling over the other way? Yep, all the possible gamesmanship tricks and time wasting ploys were out in force. It was embarrassing to watch, but I guess it just underlined the desperation of the visitors.
But all that aside, we just couldn't put the ball in the net. If Okazaki had not had his best chance stopped by an excellent one handed save I don't doubt we'd have been sufficiently motivated to mount a serious assault for the equaliser, but the breakthrough never came, time got shorter and we gradually ran out of steam.
Well, our first league defeat since November 29th last year is always going to be a major downer, but the facts remain we're the least defeated team in J1, we're top and we've got the best goal difference. Not at all bad for nearly a third of the way through the season. Saturday away at the Ajinomoto stadium with most of our regular starters back will be a different ball game entirely, and avoiding defeat will ensure top spot until the middle of July thanks to the World Cup break.
I wasn't going to bother with FC Tokyo this year (two visits, two defeats - I don't especially like the Ajisuta), but when there's so much at stake with every game at the moment, how could I possible stay away? See you in the capital on Saturday!
It was announced today that we'll play Albirex Niigata in a pre-season friendly on Sunday February 28th. Kick off is 1:30pm at Nihondaira. Tickets go on sale on January 30th.
It's a shame we won't have a derby to help pass the closed season weeks, but Albirex will no doubt offer a better test of our 2010 team than Iwata could present.
Rumours are abounding that Jubilo refused to sign up for another instalment of the SDT Cup after last August's 5-1 humiliation. :-D
Nagasawa on for Hyodo (72) Ito on for Fujimoto (88) Nagia on for Honda (95)
S-Pulse marched on to the semi final of the cup in a pulsating match at a sun-bathed Nihondaira this afternoon. An excellent away support came down from Niigata for what would be the final game of 2009 for one of these two teams. S-Pulse rediscovered the art of goal scoring with both front men getting on the score sheet, but it was Arata Kodama who popped up deep in extra time first half stoppage time to volley home the goal which sent us into the cup semi final.
Nihondaira Stadium, Shizuoka City, Japan A balmy 23 degree Saturday afternoon (On December 12th!!!)
Everton Santos saw red (but had to be carried off)
The semi final will be played at Ecopa Stadium on December 29th at 1pm. Opponents will be Nagoya, who beat Gifu in their quarter final.
Videos
Highlights taken from the official Albirex channel:
Now for some personal cam captures of our goals, starting with Okazaki's opener:
Johnsen makes it two one:
Arata volleys home the winner:
All three videos courtesy of YouTube user ssnnddttyy.
Seems we've lucked out big style. The Emperor's Cup quarter and semi final venues and kick off times were announced today, and we've been handed a home draw in both, should we progress. The quarter final tie with Alibirex Niigata will be played at Nihondaira, kick off 1pm on Saturday December 12th.
If we win we'll go on to face the winner of Nagoya and FC Gifu which will be played Tuesday December 29th at Ecopa. Kick off 1pm. Click here for the official announcement (Japanese). This reporter thinks we've been handed a massive chance to make our first Emp Cup final since 2005, and will be gutted if we don't make it. Come on, boys!
Kashima lose 1-0 at home to Albirex Niigata and our first place position remains intact. The Antlers, who were ten points clear not so long ago, are now second. We have the same number of points, but their goal difference has taken a hammering over their recent shockingly bad run. Out of their last seven, they've lost six.
All over
Should have stayed at S-Pulse, mate
Wondering where their ten point lead went
The remaining 16 minutes of the abandoned Kashima vs Kawasaki game will take place on Wednesday, and if Kawasaki can hold onto their 3-1 lead Kashima will have lost eight - twice as many as us. It's going to be an interesting last six games!
M. Yamamoto on for Hyodo (63) Fujimoto on for Honda (81) Takaki on for Ito (88)
Report
A game we could have won. I've never seen a referee so trigger happy with the cards, and both teams suffered with a red card each. In what was far from a dirty game, I lost count of the number of free kicks awarded.
We opened the scoring with a trademark header from Okazaki. It almost tore a hole in the net and takes Okachan up to joint leading scorer in J1 with 11.
Another full house at Nihondaira
Niigata fell victim to the first of the red cards on 43 minutes when defender Gilton saw red after a second yellow. We were able to take advantage of the extra man and we rained down chance after chance on the Niigata goal. We had nearly three times the number of shots, and had six times the number of corners as the visitors, but time and again we were too sloppy in front of goal.
We paid the price for not making the most of our pressure when a stunning free kick from Márcio Richardes levelled the scores on 76. We still had the man advantage, but not for long. Two minutes later Edamura was sent off, him too for a second yellow.
After that, Alibirex looked more and more dangerous, but the clock ran down and time was up. It finished all square; a result neither team will be especially happy with. Albirex lose more ground on second place Kawasaki, and we miss the chance to go fourth.
Videos etc
Full highlights:
Right after Okazaki's header, in the melee behind the goal:
A video of our wall of colour pre-game with a stunning view of Mt. Fuji:
Our twenty year old Korean Kim Dong-Sub was loaned out this week to J2 outfit Tokushima Vortis. Striker Dong-Sub has represented South Korea at national level at U15, U18 and U20 but is yet to make any first team appearances for us.
With Hara, Okazaki, Nagai and Johnsen all ahead of him, the club have chosen to loan him out where he will hopefully gain some match experience. The Shikoku side currently sit in 8th in the 18 team J2. He's due to return to the bright orange fold at the start of the new year. Read the full press release here (Japanese).
Reserves
Our reserves sides played two practice matches last weekend. August 8th, 10:00am, Miho
As of 5pm Monday evening, less than 3000 tickets remain for this Sunday's clash with Albirex Niigata. With a week still to go, we've already sold more than the same fixture attracted last year, and remain on course to maintain an average crowd way up on last season. For full details of remaining tickets, click here (Japanese). If you want to go, don't wait around - get your ticket asap. Speaking of which, the Derby is mere days away, and as previously mentioned this game will sell out, so don't delay!
Niigata's first home defeat of the season, and a massive three points for us.
Eleven shots for each team tells the general story of this one. We looked much better than of late, although we were hanging on for grim life at the end. The calming influence of Paulo on 75 minutes went a long way to making sure we protected the lead we'd gained in the 52nd minute.
Seven minutes into the second half, an advancing Okazaki was brought down clumsily which led to a free kick in perfect range for Masaki. After a similar free kick in the first half which Hyodo smashed into the back row of the huge Big Swan stadium, Yamamoto was not about to let this one go waste. He stepped up, WALLOPED it into the top corner, and left the keeper no chance. Brilliant goal.
We still let far too many balls go to waste today, and we still seemed lost for ideas and direction more than is healthy, but for every time we ran the ball deep into Albirex territory only to run out of ideas and lose it, we also put together a sweeping passing move which harked back to some of our better performances last season. After dropping points at home to Chiba and Reysol, we're on the mend, and these three away points are massive.
Niigata and their legions of fans will probably feel a little hard done by not to have grabbed an equaliser, but they're decent team and will be fighting for an ACL place come December. We showed something we've been lacking lately, and that's BALLS. We're still not nearly physical enough and apt to go to ground under any half decent physical challenge, but today was a very important win. Great work lads, and our thousand or so fans who made the huge trip - you did us proud!
Line Up:
GK K. Yamamoto
DF Takaki DF Aoyama DF Arata DF Ota
MF Okazaki MF M. Yamamoto MF Ito MF Hyodo
FW Johnsen FW Hara
Subs used:
Paulo on for Hara (75) Tsujio on for Hyodo (78) Edamura on for Okazaki (89)
Highlights:
Click here for a personal cam highlights. Our goal comes on 8:00.
Links:
Read the report from The Rising Sun here. The write up includes a detailed discussion of something which has been baffling us for weeks. That's the recent promotion of Masaki to the status of a Guaranteed Stating Member ahead (depending on the week) the likes of Jungo, Teru, Paulo, etc etc. Worth a read.
Next up Kashiwa in the cup. I'll be heading up to Chiba Ken next Saturday, so fingers crossed I can see us win away for the first time since the 2007 Shizuoka Derby!
Finally, a day at the footie to relax and enjoy! The only times Shizza and I were troubled yesterday was before the match as we groaned through the line up. Why was Omae nowhere to be seen, not even on the bench? Why do we always have Oka-chan on the bench and never at the start, despite his obvious ability? And oh God, Marcos Paulo's in the starting line-up. For a moment, it seemed like Kenta really would be on his way out.
But we should know better than to doubt the Mighty Pulse. Although the above questions still stand, it was a solid S-Pulse performance and Albirex never looked anywhere near good enough to beat us - and that was just the pre-match pro-evolution game shown on the big screen! Watching that before the actual match, we joked about how a 3-1 victory would be awesome after recent form - and then the lads went one better and brought us a well deserved 3-0, and the other magic 3 - points!
Nishizawa will undoubtedly be happy with his double, as will Kazumichi for his shot off the corner. Even Paulo managed a decent game, although I would like to see him do more. I was very happy when Okazaki came on later in the second half and although he didn't manage to get a goal (well, 3-0 is nice, but we wouldn't have complained about 4) he did look good - and I'm not just talking about his body! (Ok, I might have a wee bit of a crush on Okazaki, but that's allowed right?)
It was a mad drunken day and night for all at the 'Daira last night, with Shizza's big bro in town to share the joy. ロコロコ was as good as ever, and as always the back of my legs are battered from being whacked off the chairs. I bruise so easily my co-workers now check my calves to see whether Shimizu won the day before - if there is nothing there, they know better than to mention the game to me. Hopefully the rest of the season will bring lots more shades of purple and blue, continuing with Omiya on Sunday. Shizza, I and a good few other UK Ultras are heading up to cheer on the Orange Soldiers - and boys, its my birthday, so another three points would be the best present a girl could have - short of Okazaki wrapped up with a big orange ribbon, that is!
Something entirely unrelated to today's game: So today was the first league game this season I wasn't able to watch, and all I can say is thank God for real life getting in the way. While we got sent packing from Niigata with our tales firmly between our legs, I was far from any TV screen, drinking in the history, admiring the architecture and chatting up the maiko girls of Japan's most ancient city.
So fair play, I wasn't at match, but with the 36000 fans who were there, including the as-always sizable Orange Army, it seems the only people who didn't bother turning up was the S-Pulse team. I didn't see the game, and I know scorelines don't always tell the whole story, but it comes as no surprise in checking the stats to learn we matched them on shots, destroyed them on the corner kicks, yet still came away pointless. The lack of penetration up front is crippling us, and we're looking at a season of horrendous mid-table mediocrity the rate things are going.
Amid the very few positives after today are the facts that we're amazingly still only two wins off the top five, Jubilo got turned over 4-1 at home, and... and... No, that's it. It's double winners Antlers at home on Sunday, and fingers crossed we can capitalise on their champions league exhaustion to start clawing our way back up the table. Here's to that, but in the meantime, here's to remembering that having important stuff to do with people important to you is a shite sight more rewarding than watching 11 men chase a pigs bladder around. Amen to that.
While on my short trip, despite attempting to keep football as far from my mind as possible, it had a funny way of finding me:
Two S-Pulse fans spotted in the grounds of Kyoto's Kinkakuji. They also wisely opted to avoid the trek to Niigata:
If there are any nutters out there who want to see where it all went wrong, here's the "highlights":
Barry writes:
