S-Pulse 2-0 Gifu 2nd (Emp Cup, 2nd Rnd)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 2-0 Gifu 2nd
Takeuchi 45
Omae 45+1

Att. 3648

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Hiraoka
DF Iwashita
DF Ota
DF Tsujio

MF Ono
MF Jong-a-Pin
MF Takeuchi

FW Omae
FW Takagi
FW Nabeta

Subs Used

Sugiyama on for Iwashita (HT)
Edamura on for Ono (61)
Takahara on for Takagi (72)

Report

S-Pulse moved past Gifu's Seconds with the help of débutante Takeuchi's headed goal and then a cross which led to our second, and ultimately winning, goal. Other good news from today's low key affair was Takahara's return to the team after injury and Jong a Pin demonstrating his versatility when replacing Iwashita as centre back at half time after Sugiyama was brought on.

The win means we meet Gainare Tottori. The 3rd round game will be on November 16th, which is a Wednesday evening at Nihondaira, 7pm.

I fancied a change from behind the goal

Welcome back, Taka

Videos

Here's Takeuchi's excellent opener in lovely slomo from YouTube user imoimo9.

S-Pulse 2-0 Nagoya

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 2-0 Nagoya
Omae 73
Brosque 84

Att. 20181

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Tsujio
DF Iwashita
DF Bosnar (yellow 33)
DF Ota

MF Jong-a-Pin
MF Ono
MF Ljungberg

FW Takagi
FW Omae
FW Brosque (yellow 80)

Subs Used

Edamura on for Ono (90)
Nabeta on for Brosque (92)

Report

What a difference a year makes. No need to beat about the bush - that was one of the best performances I've seen at Nihondaira in my seven years behind the goal. Add to that kebabs, sunshine, a full house, catching up with mates, and winning a few quid on the game, all that's missing is a late night visit from Aoi Miyazaki to top off the perfect day. As that probably ain't gonna happen, I'll have to call it a near perfect day, but they come around so rarely it'll more than do.

We controlled this one from the start. Ono and Ljungberg started together for the first time, and both played the full 90 minutes. It was a partnership which works. We had two veteran midfielders with pure footballing minds working together to run the game. Just as important was Jong a Pin's immense presence playing just behind Freddie and Shinji. He's a big, strong player and more than once today, to all intents and purposes, walked up to a Nagoya player, took the ball off him and began a forward move.

Nagoya may lament that they had a bad game, but they weren't allowed to play. We pitched it just right with a combination of pressing the away team, putting them on the back foot, and making them rush their decisions. They kept losing possession or ended plays empty handed. Add to that the forward thrust of Jong a Pin, Ono and Ljungberg's touch and vision, and we were creating chance after chance. We also managed to miss several ridiculous opportunities to open the scoring, but they came at such frequency that the law of averages meant we finally broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute from Omae's header.

The moment of the match came ten minutes later when Freddie ran at a defender on the right wing, knocked it round him with a touch so perfectly weighted that he could sprint around the back peddling white shirt, pick up the ball, take it to the byline, and cross it in for Brosque to strike home and win the game. It was a fitting end to a display of quality from S-Pulse against, not a team struggling with relegation like Yamagata or Urawa, but the defending champions. Credit where it's due, because I'm quick to moan when things don't go well, but Ghotbi got it spot on today. We were bloody brilliant. Patient when it was needed, stampeding forward when able.

I can't finish without mentioning Jungo Fujimoto. He did nothing of note, was deafeningly booed at every touch, was subbed on the hour, and failed to realise we were taking the piss when singing his name at full time. He was the villain of the piece, and played it perfectly. :) Night night.

Pictures

B?

The Aus Factor
Plenty of needle made it feel like a derby
Having fun there, Jungo?
Who da man? You da man

Videos

Our second, with Ljungberg's quality assist. The move started by Jong a Pin's dispossessing of the Nagoya player.



Some highlights taken off the big screen:

Niigata 3-1 S-Pulse (Nab Cup 2nd Rnd 2nd Leg)

Barry writes:

Niigata 3-1 S-Pulse
Lopes 36 ---------------- Omae 25
Tanaka 55
Jefferson 58

Niigata win 4-3 on aggregate

Att. 10024

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Muramatsu
DF Iwashita
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF Jong-a-Pin
MF Hiraoka
MF Ono
MF Brosque

FW Takagi (yellow 79)
FW Omae

Subs Used

Ljungberg on for Ono (HT)
Sugiyama on for Hiraoka (64)
Tsujio on for Muramatsu (73)

Report

No chance. I'm in a right strop, so I'm off.

Shit result, end of.

Video

The goals. Great finish by Omae. I stopped watching after that.

Kawasaki 1-1 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

Kawasaki 1-1 S-Pulse
Own Goal 65 -------------------Brosque 56

Att. 20973

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Tsujio
DF Iwashita
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF Jong-a-Pin (yellow 22)
MF Edamura (yellow 18)
MF Brosque (yellow 82)

FW Omae
FW Nabeta
FW Takagi

Subs Used

Muramatsu on for Edamura (65)
Ljungberg on for Nabeta (74)

Report

Under the cosh for the first half, much better in the second. Ljungberg had a big impact again, starting moves and also being there on the end of others, but the 15 minutes he was on wasn't enough to create a winner. Nearly, but not quite. Bare in mind he's still some way off full fitness, but his rapid integration bodes well for the future.

Kawasaki were not playing like a team who had lost 9 of their last 10, and might have grabbed a winner. But they had no hope of dealing with Takagi who just won't allow himself to be denied. A surging run down the left, he beat two players before darting into the heart of the penalty area and poking a shot into the bottom corner. Sugiyama could only parry it out to a waiting Brisque. 1-0 to the good guys.

At 1-0 down the home team were really going for it and when Juninho's stab was deflected home by Jong a Pin's leg to level the score it was deserved. A draw was probably fair, and given our injury reduced team, not an altogether bad result. An even better result was Kofu doing Gamba 2-0 - especially because I had a few quid on it. :)

Next up, relegation threatened Niigata in the second leg of our League Cup 2nd round game. We lead 2-1 from the first leg.

Goal!

Ghotbi Says

To be honest, I though the 1st half was very sloppy for both teams. We created a few half chances and a penalty that wasn't called. But I thought the 2nd half we started better and created a nice goal, but our reaction after the goal was poor. Kawasaki created some good opportunities and we were not in control, and they equalised.

But after they equalised, especially after Freddie came on, we controlled the game and had some wonderful chances to win. There are some positives to take out of the game, Nabeta had a good game.

We are playing without some of our key players and without your more experienced players you make mistakes. The important thing is getting Ono and Takahara back and Ljungberg fully fit. Once those three players are back you'll see a different team.

Our fans were wonderful from the beginning to the end, they cheered us on and I'm grateful for them.

Videos

Personal video of Brosque's goal.

S-Pulse 1-0 Urawa Red Diamonds

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 1-0 Urawa Red Diamonds
Omae 63

Att. 21524

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Tsujio
DF Iwashita
DF Bosnar (yellow 15)
DF Ota

MF Jong-a-Pin (yellow 38)
MF Ono
MF Brosque

FW Omae
FW Takagi
FW Nabeta

Subs Used

Edamura on for Takagi (55)
Hiraoka on for Bosnar (65)
Nagai on for Ljungberg (76)

Report

Blistering heat, horrible jetlag, but at least we won and made it 4-0 against Saitama's two teams this year. I woke up less than three hours before kick off meaning a mad dash to make it out to Ecopa in time. For a home game, Ecopa's a mission, but it does make a change and means for the big games noone is left without a ticket. All told, less than 22000 is a disappointing gate, but at the end of the day we had 2000 more than could have fit in Nihondaira.

Anyway, we won. On the first half we deserved it. Urawa twice broke through one on one but lacked the quality to make them count. But for our part, Nabeta nearly opened the scoring, Genki would have done had he directed his shot better, and Jong a Pin crashed one shot against the bar, and another was only denied only by an excellent save by Kato.

The second half was much more evenly balanced, but Urawa lack teeth. Escudero kept falling over (diving) and otherwise making a mess of things. He either had a bad game or he's just crap. As time wore on, and especially after we took the lead, Urawa looked more and more desperate and rarely troubled Kaito for all their possession.

Tsujio's excellent trickery down the right wing and dart into the box was enough to give the breakthrough just past the hour. Genki was there to take it down and poke it home in one movement. Freddie had a good game. His vision is excellent and the only problem was his surrounding players not always anticipating him. We've seen this happen with Ono though, so give it time while everyone gets up to speed with the Swede's lightening decision making.

Next week we play Kawasaki who have just won their first game after nine defeats. Fingers crossed it's a mere blip in their otherwise disastrous season. :)

ADDITIONAL: It's worth mentioning this was a game without our captain or top scorer. That's all.

Pictures

The long road to Ecopa
They said it was for "children only" :(
Ole!

New look S-Pulse

You should be in good health and free from high blood pressure, heart, back, or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated by this adventure. Expectant mothers should not ride.

Youngberry had a decent game

Videos

Highlights.

S-Pulse 2-1 Albirex Niigata (Nab Cup 2nd Rnd 1st Leg)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 2-1 Albirex Niigata
Omae 16 ------------------ Honma 6
Brosque 74

Att. 6939

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Muramatsu
DF Hiraoka
DF Bosnar
DF Ota (yellow 87)

MF Jong-a-Pin
MF M. Yamamoto
MF Brosque (yellow 87)

FW Omae
FW Takagi
FW Nabeta

Subs Used

Tsujio on for Muramatsu (46)
Ljungberg on for M. Yamamoto (62)
Sugiyama on for Nabeta (82)

Report

None - I was in in England.

Videos

Highlights from the Albirex channel.

iwata 2-1 Shimizu S-Pulse

Barry writes:

iwata 2-1 S-Pulse
Komano 45 -------- Omae 63
Maeda 62

Att. 30516

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Tsujio
DF Hiraoka
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF Jong-a-Pin
MF Muramatsu
MF Ono

FW Nagai
FW Takagi
FW Omae

Subs Used

Brosque on for Nagai (46)
Ljungberg on for Ono (65)
Sugiyama on for Tsujio (74)

Report

Sorry, you're on your own. I'm 6000 miles away from Ecopa so have no idea how we did (apart from the obvious). I know Nagai got subbed at half time which cannot be good for any hopes of a future with us. It just hasn't happened for him. Ljungberg came on for Ono just after our goal, but like I said, I didn't see it so am waiting to hear from friends on how he did.

Onwards and upwards. Back to Ecopa next weekend for Urawa.