Ten-man Tokyo Fight To The Finish In Urawa
16/03/2010
Ten-man Tokyo Fight To The Finish In Urawa
J.League Division 1 2nd.Game
Sunday, March 14th. 2010
Saitama Stadium ( Away )
Attendance 50,096
F.C.Tokyo 0 Urawa Reds 1
19 Ponte ( Urawa )
F.C.Tokyo:
Gonda, Mukuhara ( Akamine 60 ), Morishige, Konno, Nagatomo, Nakamura ( Ishikawa 44 ), Tokunaga, Hanyu ( Kajiyama 63 ), Matsushita, Suzuki, Hirayama.
Subs not used: Shiota, Hiramatsu, Kim, Ricardinho.
Urawa Reds:
Yamagishi, Hirakawa ( Okamoto 72 ), Yamada, Tsuboi, Ugajin, Abe, Hosogai, Ponte, Kashiwagi ( Suzuki 86 ), Tanaka ( Escudero 63 ), Edmilson.
Subs not used: Kato, Spiranovich, Haraguchi, Takahara.
Tokyo Aim To Win On First Away Trip Of Season
Tokyo made the short journey north to Urawa for the first away fixture of the season. Looking back on the opening game, won for Tokyo by Hirayama's dramatic last-gasp winner, manager Hiroshi Jofuku commented, "Our concentration in defence was intense but it meant that we played a little too deeply. We played patiently for the whole 90 minutes though, and taking the three points was the result". To what extent Tokyo could repeat that patient performance to dig out a result would be the focus of the match.
Opponents Urawa had dominated possession against defending champions Kashima Antlers in their opening fixture but were twice exposed defensively and succumbed 2-0. The side would obviously be desperate to put that loss behind them and take the points in their first home game of the season. Forward Edmilson had ploughed a lone furrow in a 4-2-3-1 formation against Kashima but was partnered by Tanaka in a twin striker formation. For Tokyo the key points of the game would be addressing the issues raised in the F Marinos game, preventing Urawa from gaining control, pressing hard from the front and maintaing a compact shape.
Tokyo had suffered a comprehensive 3-1 defeat in the same fixture in 2009, curiously also the second game of the year, and had failed to beat Urawa in the league since 2004. In discussing the reasons for Urawa having become such a bogey team, Hiroshi Jofuku explained that, "With their stadium and their fans there's no doubt that Urawa are the biggest club in Japan. There obviously have to be reasons for our inability to beat them for so long; own our strength and also the mental aspect, which has so much influence in football. We want to become strong enough to deal with the atmosphere in the stadium. There's no short-cut to success, however. We have to keep it tight and play our own game. If we can't perform at the highest level then it will be difficult to win at Saitama Stadium". Tokyo aimed to take the points with a repeat of the tenacity shown in the previous game and a sense of maturity in their play.
Cold lingered in the shadows but Saitama Stadium was bathed in sunshine as Tokyo kicked off shortly after 2pm.
Tokyo Fall Behind To Penalty As Urawa Dominate
Tokyo found their rhythm straight from the kick off. In the 5th.minute Nakamura dribbled forward from midfield and let fly from distance but failed to hit the target. Nakamura pushed forward again in the 6th.minute, finding space on the right flank this time, but his through pass to Suzuki was slightly overhit and went out for a goal kick. In the 9th.minute a rapid changeover from defence to attack saw Suzuki burst into the Urawa area on the right but his pass to Hirayama failed to bring an attempt on goal.
Suzuki crossed to Mukuhara in the 12th.minute and when the ball was cleared to Hanyu his chipped return lacked accuracy and Yamagishi, in the Urawa goal, claimed the ball comfortably. With Tokyo unable to convert any of their early chances Urawa began to pump long balls forward from defence in an attempt to strike on the counter attack. In the 18th.minute Urawa left back Ugajin burst into the Tokyo area on the left, then collapsed under a challenge from Morishige. The referee pointed to the spot and Ponte converted the penalty to give Urawa the lead.
The goal lifted the home side and they poured forward in waves. In the 23rd.minute Konno made a vital interception to deny Edmilson a shooting opportunity inside the Tokyo area but the visitors' defence was unable to prevent Edmilson connecting with Hirakawa's cross from the right in the 27th.minute. In the 34th.minute Urawa forward Tanaka made a darting run behind the Tokyo defence to meet a through ball and shot narrowly wide.
Urawa midfielder Kashiwagi lined up a free kick just outside the Tokyo area on the right in the 38th.minute. His attempt struck the inside of the right post and rebounded back towards Tanaka who flung himself at the ball but could only direct his jumping volley against the other post. Fortune and a glaring miss had combined to prevent Tokyo falling further behind but their task became significantly harder following Morishige's second yellow card for a foul on Edmilson in the 39th.minute. Reduced to ten men and forced to reshuffle, Tokyo moved Tokunaga into central defence while Matsushita shifted into a defensive midfield position. Ishikawa replaced Nakamura in the 44th.minute and played on the right, with Suzuki on the left wing and Hirayama as lone striker.
Ten-man Tokyo Aim To Fightback
As the second half unfolded Urawa sat back, allowing Tokyo plenty of possession which they were unable to convert into openings, preferring to hit on the break. In the 52nd.minute Ishikawa was unable to reach Hanyu's long ball, while Urawa intercepted Mukuhara's attempted through ball to Hirayama in the 54th.minute. After Tokyo had smothered an Urawa break in the 56th.minute they failed to exploit their position as Hirayama failed to knock down Tokunaga's long feed.
Akamine replaced Mukuhara in the 60th.minute and Kajiyama replaced Hanyu shortly after. Matsushita moved to left back as Tokyo went in search of an equaliser. Tokyo cut a swathe through the Urawa defence in the 69th.minute as Nagotomo and Ishikawa combined down the right to set up Hirayama but the burly forward was judged to have committed a foul on a defender. Akamine had the ball in the net in the 73rd.minute as he darted through the Urawa backline and prodded Hirayama's through ball past Yamagishi but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Nagatomo dribbled to the Urawa byline in the 77th.minute and crossed to the onrushing Hirayama but Yamagishi held the ball cleanly. A minute later Hirayama knocked the ball down into Ishikawa's path as the midfielder burst forward on the right but again Yamagishi made a comfortable save. Another Hirayama knockdown, this time from Matsushita's long ball in the 79th.minute, presented Akamine with a clear shooting opportunity but he half-volleyed the ball high and wide. Tokyo failed to penetrate Urawa's solid defence but denied the home side a further goal. Despite enjoying plenty of possession and passing the ball around neatly Tokyo managed only two attempts on goal in the second half for a total of four in the match. Once again the side had come away empty-handed from Saitama Stadium.
Players' comments
Nakamura
"The opening part of the game went exactly as we had planned. On a personal level I was able to get the ball where I wanted it and push forward. I think we really needed to score during that period. It was Urawa's first home game of the year and taking the lead would obviously lift them so conceding was very disappointing. I felt they really made the most of their man advantage. Overall, we were done and it's extremely regrettable".
Hanyu
"We were on top at the start and needed something to show for our domination. Not scoring then has ultimately cost us the game, I think. Both just before and after the penalty we lost some of our defensive shape and ceded control to Urawa. Morishige's sending off left a large hole in the team. We were determined not to lose a single game this year and were focused on grinding out a result so getting nothing out of the match is very disappointing. We have to work harder to become stronger and more mature as a team".
F.C.Tokyo manager Hiroshi Jofuku
"Tokyo haven't beaten Urawa for a long time but the players were totally up for the game today and played very well. It's obviously disappointing to take nothing from the match but I told the players not to be downhearted; we can make good use of what we learned here today. We started very well but the defence line stopped pushing up. When we went to win the ball up front or in midfield we paid too much attention to their free runners and with the defence sitting deeper that allowed them space to play into. We attempted to fix it but with only nine outfield players it became very difficult. I felt we corrected the balance in the second half and were able to play our own game to some extent. Morishige has to look at himself over the sending off as it turned the game against us and put the team in a difficult situation. However, the ball looked like it was going out and if the decision is a penalty then I have to study more myself and offer guidance to the players. What's important is making the best use of what we have learned from the game today".
Urawa Reds manager Finke
"Our aim was to earn our first win of the season and we achieved that. However, it's possible we could have played better had it been 11 against 11. When your opponent has a man sent off it can often pose problems for the manager as the players can unconsciously lose their concentration. I had to point that out to several of our team during the game today. Overall we were the better team and probably deserved a second goal. In the second half we had a positive attitude but were lacking in many areas: using the width of the pitch, controlling the game, in the switch to attack after we regained the ball and in our approach play in the final third. However, we shouldn't forget that we played very well in the first half. After losing away last week winning was the most important thing and we can't really complain about the result".
< Other results >
F Marinos 3 Bellmare 0
Albirex 1 Jubilo 1
S-Pulse 3 Montedio 0
Vegalta 3 Ardija 1
Grampus 2 Frontale 3
Kyoto Sanga 1 Antlers 1
Cerezo 1 Gamba 1
Vissel 1 Sanfrecce 2
< Standings >
Vegalta 6, Frontale 6, S-Pulse 4, Antlers 4, Sanfrecce 4, F Marinos 3, Ardija 3, Vissel 3, Grampus 3, F.C.Tokyo 3, Reds 3, Albirex 1, Gamba 1, Jubilo 1, Kyoto Sanga 1, Montedio 1, Bellmare 1, Cerezo 1.
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