Shigematsu Scores On Debut As Tokyo Down Omiya Ardija
03/04/2010
Shigematsu Scores On Debut As Tokyo Down Omiya Ardija
J.League Division 1 4th.Game
Sunday March 28th. 2010
NACK5 Stadium Omiya ( Away )
Attendance 13,060
F.C.Tokyo 2 Omiya Ardija 0
61 Konno ( Tokyo ), 79 Shigematsu ( Tokyo ).
F.C.Tokyo:
Gonda, Mukuhara, Morishige, Konno, Nagatomo, Hanyu ( Kim 46 ), Tokunaga, Ishikawa, Nakamura ( Shigematsu 56 ), Akamine ( Ricardinho 68 ), Hirayama.
Subs not used: Shiota, Hiramatsu, Matsushita, Otake.
Omiya Ardija:
Kitano, Sugiyama ( Aoki 60 ), Fukaya, Mato, Murakami, Kanazawa, An, Hashimoto, Uchida, Ishihara ( Tsubouchi 46 ), Ichikawa ( Watabe 71 ).
Subs not used: Ezumi, Tokita, Kanakubo, Fujita.
Tokyo Travel In Hope
For the 4th.game of the season Tokyo made the short journey north to take on Omiya Ardija at the NACK5 Stadium. Following the 0-0 draw with Cerezo Osaka in their previous outing Tokyo had a W1 D1 L1 record and had conceded only a single goal in the three games. Scoring was the problem, however and a return of one goal was far from satisfactory. The major issue was how to turn possession gained by pressing from the front or aggressive defending into goals. In training a variety of attacking formations had been tested, with a front line of Hirayama, Ricardinho and Shigematsu supported by Kim at side back and Nagatomo in midfield.
Morishige returned from suspension while Nakamura and Ishikawa played on the left and right of midfield respectively with Hirayama and Akamine in attack. Teenage newcomer Shigematsu took a place on the bench for the first time in his professional career.
Opponents Omiya had begun the season with an impressive 3-0 destruction of Cerezo Osaka but lost attacking creator Rafael and slumped to consecutive defeats against Sendai and Kashima. Tokyo manager Hiroshi Jofuku was full of praise for striker Ishihara and urged caution, "He can create openings with his own ability and with the ball at his feet or on the counter attack he's very sharp. They're a hard-working team. When we have the ball and are looking to push forward they'll undoubtedly catch us on the counter attack. If we make mistakes then they'll score." The vital area of the game would be midfield where Tokyo needed to gain control while maintaining their concentration in defence. To what extent Tokyo could unlock an Omiya defence led by towering centre back Mato would be the key to winning a game that could prove vital to future hopes.
Winter had made an unwelcome return and the home side kicked off shortly after 2pm. on a cold and cloudy afternoon.
Tokyo Fail To Take Advantage Of Sendings Off
The complexion of the game changed dramatically in the 9th.minute as Omiya holding midfielder An Yong Hak was sent off for a foul on Hanyu. With the numerical advantage Tokyo began to take control and Ishikawa went close to opening the scoring in the 13th.minute as he cleverly darted through the Omiya backline and bore down on goal, only to see a defender's desperate lunge take the sting off his shot which the goalkeeper gathered comfortably.
Omiya resisted making substitutions, preferring a 4-4-1 formation with Ichikawa as lone striker, Ishihara on the flank and midfielder Kanazawa in the holding role. Tokyo dominated possession but were unable to make headway against the packed home defence. In the 24th.minute Ishikawa and Hirayama attempted to play a one-two but a defender blocked the return ball; Hirayama pounced as it ran loose and cracked a fierce left-footed drive from outside the area that flew narrowly wide of the goal. Hirayama was off-target again in the 26th.minute as he received the ball into his feet from Tokunaga, spun and fired wide of the left upright.
Tokyo struggled to create in the face of some aggressive play from the home side but finally engineered an opening in the 42nd.minute. Konno took the ball forward out of defence down the right and Mukuhara moved it on to Ishikawa. Ishikawa crossed, Akamine dummied and allowed the ball to reach Nakamura who knocked it down to Hanyu. Hanyu struck firmly but a defender blocked his effort away. In the 45th.minute Omiya defender Mato slid into Hanyu and received a second yellow card, joining An for an early bath and reducing his team to 9 men. The first period ended 0-0.
Konno Strikes, Shigematsu Scores On Debut
Having lost Hanyu to injury Tokyo radically changed their formation for the second half. Substitute Kim Young Gwan played on the left of a three-man backline with Morishige and Mukuhara while Konno and Nagatomo moved further forward in midfield. The attacking line-up nearly bore fruit immediately as Hirayama nodded Nakamura's deep cross down to Akamine but the Tokyo forward blazed high over the bar. Nakamura crossed deeply again in the 55th.minute but Nagatomo was unable to direct his header on target at the far post.
Tokyo were enjoying the freedom of the park but some desperate defending and good saves from Kitano, in the Omiya goal, continued to frustrate the visitors. Shigematsu made his professional debut in the 56th.minute as he replaced Nakamura. Tokyo finally broke the deadlock in the 61st.minute. Ishikawa crossed from the right and the ball was cleared out to the left where Nagatomo combined with Kim to centre again. This time the clearance fell to Konno, just outside the penalty area, and he hammered a glorious first-time strike into the back of the net.
Ricardinho replaced Akamine in the 68th.minute as Tokyo sought to keep the pressure on Omiya. Ishikawa's dribbling on the right and Hirayama's hard work through the middle continued to create a stream of chances. In the 71st.minute Shigematsu neatly feinted past a defender and played the ball on to Ishikawa who struck first time, drawing a fine save from Kitano. Nagatomo raced down the left in the 79th.minute and curled in a tempting cross that Shigematsu buried with a superb header. The youngster had marked his debut with a well-taken goal that gave Tokyo a comfortable two-goal cushion.
Tokyo continued to attack ceaselessly but failed to add to their tally despite having 32 attempts on goal and the final whistle blew on a 2-0 win. The side had taken full advantage of the numerical superiority to record their second win of the season.
Players' comments
Shigematsu
"Playing in front of such a large crowd is very different from what I'm used to so I just decided to go out and give it my best. I'm a forward and I thought that if I could get on the pitch I'd contribute to scoring in any way I could and that's all I thought about. Our opponents were playing short-handed and we had to score so I was certain a chance would come my way. On reflection, I was a little reckless at times and my shooting from middle and long range wasn't the best. I made a few passes as well and from now I want to improve my decision making and increase my accuracy".
Konno
"We were faced with situations where we had to decide between shooting or making another pass. We have to improve our decision making under those circumstances or we won't be able to beat the stronger teams. We can't be satisfied with our results so far and our performances are far from what we need to challenge for the title. We have to practice endlessly to improve our accuracy".
F.C.Tokyo manager Hiroshi Jofuku
"To win 2-0 is a good result but you could also say that only scoring two isn't enough, all things considered. When your opponents are playing with eight or nine outfield players like today you have to be very careful not to allow them even a sniff of a goal and the way we kept them out of our penalty area and kept a clean sheet was very pleasing. When players are sent off you have to be aware of the possibility that decisions could go against you as well so you have to maintain concentration and not give anything away. I think that if we could have got the second goal sooner we would have been able to relax but our shape wasn't bad. It's very difficult to create chances against a team that is only defending and Ardija are a hard-working side. We created openings along the flanks and got in behind their defence but the second goal just wouldn't come. Perhaps we became a little impatient. I think what the players learned today is that you simply can't shoot as soon as you have a sight of goal. You have to work the ball to move your opponents around and then choose the time and place with the highest possibility of creating a clear goal-scoring opportunity. It'll be good if the players can take that lesson onboard. I think today's game will have significance if we can take the points in our next match. We intend to prepare thoroughly as we look ahead".
Omiya Ardija manager Chang Woe Ryong
"I have to apologise to our supporters for losing consecutive games at home. Sometimes games like these happen. The players fought hard to the very end and I hope we can take that into the next match. They covered well when we went down to 9 men. Of course we started the game with the intention of winning and both sides played well at the start of the game. However, this is what football is like sometimes".
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