Tokyo Sunk By Second Half Gamba Double
27/04/2010
Tokyo Sunk By Second Half Gamba Double
J.League Division 1 8th.Game
Saturday April 24th. 2010
Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium ( Away )
Attendance 17,590
F.C.Tokyo 0 Gamba Osaka 2
66 Lucas ( Gamba ), 75 Usami ( Gamba ).
F.C.Tokyo:
Gonda, Nagatomo, Morishige, Konno, Kim, Tokunaga, Hanyu ( Suzuki 71 ), Ishikawa, Nakamura ( Kajiyama 59 ), Hirayama, Ricardinho ( Shigematsu 59 ).
Subs not used: Shiota, Hiramatsu, Mukuhara, Akamine.
Gamba Osaka:
Fujigaya, Kaji, Nakazawa, Yamaguchi, Takagi, Takei ( Endo 46 ), Myojin, Futagawa, Yasuda, Otsuka ( Lucas 46 ), Usami ( Hoshihara 84 ).
Subs not used: Kimura, Shimohira, Suganuma, Sasaki.
Tokyo Aim For Victory In Osaka
For the 8th.game of the season F.C.Tokyo traveled south to take on Gamba Osaka. The draw with Kyoto Sanga in the previous outing had left Tokyo winless in league play since the victory over Omiya Ardija on March 28th; equally frustrating had been the lack of goals in a series of sluggish performances. Manager Hiroshi Jofuku commented, "The players are absolutely not lacking in motivation or willingness. Exactly how we harness their energy to win games has been something we haven't addressed," as the team attempted to overcome the issues raised and put in a winning performance.
Opponents Gamba, hampered by injuries to key players, had made a stuttering start to the season and lay in 13th.place at kick off with only a single win to their name. They were able to welcome back midfield instigator Endo and forward Lucas to the bench but, as Hiroshi Jofuku warned, "They have players of real ability and their individual decision-making is top quality. Regardless of who plays that won't change". Tokyo would need to win the battle for midfield supremacy to prevent the ball reaching the dynamic Gamba attacking duo of Usami and Otsuka, while the 3-5-2 formation with Kaji and Yasuda on the flanks meant that the game could be decided on the wings. If Tokyo could score first then their chances of winning would dramatically increase.
Nakamura returned to the Tokyo starting line up after missing out against Kyoto while Kajiyama was included in the squad for the first time since the second game of the year. Regarding the attack, the manager commented, "It's not wrong to say it's a trial and error process. As we attempt to clearly refine our approach we want the players to step up, take their chance and make a breakthrough".
Tokyo had suffered a resounding defeat in this fixture in 2009 and sought a measure of revenge. "There's plenty we can learn from Gamba," said Hiroshi Jofuku, "but we're not about to copy them. If we take what we can learn from Gamba and ally that to our individual strengths then that should make us even stronger".
Tokyo kicked off shortly after 5pm on a cool and sunny afternoon.
Tokyo Fail To Take Chances
Both sides made a cautious start to the game. In the 8th.minute Ricardinho dribbled straight at the Gamba defence and shot from distance but Fujigaya, in the home goal, easily held his effort. Tokyo launched a quick counter attack down the left in the 11th.minute, Ishikawa lofting a ball over the Gamba defence for Ricardinho to chase. Ricardinho raced into the area on the left, cut back inside a defender and shot wide. Tokyo defender Kim pushed forward to the edge of the Gamba area in the 19th.minute, received the ball from Hirayama and created an opportunity.
Tokyo's sharp pressing in midfield allowed them to find a rhythm and they slowly began to increase possession, aiming to infiltrate behind the Gamba defence. In the 23rd.minute a neat move involving Hirayama, Ishikawa and Hanyu ended with Nagatomo shooting from the corner of the penalty area. In the 37th.minute Kim's raking crossfield ball allowed Ishikawa to break behind the Gamba defence but Hirayama failed to make contact with his early cross.
In the 39th.minute Hanyu's pass set Ricardinho away and the young Brazilian found Ishikawa racing forward on the right. Ishikawa burst into the area but fractionally delayed his shot, allowing a defender time to clear the ball out for a corner. As half time approached Gamba attempted to regain control by retaining possession and hit Tokyo on the counter attack but the visitors maintained their grip. The first half finished 0-0.
Top Quality Finishing Dooms Tokyo To Defeat
Gamba introduced Lucas and Endo for the second half, switching to a 4-4-2 formation. Despite the changes it was Tokyo that made the early openings, however. In the 51st.minute Ishikawa hared down the right and drove a inch-perfect cross to Ricardinho in the centre. Unfortunately the striker failed to make contact with the ball. In the 55th.minute Nagatomo battled Gamba midfielder Yasuda right to the byline and managed to cut the ball back into the danger area; the Gamba defence cleared the ball straight to Kim whose thunderous drive struck a defender and bounced to safety.
Tokyo sent on Kajiyama and Shigematsu in the 59th.minute in an attempt to maintain their grip on the game. Two minutes later Hirayama nodded Kim's long ball down on the edge of the area and Ishikawa flashed a shot narrowly wide of the left post. Tokyo continued to spurn chances and were made to pay in the 66th.minute as Lucas let fly with a low, fizzing drive from 25 metres out. The ball seemed to divert slightly from its course as it reached Gonda, striking the keeper's gloves and bouncing into the net.
The goal gifted Gamba the momentum and, with Lucas as the focal point, they swarmed forward in attack. Tokyo replaced Hanyu with Suzuki but to no avail as they fell further behind in the 75th.minute. The defence failed to deal with a pass played to Lucas on the edge of the area and the ball rebounded to forward Usami inside the penalty box. Gonda raced off his line and blocked Usami's initial toe-poke only for the ball to spin out to Endo on the right; instead of shooting Endo displayed great vision to cut the ball back and Usami was able to bundle it over line with Gonda out of position. Tokyo attempted a fightback with Kim shooting powerfully from long range and Kajiyama pouncing on a loose ball following a corner but were unable to conjure a goal and the game finished in a disappointing 2-0 defeat.
Players' comments
Kajiyama
"We conceded soon after I went on, right at a time we should have kept hold of the game. That's what happens when you don't take your chances, I suppose. Our opponents stretched us at the back and caught us out with balls up the middle; if we could keep a better balance maybe that would help us to find a better rhythm. This is the manager's third year now and we're passing the ball well enough, it's just that we can't seem to get it into the net. I want to get involved inside the penalty area and we all want to work together to score. I think I've been the person most frustrated that I couldn't play and now I want to channel that frustration into my performances on the field. How is the leg? Well, I went on midway with the game in the balance but it's slowly improving. During the game I didn't think about it but I'll be taking care to prevent any recurrence tomorrow and I hope to slowly increase the length of my playing time".
Kim
"It's deplorable and disappointing. I wanted to give more but I could hardly stand up after the game. I was positive and to the extent that I could I had a few attempts on goal from middle-range and free kicks since we weren't really managing too many but I have to work on my accuracy in training".
F.C.Tokyo manager Hiroshi Jofuku
"We suffered here last year so we were determined to prepare as well as possible for the game today. However, we lost 2-0 and we just have to accept it. The first half went exactly to our plan but the final score is a fair reflection of the accuracy of both teams in the penalty area. I don't know our current league position but I'm sure it's also a reflection of our precision inside the penalty area right now. No matter how well we perform in the build up we don't have that accuracy in front of goal at the moment. We have to work with the players to overcome the problem".
Gamba Osaka manager Nishino
"The first half was frankly dull and we couldn't get going in attack at all. Fortunately we weren't really put under any pressure either. The double change didn't go perfectly and it actually seemed to help Tokyo with their rhythm but they both settled down and began to move the ball around which improved our fluency. We played too many long balls in the first half so at the break we told the team to calm down, to have confidence and move the ball around to reestablish our tempo, even if it was a little slow. We didn't have too many chances but I'm relieved that we made the best of what we did create to get the result. Lucas and Endo played 45 minutes each but both still have some way to go and we need some improvement overall. Usami's goal was a result of his desire so I think we can definitely see some encouraging signs in the game today".
< Other results >
S-Pulse 2 Ardija 1
Kyoto Sanga 1 Montedio 2
Frontale 3 Vissel 0
Reds 0 Jubilo 1
F Marinos 1 Antlers 3
Albirex 2 Sanfrecce 2
Bellmare 1 Vegalta 0
Cerezo 0 Grampus 1
< Standings >
S-Pulse 18, Reds 16, Frontale 16, Antlers 15, Grampus 13, Sanfrecce 12, F Marinos 11, Montedio 11, Gamba 10, Vegalta 10, Cerezo 9, F.C.Tokyo 9, Jubilo 9, Kyoto Sanga 8, Vissel 7, Ardija 5, Bellmare 5, Albirex 5.
|
go error report form