Dominant Tokyo Held To Scoreless Draw By Vegalta
07/05/2010
Dominant Tokyo Held To Scoreless Draw By Vegalta
J.League Division 1 10th. Game
Wednesday May 5th. 2010
Ajinomoto Stadium ( Home )
Attendance 26,406
F.C.Tokyo 0 Vegalta Sendai 0
F.C.Tokyo:
Gonda, Tokunaga, Morishige, Konno, Nagatomo, Kajiyama ( Nakamura 68 ), Hanyu, Ishikawa, Suzuki ( Akamine 73 ), Ricardinho ( Matsushita 61 ), Hirayama.
Subs not used: Shiota, Kim, Mukuhara, Shigematsu.
Vegalta Sendai:
Hayashi, Tamura, Kamata, Watanabe, Park, Nagai ( Tomita 80 ), Chiba, Sekiguchi, Ryang, Nakahara ( Hirase 88 ), Nakashima ( Ota 68 ).
Subs not used: Sakurai, Ichiyanagi, Saito, Fernandinho.
Tokyo Seek Three Points From First League Meeting With Sendai Since 2003
F.C.Tokyo welcomed Vegalta Sendai to Ajinomoto Stadium for the 10th.game of the year. Tokyo, winless in five matches following a 2-1 defeat to Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the last outing, were in need of the three points to find a route back up the league table. According to manager Hiroshi Jofuku, "There is a reason for every defeat we have suffered; we're reacting firmly to the causes," while in training the side had, "Worked to create openings in front of goal and to prevent the opposition having a sight of our goal". The squad worked remorselessly to improve the accuracy and quality of their play.
Opponents Sendai lay in 8th.place with 11 points at kick off. This was the first league meeting between the sides since 2003, although Tokyo had suffered a bitter defeat to a buoyant Sendai in the 2009 Emperor's Cup. Hiroshi Jofuku commented, "Sendai have returned to J1 with confidence; they haven't changed their playing style but reinforced the squad and are getting results. The players' awareness and confidence is high and the team has a feeling of stability".
Sendai had scored 7 of their 11 league goals from set plays with the accurate delivery of midfielder Ryang and the height of forward Nakahara the main threat. The side also possessed speed on the counter attack so Tokyo would need to keep pointless fouls to a minimum. Working to create openings on the flanks, maintaining an aggressive approach and getting players into the Sendai box would be vital to the home side's hopes of victory. Tokunaga played at right back while Kajiyama and Hanyu combined in defensive midfield with Suzuki on the left flank. Sendai were without injured regular defender Elizeu and Nagai made his first appearance of the year in a defensive midfield role.
Tokyo kicked off shortly after 2pm under a blue sky on a scorching hot afternoon.
Tokyo Miss Golden Chance But Dominate First Half
Tokyo seized the initiative straight from the kick off, creating chances from the wings. In the 2nd.minute Kajiyama won the ball inside the Tokyo half and pushed forward before Ricardinho, Suzuki and Hanyu combined with the latter sweeping the ball across the field to Ishikawa on the right. Ishikawa crossed but Suzuki was unable to make contact in the centre. Tokyo then produced the best chance of the game in the 6th.minute. Tokunaga hoisted a long ball down the right touchline, Ishikawa outpaced a defender and cracked a low cross into the Sendai penalty area. Ricardinho, making a diagonal run to the near post, dummied neatly leaving Hirayama unmarked at the far post with only the goalkeeper to beat. Unfortunately Hirayama scuffed his shot wide and a golden opportunity was wasted.
Tokyo continued to press hard and win possession with Hanyu switching the play and Kajiyama pulling the strings in midfield. In the 11th.minute Morishige embarked on a determined box-to-box run before slipping the ball to Ricardinho on the left. Ricardinho cut back inside a defender and cracked a low drive to the near post that drew a smart save from Hayashi in the Sendai goal. In the 17th.minute Tokunaga crossed and Hirayama cushioned the ball into Ishikawa's path but a vital block from a defender prevented Ishikawa getting his shot away. In the 19th.minute Sendai registered their first attempt on goal as right back Park pounced on a clearance to fire a bounding volley that Gonda turned around the post for a corner kick. The Tokyo defence comfortably dealt with Ryang's corner.
The Sendai defence began to retreat, allowing Tokyo to shoot from long distance but neither Ricardinho in the 22nd, nor Morishige in the 29th.minute, were able to trouble Hayashi. In the 40th.minute Kajiyama played the ball to Hirayama with his back to goal inside the Sendai area on the right. Hirayama spun and fired but the effort lacked power and Hayashi easily collected the ball. The same pair combined again in the 45th.minute, Hirayama receiving the ball from Kajiyama and driving deep inside the Sendai area before cutting the ball back into the danger area. The visitors' defence mopped up the threat and the first period ended 0-0.
Tokyo Attack Ceaselessly But Game Ends Scoreless
Tokyo survived a major scare in the 50th.minute as Kajiyama lost possession near his own penalty area and the loose ball fell to Sendai striker Nakashima. Nakashima beat Gonda but the shot struck the inside of the post and rebounded to safety. That was the only chance allowed to the visitors as Tokyo continued to pass the ball around and threaten the Sendai goal. From a throw in on the left in the 54th.minute Morishige found Ricardinho inside the area, and he in turn moved the ball on to Kajiyama. Kajiyama cut inside the Sendai area but failed to muster an attempt on goal.
In the 59th.minute Hirayama held Tokunaga's long ball up and Kajiyama moved it along to Suzuki inside the Sendai area on the left. Suzuki shot but Hayashi again held the effort. Matsushita replaced Ricardinho in the 61st.minute and moved to the left wing, with Suzuki pushing forward into the attack. In the 66th.minute Ishikawa hared down the right and crossed to the far post where Matsushita knocked the ball down to Hirayama in front of goal but the ball was judged to have crossed the byline. In the 68th.minute Nakamura replaced Kajiyama and played at right back with Tokunaga moving into a defensive midfield position. Akamine replaced Suzuki in the 73rd.minute and Nagatomo moved forward into midfield as Tokyo went in search of the elusive goal.
In the 75th.minute Nakamura crossed from the right, Hirayama knocked the ball down in a central position and Ishikawa burst into the area at speed to crack a low drive towards the bottom corner of the goal. Hayashi dropped sharply to his right and stopped the ball at full stretch to deny Tokyo the breakthrough. In the 85th.minute Nagatomo evaded the attentions of two defenders on the left and skipped to the byline before cutting the ball back to Ishikawa; Ishikawa struck first time with his left foot but screwed the shot over the bar. Tokyo continued to attack in waves until the bitter end but the massed ranks of the Sendai defence held firm and the game finished scoreless, extending the winless streak to six games.
Players' comments
Tokunaga
"I didn't feel uncomfortable playing at right back at all but I did want to contribute to us scoring or score myself so I feel disappointed that I couldn't. In defence we were able to deal with their counter attacks. When we can't score though we become rigid and I feel we lack some flexibility. To break out of this situation we just need to keep shooting until we score: that's the only way I think".
Ishikawa
"The chance in the 6th.minute and my chance later on; missing those was everything today. We moved the ball into good positions high up the field, we retained possession and we sped the play up. In the first half I concentrated on creating chances from the wing. I knew their defender would be playing deeply and easy to mark so I tried to push forward as far as I could then cut inside and shoot. We slowly began to link the play up from there. All I'm thinking about is scoring in the next game against Yamagata and winning".
F.C.Tokyo manager Hiroshi Jofuku
"Even though our record isn't good a lot of fans attended the game today and I'd like to thank them for their support. I perceive the booing at the end of the game being directed at myself. The players are doing what they have to well and we have to go forward together by our own efforts. Sendai had 4 shots and we had 15; there's no excuse we can give for not scoring.
What about Hirayama? The players are giving their utmost. In the last game I changed a player who was giving everything he had in the 28th.minute; it was the first time for me and the first time for him. I have respect for players who all giving everything they can; the substitution in the last game wasn't a whim, it was by design".
Vegalta Sendai manager Makoto Teguramori
"Going into today's game neither side had been able to win recently. But looking at the psychological aspect we are the newcomers to J1 this year so it was a game Tokyo had to win. Considering that it was our game plan to keep the match scoreless as long as possible and try to nick a goal. We didn't simply defend, we enjoyed some possession and we created chances as well. Our last game was a draw and we took only a single point again today but we certainly aren't just marking time. We're very close to taking the three points and we have two home games left before the World Cup break, where we want to take six points. Today's game was disappointing in some respects but the team gave all their energy until the final whistle and I'm satisfied with the performance".
< Other results >
Bellmare 2 Vissel 2
Kyoto Sanga 2 S-Pulse 4
Reds 2 Grampus 1
Cerezo 2 Antlers 1
Albirex 2 F Marinos 1
Jubilo 2 Sanfrecce 1
Montedio 1 Ardija 0
Gamba 4 Frontale 4
< Standings >
S-Pulse 24, Frontale 20, Grampus 19, Reds 19, Antlers 18, Sanfrecce 15, F Marinos 14, Montedio 14, Cerezo 13, Jubilo12, Vegalta 12, Gamba 11, Albirex 11, F.C.Tokyo 10, Bellmare 9, Ardija 8, Vissel 8, Kyoto Sanga 8.
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