Dominant Tokyo Cruise Past Shonan Bellmare
27/07/2010
Dominant Tokyo Cruise Past Shonan Bellmare
J.League Division 1 14th.Game
Sunday, July 25th. 2010
Hiratsuka Stadium ( Away )
Attendance 12,737
F.C.Tokyo 3 Shonan Bellmare 1
39 Morishige ( Tokyo ), 44 Hanyu ( Tokyo ), 58 Oguro ( Tokyo ), 62 Nakamura ( Shonan ).
F.C.Tokyo:
Shiota, Nakamura, Konno, Kim, Matsushita, Morishige ( Takahashi 81 ), Kajiyama, Otake ( Mukuhara 75 ), Hanyu, Ricardinho ( Akamine 46 ), Oguro.
Subs not used: Abe, Suzuki, Ishikawa, Hirayama.
Shonan Bellmare:
Tsuzuki, Usui, Jean, Muramatsu, Ozawa ( Shimamura 46 ), Nagaki, Sakamoto, Terakawa, Emerson ( Nakamura 59 ), Abe, Valdo ( Tahara 67 ).
Subs not used: Uemura, Yamaguchi, Han, Baba.
Tokyo Employ New Formation For First League Meeting With Shonan
F.C.Tokyo made the short journey to Hiratsuka to take on Shonan Bellmare in the 14th. league game of the season. Tokyo had been held to a draw in their previous outing after conceding a last-minute penalty but there was no cause for the team to be downhearted, as manager Hiroshi Jofuku commented, "We have to use our reflections on that game as a spur to push us forward". The squad had borne their points total in mind during training and a performance to sweep away the bitter memories of the previous match was eagerly anticipated. Tokunaga was injured so Morishige took his position as defensive midfielder with Kim appearing as a centre back.
Opponents Shonan lay in 16th.place at kick off with a W3 D3 L7 record. The side had been boosted by the recruitment during the World Cup break of 1.94m striker Valdo, midfielder Emerson and goalkeeper Tsuzuki. Regular defensive midfielder Tamura was suspended but the new signings all started, with Abe on the left, Emerson in the middle and Terakawa on the right in a 4-2-3-1 formation. The towering Valdo was the attacking pivot, holding the ball up to allow the midfield trio to push forward and blocking their runs would be a vital task for Tokyo during the game.
The fixture was the first ever league meeting between the sides following Shonan's promotion to J1, and the prescence of familiar faces in former Tokyo stalwarts Jean, Abe and Emerson added further spice to the encounter. Tokyo would be aiming to gain ascendancy over Shonan's lively midfield and not only attack quickly on the break but also use their periods of control to dominate the match.
A packed, sun-dappled Hiratsuka Stadium retained the humidity of the day but a light breeze was blowing across the pitch as Tokyo kicked off shortly after 6pm.
Morishige, Hanyu Give Tokyo First Half Lead
Tokyo began the game looking to push forward along the flanks with Morishige joining the attack whenever possible. In the 6th.minute Kajiyama won the ball inside his own half and found Otake who dribbled forward before moving it on to Ricardinho on the right. Ricardinho picked out Morishige's run from deep into a central position and the defender finished the move with a shot on goal. Matsushita pushed forward down the left in the 11th.minute and curled a low early cross into the Shonan penalty area that narrowly evaded Morishige and Ricardinho. Kajiyama drove the loose ball back into the penalty area, Jean cleared but only as far as Morishige whose drive tested Tsuzuki in the Shonan goal. Oguro pounced on the loose ball but was given offside. In the 15th.minute Oguro's first-time shot from Nakamura's right-wing cross drew a good save from Tsuzuki and earned Tokyo a corner.
Tokyo were nearly made to pay for their early profligacy as Shonan fought back on the counter attack. In the 17th.minute left side back Ozawa raided forward and found midfielder Emerson inside the Tokyo area; Emerson shot but Shiota produced a fine save to turn the ball away for a corner. Midfielder Abe shot from middle-range in the 19th.minute and Valdo headed over in the 21st. The visitors survived Shonan's period of pressure, continued to play the ball around and ask questions of the home defence.
Tokyo earned free kicks in promising positions just outside the Shonan area in the 24th. and 27th. minutes but both efforts, from Ricardinho and Matsushita, failed to clear the defensive wall. The Shonan defence was holding a high line and Tokyo attempted to break through but were repeatedly caught offside. The long-awaited goal finally arrived in the 39th.minute. Hanyu played the ball out to Ricardinho on the left, Ricardinho crossed and Morishige held off a defender to power a header past Tsuzuki.
Ricardinho was again involved in the build up to the second goal, moving down the left and finding Kajiyama inside the Shonan area. Kajiyama moved the ball on to Oguro who elected not to shoot himself but lay the ball off to Hanyu on his right. Hanyu smashed the ball into the back of the net and Tokyo had a two-goal lead to take into halftime.
Oguro Opens His Account For Tokyo
Ricardinho had injured his leg during the first half and was replaced by Akamine for the second period. In the 50th.minute Tokyo launched a counter attack following a Shonan corner, Oguro holding the ball up and Nakamura then galloping the length of the field whilst holding off a defender. Nakamura shot across the Shonan keeper and only some heroic last-ditch defending prevented Akamine converting at the far post. In the 57th.minute Otake crossed from the right, the ball narrowly too high for Oguro and beyond Akamine's lunge at the far post.
Shonan had again pushed their defence line further forward and were caught out in the 58th.minute as Hanyu won the ball in midfield and Akamine played a short pass through to Oguro on the right. Oguro raced away from the Shonan defence and bore down on goal before hammering the ball past Tsuzuki to register his first goal for Tokyo. The lead stretched to a comfortable three-goal margin. However, Shonan pulled a goal back almost immediately. In the 62nd.minute midfielder Sakamoto played the ball through the Tokyo defence on the right to meet Abe's darting run; Shiota parried Abe's drive but substitute forward Nakamura was on hand to bundle the ball over the line. Boosted by the goal Shonan attempted a fightback but Tokyo responded by retaining possession and moving the ball around. The heat began to take its toll and the Tokyo workrate started to dip, allowing Shonan to regain some momentum and push the visitors back. Tokyo replaced Otake with Mukuhara in the 75th.minute and Morishige with Takahashi in the 81st. Shonan sent centre back Jean forward and launched long balls in his direction but the height and fresh legs in the Tokyo defence proved equal to the challenge and the visitors might even have scored a fourth goal in injury time on a counter attack but Akamine contrived to miscue Ogurofs pass in front of goal. Tokyo successfully held off Shonan's late charge to earn their 4th. league win of the season.
Players' comments
Oguro
"Scoring goals is my job. Tokyo have a lot of good passers who time the ball well so it's easy to get into position. I want to go on and keep scoring to please the fans. We were away today but a lot of our fans attended so I wanted to score to repay their support. I had wanted to get on the scoresheet quickly. I'm aiming to score a whole lot more and run over to the stands to celebrate".
Morishige
"I was playing the anchor role today but I was determined to get forward if the chance presented itself. We were passing the ball fluently and moving it forward so I wanted to move up with the flow of the play. On a personal level I wanted to score to make amends for the penalty last week. That would be the biggest contribution I could make to the team. We played well and I'm delighted with the result. I hadn't played in a defensive midfield role for a long time and I enjoyed it very much. I'm ready to play in whatever role is asked of me and contribute to the team getting a result".
F.C.Tokyo manager Hiroshi Jofuku
"It could be said this is a torrid time for the team but when we arrived in the stadium and heard the tremendous support from our fans in the stands it really gave the players courage to go out and play. We want to overcome this difficult patch together with the fans and be able to look back on it and say that because we had such a tough time we could enjoy the autumn season. Of course there were some things we weren't happy with but overall the game went according to plan. We could have scored a fourth goal and there is the sense of stability that would have allowed us to see out the game more comfortably to think about. We still have many things to learn: where to press to score the fourth goal, how to match up effectively when the opponent is making power plays and where is safe to cover. We have to take all six points from the next two games to dispel the recent painful memories.
Regarding Morishige, we were conscious of how well he could express his ability in that role and he struck a fine balance between the distribution of Kajiyama and the defensive work of Tokunaga. He himself wasn't simply replacing Tokunaga but trying to bring his own attributes to the role. He's a skillful player but the position is different from centre back in terms of the quality and quantity of movement involved so we were watching him with the thought of making a substitution. As for Oguro, he always puts himself in the right place and the other players understand that now. We want to increase the number of vital balls he supplies and today he certainly played more than in the Kobe game. It's a great thing for the team. We want him to deepen his understanding of his teammates and produce more chances".
Shonan Bellmare manager Sorimachi
"Overall we could see the difference in ability of the two teams but that was our best performance for some time. It's disappointing to say that when we have lost but football is a strange game. We failed to score when we were playing with a good rhythm and then conceded; we failed to control the game, I think".
< Other results >
Reds 0 Sanfrecce 1
Jubilo 2 Antlers 3
Cerezo 3 Montedio 0
Vegalta 2 Albirex 3
F Marinos 1 Gamba 0
Grampus 3 S-Pulse 3
Vissel 3 Ardija 1
Frontale 1 Kyoto Sanga 0
< Standings >
Antlers 30, S-Pulse 27, Grampus 26, Frontale 24, Cerezo 23, Sanfrecce 22, F Marinos 21, Albirex 21, Reds 20, Gamba 18, F.C.Tokyo 18, Montedio 17, Jubilo 16, Vissel 15, Vegalta 13, Bellmare 12, Ardija 10, Kyoto Sanga 10.
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