Amaral Bags Hat Trick As F.C.Tokyo Thrash Cerezo
11/05/2001
Amaral Bags Hat Trick As F.C.Tokyo Thrash Cerezo
J-League Division 1 Second Stage 11th. Game
3-11-2001 Tokyo Stadium ( Home ) Attendance: 12,552
F.C.Tokyo 5 Cerezo Osaka 2
Tokyo/15 Miura,19 Amaral,49 Own Goal,59 Amaral,63 Amaral
C Osaka/46 Joon,86 Oshiba
F.C.Tokyo: Doi (Ozawa 85 ), Komine, Yamao, Sandro, Fujiyama, Miura, Shimotaira, Sato ( Kaburagi 78 ), Toda, Kobayashi ( Fukuda 75 ), Amaral
Cerezo Osaka: Shimokawa, Saito, Muroi, Kurata ( Joon 21 ), Nunobe, Tasaka, Marcelo ( Okubo 51 ), Suzuki, Morishima, Okayama ( Manaka 68 ), Oshiba
Looking For Final Flourish!
F.C.Tokyo, winless in over a month ( since September 29th. ) were hoping to pick up the three points from visitors Cerezo Osaka. Anything less than a victory would doom the Osaka team to J2 football next season so a fight to the death was expected from them. Tokyo were boosted by the return of veterans Miura and Amaral, from injury and suspension respectively. Although their dreams of a League title have evaporated, F.C.Tokyo still have the Emperor's Cup to aim for, but first four League games remain to be played. The old cliche of "taking each game as it comes" seems appropriate here.
Solid Defence- Fast Attack Yields Quick Goals!
The match kicked off at four minutes past four in a downpour and, as expected, Cerezo immediately went on the attack. Tokyo were happy to sit back, soak up the pressure and look for a counter attack. The first big chance came in the 9th. minute as a well-timed Kobayashi pass put Sato through the shallow Cerezo defence. Yukihiko rounded the keeper but was forced wide to the byline; his pullback just evaded the onrushing Amaral. However, the fans didn't have to wait long for something to cheer about. In the 15th. minute Komine set Sato away down the right; he scampered to the byline and pulled the ball back for Miura to blast right footed inside the near post. Tokyo doubled the lead four minutes later in a carbon copy move. This time Amaral was the beneficiary of Sato's good work; he fooled the keeper into diving early by flicking Sato's pass up instead of shooting first time and then volleyed over the prone goalie into the empty net for a true strikers goal. The low-lying Cerezo 3-man back line allowed Sato far too much space and he punished their defensive laxity with two superbly created goals, which predictably knocked the stuffing out of the visitors. The game seemed to be over as a contest after only 20 minutes- neither side bothered the scorekeepers further in the first half.
Decisive Own Goal
At half time F.C. Tokyo manager Okuma had said the next goal would be the key. However he couldn't have expected it to come so soon after the restart, Cerezo's inspirational Korean gamemaker Joon picking up a loose ball on the edge of the area and firing a deflected shot past the stranded Doi merely a minute into the second half. The goal didn't appear to unsettle Tokyo at all and they continued to move forward with purpose. Four minutes later Sato dribbled down the right and released Miura with a well-timed ball behind the Osaka defence. The veteran midfielder took the ball to the byline and crossed only for it to be deflected off a defender's chest past the stranded keeper. Cerezo's mini-revival had lasted only a few minutes and once again poor defending led to their downfall as Tokyo restored the 2 goal cushion. Osaka had no option now but to go into all out attack and given the already flimsy defending more goals were anticipated from the sparkling Tokyo attack.
The King Of Tokyo Bags First Hat Trick Of Season!
Cerezo responded by introducing 19 year-old attacking midfielder and first year pro Okubo and his prescence lent their attack some added punch but goalkeeper Doi was equal to anything they could throw at him, batting away away a series of shots. In the 59th. minute Fujiyama intercepted a pass and, following a sharp passing movement Kobayashi picked out Miura with a raking ball. Miura directed the ball on to Amaral on the edge of the area. With only a defender between him and the goal nobody would bet against the King of Tokyo scoring, and he didn't disappoint, selling the hapless defender a superb dummy before firing home low and hard at the near post. 4-1 to Tokyo. The big Brazilian completed his first hat trick of the season just four minutes later as the unstoppable Sato floated a perfect cross in from the right and Amaral soared majestically above the Cerezo defence to plant a textbook header beyond the desperate keeper for 5-1. To their credit Cerezo went down fighting, with Morishima setting up Okubo for a consolation goal in the 86th. minute, but it was too little too late and the final whistle saw Cerezo relegated to J2.
This was F.C. Tokyo's first victory for over a month and although still a long way from being able to field their best team they can surely be pleased with the performances shown today. Amaral extended his amazing sequence of scoring in games that Tokyo don't lose to Won 9 Drawn 2 for this season ( W 15 D 2 if you include last year's second stage ). Next up is the daunting task of facing potential champions Kashima Antlers away but if Tokyo show the same spirit as today then anything is possible.
Manager Okuma: " We expected Cerezo to come at us today and thanks to some good work by the forwards we were able to score at crucial times for a comfortable win. Toda did well and we expect a lot from him in the future. We hope to take our good form into the next game".
Cerezo manager Juan Carlos: " We played quite well today, made chances and scored but Tokyo played a very good game. It was an entertaining match but we lost and are relegated. Everybody at the club gave their best, but the results speak for themselves. I'm not running away from the results; as manager I have to accept responsibility. This is the worst day of my career- for the players, staff and supporters too. There's nothing to be done but persevere and give it our best next year."
Other Results: Antlers 2 F Marinos 1, JEF U 2 S-Pulse 1, Sanfrecce 2 Gamba 1, Jubilo 3 Avispa 2, Vissel 2 Verdy 2, Consadole 1 Reds 1, Reysol 3 Grampus 2
Standings: Antlers 30 points, Jubilo 27, JEF U 20, F.C. TOKYO 19, S-Pulse 18, Reysol 18, Sanfrecce 18, Grampus 16, F Marinos 15, Verdy 14, Gamba 14, Consadole 13, Avispa 13, Vissel 12, Reds 9, Cerezo 4.
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