Kawasaki Frontale 2 - 1 Yokohama FC
Back to winning ways! This wasn’t the greatest game and we really rode our luck at times but getting the three points was really the most important thing. On some occasions this season we could justifiably say that things haven’t really gone our way when to comes to marginal decisions. But maybe in this game we saw just a little bit of fortune come back. This fortune not only took the form of the amazing winning goal which just has to be seen to be believed, but also some major let-offs we had in this match. On the flip side, we did hit the bar three times so probably were due a little bit of luck. YFC haven’t started the season in blistering form, but there does seem to be a general feeling that they are a lot more solid than they have been in the past and that perhaps going forward is where they are lacking in 2025. With this in mind, it was natural that we conceded after three minutes which then gave them something to sit back on for the rest of the game and transformed that five man defence into an eight or nine man defence. But we kept plugging away and eventually got what we (maybe) deserved. Perhaps not everyone will agree that we deserved to win, but I think when you hit the bar three times.... Thankfully that last hit of the bar was immediately followed by an absolute beast of an own goal. Perhaps a little harsh on YFC, but when you consider they’d spent most of the match trying to hold on to their lead and then when we equalised, sitting back and trying to hold on to the 1-1, you might say that it was maybe eventually going to come back and bite them on the backside. It seems that I’ve already said most the things I had to say in this first paragraph so let’s get this over and done with.
Us -
Some rotation as expected and I’m all in favour of that. I thought Haydar did alright, although at times I suspected he was a ghost as the ball sometimes seemed to pass straight through his body. I thought Yamaguchi was moaning at him for the conceded goal but on looking at the replay he was nothing to do with it. Wakizaka was back in the team and didn’t have his best game. Yamada started and pretty much continued in his 2025 rut. He really needs a goal soon. I thought Ito was our most potent attacking threat and did a good job on the left. Somewhat laughably he got the lowest player rating on Flashscore which I guess shows that Flashscore’s opinion is about as well-informed as some certain English language J League online banter ‘experts’. Aside from the major let-offs that we survived and the many, many chances that we failed to hit the target with, I think we’re starting to look a bit better than we were before the ACL break. Somewhat strangely though, it seems that we now have a good first half and then fade in the second, the absolute opposite of our early season games. I guess this is due to fatigue and that’s not going to get any easier with three more games coming in the next ten days. And that stat looks even more dramatic when you take things back a day and say that we have four games in eleven days. So rotation is definitely the key at the moment, particularly considering our injuries which are piling up. Maybe I should trial a new feature and give us an overall score out of ten. Not sure how long I’ll keep this up but well, let’s give it a go. I’d say this was a six out of ten game. Not that impressive, and a bit lucky (whilst at the same time a bit unlucky with all those crossbar hitting shots), but crucially we got the job done. Room for improvement but a vital three points to move us up in the league a bit and even more vital when it comes to getting some confidence and good feeling back.
Them -
YFC had exactly the kind of game plan that we would have expected from them and sadly it’s also exactly the kind of game plan that we usually struggle the most against. Maybe their early goal surprised them as much as it surprised us and definitely influenced the game. I thought Sakuragawa was a bit of a lump and threw himself around without much sanction from the ref. Thankfully he wasn’t as good at scoring as he was as getting physical. They really caused us some scares need the end of the match when Yamaguchi had to make some very good saves, so perhaps a draw would have been a fairer result. At the same time, they seemed quite happy to sit on their lead and then sit on the draw. I don’t really have much else to say about them really. To a certain extent we nicked the points from them, so I hope the fact that YFM lost on the same night is some small consolation to them. Something both sets of fans could enjoy!
Ref and VAR -
Firstly, we had Iida on VAR. Well, maybe we did. There seemed to be no VAR action at all, so maybe Jumpei had fallen asleep at the monitors. You’re not going to hear me moaning about a lack of VAR though, so bravo to him and I hope he had a nice nap. Slightly closer to the actual game, the fourth official was Yamashita, who made another clanger in a recent game so is perhaps being admonished and punished for that by her demotion to the side of the pitch. The most exciting thing about Yamashita’s presence was the reverse strip tease she did as the game progressed. At the start of the match so was in the whole ref kit. Towards half time, she’d put on her ref’s tracksuit top. In the second half she’d put on the tracksuit trousers too. It wasn’t at all cold so perhaps she just had somewhere to go quickly after the game. It really says something that I haven’t mentioned the ref yet. It was Araki in charge and whilst he’s normally a bit shit, I can’t really remember much about him in the game which I suppose is high praise. There was one penalty appeal that I thought could have gone our way, but given that Jumpei was snoozing and couldn't give Araki any help, I guess I can’t really blame him for not giving it. The play went on a ridiculously long time after the incident so it did create a bit of excitement wondering if the play would be taken way back when the ball went out of play. Maybe YFC might even have scored and then their goal would be canceled to give us a penalty. But of course this didn't happen. I guess this shows a basic flaw with VAR though. Imagine going from thinking that you'd scored only to have a legitimate goal ruled out for something that the ref missed in the opposition's previous attack. Blimey! But there’s no point me going on about that here as you all know I hate VAR and we all know that it’s not going to get abandoned, and will probably get more complicated and more irritating. So, no complaints really on this occasion. Maybe there would have been if we hadn't won. That’s the kind of guy I am.
Next up Cerezo at home om Sunday. They have been really inconsistent this year, so hopefully the fact that they won their last game means that they’re going to lose their next one. After that we’ve got Urawa at home the Wednesday after. I suppose in the middle of this fixture pile up we can at least be pleased that we’ve got lots of home fixtures so won’t have the extra fatigue that travel brings. Fingers crossed that this game might be the start of a nice little run of results for us.
Us -
Some rotation as expected and I’m all in favour of that. I thought Haydar did alright, although at times I suspected he was a ghost as the ball sometimes seemed to pass straight through his body. I thought Yamaguchi was moaning at him for the conceded goal but on looking at the replay he was nothing to do with it. Wakizaka was back in the team and didn’t have his best game. Yamada started and pretty much continued in his 2025 rut. He really needs a goal soon. I thought Ito was our most potent attacking threat and did a good job on the left. Somewhat laughably he got the lowest player rating on Flashscore which I guess shows that Flashscore’s opinion is about as well-informed as some certain English language J League online banter ‘experts’. Aside from the major let-offs that we survived and the many, many chances that we failed to hit the target with, I think we’re starting to look a bit better than we were before the ACL break. Somewhat strangely though, it seems that we now have a good first half and then fade in the second, the absolute opposite of our early season games. I guess this is due to fatigue and that’s not going to get any easier with three more games coming in the next ten days. And that stat looks even more dramatic when you take things back a day and say that we have four games in eleven days. So rotation is definitely the key at the moment, particularly considering our injuries which are piling up. Maybe I should trial a new feature and give us an overall score out of ten. Not sure how long I’ll keep this up but well, let’s give it a go. I’d say this was a six out of ten game. Not that impressive, and a bit lucky (whilst at the same time a bit unlucky with all those crossbar hitting shots), but crucially we got the job done. Room for improvement but a vital three points to move us up in the league a bit and even more vital when it comes to getting some confidence and good feeling back.
Them -
YFC had exactly the kind of game plan that we would have expected from them and sadly it’s also exactly the kind of game plan that we usually struggle the most against. Maybe their early goal surprised them as much as it surprised us and definitely influenced the game. I thought Sakuragawa was a bit of a lump and threw himself around without much sanction from the ref. Thankfully he wasn’t as good at scoring as he was as getting physical. They really caused us some scares need the end of the match when Yamaguchi had to make some very good saves, so perhaps a draw would have been a fairer result. At the same time, they seemed quite happy to sit on their lead and then sit on the draw. I don’t really have much else to say about them really. To a certain extent we nicked the points from them, so I hope the fact that YFM lost on the same night is some small consolation to them. Something both sets of fans could enjoy!
Ref and VAR -
Firstly, we had Iida on VAR. Well, maybe we did. There seemed to be no VAR action at all, so maybe Jumpei had fallen asleep at the monitors. You’re not going to hear me moaning about a lack of VAR though, so bravo to him and I hope he had a nice nap. Slightly closer to the actual game, the fourth official was Yamashita, who made another clanger in a recent game so is perhaps being admonished and punished for that by her demotion to the side of the pitch. The most exciting thing about Yamashita’s presence was the reverse strip tease she did as the game progressed. At the start of the match so was in the whole ref kit. Towards half time, she’d put on her ref’s tracksuit top. In the second half she’d put on the tracksuit trousers too. It wasn’t at all cold so perhaps she just had somewhere to go quickly after the game. It really says something that I haven’t mentioned the ref yet. It was Araki in charge and whilst he’s normally a bit shit, I can’t really remember much about him in the game which I suppose is high praise. There was one penalty appeal that I thought could have gone our way, but given that Jumpei was snoozing and couldn't give Araki any help, I guess I can’t really blame him for not giving it. The play went on a ridiculously long time after the incident so it did create a bit of excitement wondering if the play would be taken way back when the ball went out of play. Maybe YFC might even have scored and then their goal would be canceled to give us a penalty. But of course this didn't happen. I guess this shows a basic flaw with VAR though. Imagine going from thinking that you'd scored only to have a legitimate goal ruled out for something that the ref missed in the opposition's previous attack. Blimey! But there’s no point me going on about that here as you all know I hate VAR and we all know that it’s not going to get abandoned, and will probably get more complicated and more irritating. So, no complaints really on this occasion. Maybe there would have been if we hadn't won. That’s the kind of guy I am.
Next up Cerezo at home om Sunday. They have been really inconsistent this year, so hopefully the fact that they won their last game means that they’re going to lose their next one. After that we’ve got Urawa at home the Wednesday after. I suppose in the middle of this fixture pile up we can at least be pleased that we’ve got lots of home fixtures so won’t have the extra fatigue that travel brings. Fingers crossed that this game might be the start of a nice little run of results for us.
Team
GK 98. YAMAGUCHI Louis
DF 31. VAN WERMESKERKEN Sai
DF 2. TAKAI Kota
DF 44. CESAR HAYDAR
DF 5. SASAKI Asahi
MF 8. TACHIBANADA Kento
MF 6. YAMAMOTO Yuki
MF 41. IENAGA Akihiro
MF 14. WAKIZAKA Yasuto
MF 17. ITO Tatsuya
FW 20. YAMADA Shin
Subs
GK 1. JUNG Sung-Ryong
FW 9. ERISON (on for YAMADA 63')
DF 15. TANABE Shuto
MF 16. OZEKI Yuto (on for WAKIZAKA 63')
MF 19. KAWAHARA So (on for TACHIBANADA 79')
MF 23. MARCINHO (on for ITO 63')
FW 18. SEGAWA Yusuke (on for IENAGA 90')
FW 38. KANDA Soma
DF 35. MARUYAMA Yuichi
My Frontale Man Of The Match
This wasn’t a sparkling performance but a few players did a decent job. Yamaguchi’s late saves clearly preserved the win and got him man of the match in the stadium. Yamamoto’s free kick was very sneaky and a lot of fun. There were others too, but for me it has to go to…
ITO Tatsuya - Flashscore may hate him but I thought he was at the heart of everything dangerous we did in this game. Fingers crossed he can keep up his good form.
Goals
LARA (Yokohama FC) 4' 0-1
YAMAMOTO (Frontale) 33' 1-1
NDUKA (Yokohama FC) OWN GOAL 84' 2-1
Highlights
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