Friday 5 May 2023

Vs Kyoto Sanga (away) 3/5/23 J League match 11

Kyoto Sanga 0 - 1 Kawasaki Frontale

Back home now after a nice trip that involved two games where we miraculously managed to find some form and win twice! Well, the second part is perhaps a bit less certain but we definitely did win twice. I quite enjoyed keeping the last post brief and as I’m back home with a hell of a lot of things I need to catch up with, this one will be done in a similar way. We’ll see whether I return back to the lengthy rambles for subsequent games. I will divide things up on this occasion with the usual headings but will not go into much detail.


Us -

We went with the same team again as I kind of expected and you can’t really blame Oniki for sticking with a winning formula after a long time of trying to find one. But we looked really tired in this game. I think some changes need to be made for the next match, but I said that last time too. In this match we weren’t very good, and a 0-0 probably would have been the fairest score. Both teams had goals rightly disallowed and apart from, that not much happened. We had four shots in the first half and five in the second. But in the second I think all of them apart from the goal came from the same late attacking move where we were foiled on numerous occasions. It’s also telling that Kobayashi was the shots leader in the game stats with three, despite only coming on in the 80th minute. Anyone that thinks that this could be the start of a good run should probably take into consideration quite how average we were again. But I guess that’s no surprise when the same players have started three games in ten days. Probably one bright point we can take from the game is that Kobayashi and Marcinho were on the bench again. Although the former’s recent absences were more to do with not being picked rather than being injured I think. Perhaps he’s given Oniki a selection headache for the next match. Perhaps… And of course, another bright point is the fact that we won again, and this could help us get some of the confidence we have been in desperate need of for a while. Perhaps winning so late on and when we probably didn’t deserve to might give us another little boost. Let’s hope so!


Them -

I think Kyoto looked a bit more positive than last year when they just seemed content to dive their way to a 0-0 but ended up winning thanks to our generosity. I don’t know if their captain Kawasaki was the player I moaned a lot about in this game last year, but if he wasn’t he certainly is a worthy successor for whoever that was as both of them spent most of their time on the pitch writhing around on the floor in fake agony. Delighted we won in the way we did after so much fakery from their players. Their fans gave Kamifukumoto a big old boo at the start of the match and continued to do so every time he touched the ball. Not sure what he did when we scored but would like to see the footage of it. I can understand their feelings to some extent though. Not sure what they had against Kurumaya who got a load of booing for getting injured by a hack from one of their players though. Maybe a hack... I can’t remember and it was at the other end of the pitch, but they were definitely booing him. I’m not sure how I can fit in the one zinger I thought of for this post so I’ll just wedge it in here at the end of this paragraph. Kyoto in Golden Week is insanely busy with everywhere being extremely crowded. Everywhere except the home sections of the Kyocera Stadium that is. We must have accounted for something approaching almost half of the attendance, with light blue shirts all the way to the half way line. I guess the train journey is a bit of a pain in the arse though. But it is a nice stadium, and now has Pilsner Urquell available in proper glassware in the football diner part that you can go into before you enter the stadium. Good price too!

Ref -

Let’s keep this brief and just say that Imamura is obsessed with free kicks being taken from the exact correct spot but doesn’t understand how to play an advantage. And was wildly inconsistent, particularly when it came to bookings. Whilst I always moan about refs, I don’t think I have screamed so loudly at one for a long time. Let’s hope it’s a long time till we ever see him at one of our games again.

Next up Sagan Tosu at home on Sunday. I’m not going to make any predictions about line-ups as I should by now realise that Oniki does things his own way. It would be lovely to make it three wins in a row, but Tosu at Todoroki is more often than not a draw, and usually a 0-0. We still haven’t won at home in the league, so it would be lovely to round off Golden Week with a third win in a row, but that might be a bit optimistic. Fingers crossed though!


 
Team 
 
GK 99. KAMIFUKUMOTO Naoto
DF 13. YAMANE Miki (Yellow card 53')
DF 29. TAKAI Kota (Yellow card 12')
DF 7. KURUMAYA Shintaro
DF 2. NOBORIZATO Kyoehi
MF 6. JOAO SCHMIDT (Yellow card 27')
MF 16. SEKO Tatsuki
MF 14. WAKIZAKA Yasuto
FW 41. IENAGA Akihiro
FW 33. MIYASHIRO Taisei
FW 17. TONO Daiya

Subs
GK 1. JUNG Sung-Ryong
DF 3. OMINAMI Takuma (on for NOBORIZATO 74')
MF 8. TACHIBANADA Kento
MF 10. OSHIMA Ryota (on for SEKO 67')
FW 11. KOBAYASHI Yu (Yellow card 90+4') (on for MIYASHIRO 80')
FW 20. YAMADA Shin (on for IENAGA 74')
FW 23. MARCINHO (on for TONO 67')

My Frontale Man Of The Match
 
This wasn’t a vintage performance so it’s a bit tricky. I think Takai and Joao had good games but most players looked quite tired. It’s a cliche to give it to a goalscorer but, why not…

KOBAYASHI Yu - came on with a drive and purpose that really helped us get over the line and shot and SCORED! Also it was generous of him to take his shirt off and gave Imamura the chance to actually get one decision in the match right by booking him. 

 
Goals
 
KOBAYASHI (Frontale) 90+4' 0-1
 
Highlights
 

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