Gamba Osaka Pride

Yet another professional performance ensured that we came away from Mito with all 3 points and the 3^rd clean sheet in a row in a 2-0 victory with goals from Leandro and a first ever professional goal from Kenya Okazaki which saw our winning run extend to 6 matches whilst our lead at the top was also extended. 10,025 people turned-up at K’s Denki Stadium in what was the 2^nd highest attendance at the ground for a Mito match.

The hosts changed their line-up from a 4-4-2 system to a 4-2-3-1 formation. They brought in Kondo at right-back, meaning that Ishigami shifted into midfield in place of Yuto Suzuki and striker Yamamura was replaced by Shimada. The final change came at left-back where Wako was replaced by Omoto. It looked like they had decided to defend and counter attack, trying to limit us in our possession play and leave it up to veteran Suzuki to lead the line up top.

Gamba on the other hand made one change from the team that started against Giravanz Kitakyushu, with Kenya Okazaki being replaced by 35 year old Tomokazu Myojin. I think it was a very unfair change because Kenya has been doing excellently well in the starting eleven since Endo left for National Team duty. Nevertheless, Myojin added some experience to the midfield that Okazaki is lacking and he does need games still after his recent injury. Leandro had managed to shrug-off his broken/fractured left hand, playing with no bandages on that hand and he once led the line with Shu Kurata in close support. The only other change came on the substitute bench where Shota Kawanishi was replaced by Shoki Hirai. The constant changing from on the bench to off it between the two is baffling at times.

Mito HollyHock XI – Homma, Kondo, Hosokawa, Tomita, Omoto, Ishigami, Nishioka, Ozawa, Hashimoto, Shimada, Suzuki T.
Mito HollyHock Subs – Iwadate, Kim, Wako, Suzuki Y, Yamamura, Namba, Mishima.
Gamba Osaka XI – Fujigaya, Kaji, Nishino, Niwa, Fujiharu, Ienaga, Uchida, Myojin, Futagawa, Kurata, Leandro.
Gamba Osaka Subs – Kimura, Oh J.S., Abe, Takei, Okazaki, Paulinho, Hirai.

1st Half:
The game started in a slow fashion but it was clear to see that Mito were attempting to press us high up the pitch but we were simply too good for them, getting the ball around the back, keeping possession and being patient with it. Naturally, we had the first decent chance of the game as Akihiro Ienaga fired over the bar from 25 yards or so after some lovely possession play down the middle and right, ending with a flick by Kurata to the right midfielder. It was comfortably over the bar but a clean strike nevertheless.

Mito were looking to counter attack and they won a free kick on the half-way line through Shimada which signalled their downfall. The kick was cleared easily by the defence and we eventually got it over to the right side through Shu Kurata to Ienaga. He bided his time until Kurata got close to him where the ball was squared to our number 6 and he played a pass to the overlapping Akira Kaji who came down the touchline unnoticed. He looked up and sent in a cross to the back post towards Futagawa. He made a run to the near post which was splendid as he dragged his marker with him, creating the space for Leandro to move to the back post and he made no mistake this week, heading back across goal and past the undefended Homma in goal to make it 1-0 in the 10^th minute. A swift counter attacking goal created by Futagawa’s genius run. No surprise that we took the lead in the match early for the 3^rd game in a row.

The next 5 minutes came as a period of consolidation of the goal as we looked comfortable, passing the ball around and enjoying our football with Mito simply going nowhere. After around a minute of pure passing by Gamba, Ienaga slid a ball into the box for Kurata but there was too much pace on it. The build-up was excellent. Takaharu Nishino picked up his 3^rd booking of the season after he fouled Suzuki in what would be a constant battle throughout the match which made me twitchy to say the least. That free kick from 20 yards was sent miles over the bar by Hashimoto. They continued to press but we made getting the ball from the back to midfield under high pressure look simple yet the next best chance came to the hosts in the 19^th minute as Ozawa span the defence on the right and crossed towards Suzuki but he failed to get contact under minimal pressure. The hosts had their tails up though and only two minutes later they robbed Myojin in midfield and Nishioka dummied a shot to fool the midfielder but he shot well over from range. Another shot 2 minutes later with the same, non-threatening result.

We got back into the swing of things as we pressed high and Ienaga founded Kurata just inside the With Leandro and Kurata reunited up top, they linked superbly but somehow failed to score. The Brazilian got into the box on the right and went towards goal but was crowded by the defence and goalkeeper and instead of shooting at a reasonable angle, he squared to Kurata but his slide-in shot was deflected past the post, with the resulting corner from Paulinho finding Niwa unmarked at the back post but he only just missed the post as he hit the side netting. Down the other end and Shimada won another corner but the header won at the near post was flicked well wide of the far post. Suzuki copied Shimada to win another corner but the same thing happened, with the near post header going wide once more.penalty area but his shot was scuffed from 12 yards. In the 25^th minute, the swing of things got violent as Ienaga went for a header at ground level and was booted in the head which caused heavy bleeding and a huge bandage (nothing like Mummy Endo from the Kashiwa match last season). Kurata shifted to the right and Mito could only force a corner on the left through Shimada as Kaji defended superbly against him all day. Myojin was flattened from the second cross but there had already been a handball before he got knocked down. Shimada did the same thing 2 minutes later as Paulinho rushed on in place of the fatally wounded Ienaga.

The last 5 minutes of the half were pretty calm with Mito being culled. We had some great possession in the final third for a fair while from right to left and back with the move ending with Fujiharu blazing well wide from 18 yards, but again the football was really enjoyable. He was however booked for the first time this season after apparently taking too long at a throw in, whilst Shu Kurata  had a  shot blocked after fantastic running and passing by Paulinho. We ended the half in the lead and although Mito had got some decent half chances, that was all they were, half chances. We allowed them to do that a bit too much and a second goal sooner rather than later would have given us the security we needed. Our football was fantastic when we were given the chance and that little bit of quality from Futagawa, Kaji and Leandro was the difference.

2nd Half:
The second half started with Nishino waging war with Suzuki once more and having me worried that he would be sent off sooner rather than later. You could tell that Suzuki was starting to get frustrated and annoyed which would go against him later on. With little action in the first 10 minutes of the half, this was about as pending as it got. Saying that, Fujigaya did excellently to claim a catch from a corner and Leandro went extremely close with a stunning volley from the right side of the 6 yard box, his right foot flying onto a cross from the left by Fujiharu but the volley went just over the bar.

The game seemed to be lacking some real flair and creativity which was apparent in the next 10 minutes. Ishigami blazed high and wide from an acute angle, Suzuki and Nishino continued to battle on with the youngster winning that round whilst Niwa was denied superbly by Homma from a Futagawa corner after Leandro tried a chipped pass to our number 10. Homma raced off his line to meet Niwa at 10 yards or so and blocked the header with his hand just after it left Daiki’s forehead. 3 minutes later in the 67^th minute, Paulinho went for his standard 30 yard screamer and found the standard row Z.

A minute later, Kondo won a corner for the hosts and a bit of a non-threatening scramble ensued but the ball went out for a goal kick. Niwa’s only mistake came when Suzuki robbed him and with choices in the box, he managed only to pick out a Gamba player which summed up his day. Tomita took out Kurata on the counter attack and then Suzuki was booked for fouling Uchida (and about time too). With less than 20 minutes to go, Paulinho did brilliantly to win a free kick from Ishigami around 30 yards from goal after bursting through a  couple of tackles but his shot was saved down low by Homma. Nishioka then had a chance for the hosts but could only miss-hit the shot. Matsumoto then chipped over the bar with Fujigaya never looking worried.

In the 77^th minute, Leandro was substituted for Okazaki as he was taken off by a stretcher but he was not injured whilst the hosts brought on striker Mishima for defender Kondo 2 minutes later after Ozawa headed well wide from 18 yards. The hosts were pressing for the equaliser with the bumper crowd urging them on, but Paulinho, Niwa and Fujigaya all defended superbly even though we could not get out of our own half.

It looked as though Hasegawa was looking to defend the 1-0 lead as he prepared Oh to come on for Futagawa but Okazaki had bigger and better ideas as he made it 2-0 with a brilliant strike. We pushed out of defence and went down the left with Fujiharu making it to the corner flag. He looked back to find Paulinho who aimed a pass square to Kurata but he let it run to Okazaki. Shu’s run made some space for the youngster to take a touch and having spotted Homma on his 6 yard box, he chipped a shot over the keeper and into the bottom right corner of the goal to secure all 3 points and to get his first goal as a professional footballer. An exquisite goal.

That sub of Oh for Futagawa did happen with Mito bringing on Namba for Nishioka even though the game was dead. The action was not over though as Suzuki was given a straight red card for swinging an arm at Niwa after the pair had challenged for a high ball in our half. The rules state that raising your arms means you are walking a line and the referee has no hesitations in taking the card out  immediately (ignoring that the striker had already been booked) and Suzuki himself had no complaints. It was a poor challenge and surprisingly it was not Nishino who copped the blow. A deserved sending off.

That was how the game ended. A bit of controversy in what was a game lacking quality in the second half but we did brilliantly to keep the well-supported hosts at bay. Both goals had real quality in them and highlighted once again the difference between Gamba and our opponents. The defence was solid and even though our frontline was not as fluid as it has been, we took 2 very well made chances superbly. Mito never had a truly threatening attempt on goal and without Endo and Konno, we are just getting better game by game.

Man of the Match:
Once again it is another tough call as many players did their jobs well without having too much attacking proficiency just like last week. Akihiro Ienaga turned up and was excellent before his head injury forced him off with his replacement Paulinho almost snatching this award as he linked well with the other players, worked immensely hard and showed his abilities in his hour showing. But for me Daiki Niwa and Akira Kaji were solid it at the back, the former repelling their not very threatening attacks as well as having a couple of chances to score too and the latter doing the same in defence and assisting the first goal. Niwa has been excellent in these last 3 games and was in charge at the back whilst Nishino was getting too tight to Suzuki. He has really impressed me and shown that he does have some quality when he is not being erratic. Right now, he has hit top form and I am enjoying watching him. As for Kaji, he had to stop Shimada who was full of beans and he did that to perfection, whilst his cross for Leandro’s goal was perfect. A captain’s performance and the joint strength between these two defenders made the difference when we were repelling those Mito forays. Well done boys!

Where it leaves both teams:
There were a total of 39 goals in Round 19 of J.League Division 2 on a marvellous weekend at the top for us as we extended our lead at the top to 4 points over Vissel Kobe after they drew 2-2 with Tochigi SC. Our gap to V-Varen Nagasaki in 3^rd stayed at 7 points after the Kyushu outfit bounced back from their defeat to FC Gifu with a 2-1 home victory over Tokyo Verdy. Kyoto Sanga were the biggest winners in the bottom half of the top 6 after they won 4-1 over Ehime FC.

After them, nobody from 5^th to 11^th won a game in what was a lost chance for all the teams to push themselves into the top 6. Consadole Sapporo and Tokushima Vortis pressured the other teams as they won in the earliest 2 games of the weekend which meant Mito slipped down to 14^th. The bottom of the table had one crazy day with Giravanz Kitakyushu destroying Roasso Kumamoto 7-0 at home whilst FC Gifu came from behind to beat Gainare Tottori 4-3 on the road to move off of the bottom of the table with back-to-back wins. ThespaKusatsu Gunma almost denied this but conceded a last-minute equaliser against Montedio Yamagata after being 2-0 up to draw 2-2.

★★★ Amazing J! ★★★

Stats

Photos taken from Sponichi, ameba and J’s Goal. No copyright infringement intended. Originals here, here, here and here.

A dogged performance by our boys in white and blue ensured that we came away from Kyushu for the final time this season with all 3 points in what turned out to be a match relating very much to the statistics for both teams, performance-wise. 7,207 people turned up to see the leaders of Division 2 extend their lead, with a huge part of that crowd blue and black at heart, and they sure did help the team across the line with their never-ending support.

Both sides named unchanged starting elevens as they both won in round 17 and therefore felt as if they needed to change nothing. Gamba were of course without Konno and Endo but Niwa and Okazaki were glad to take those spots at the start of the game once more. There was one change on our bench though as Shoki Hirai was replaced with Shota Kawanishi, although both are still playing underdogs to Leandro. Iwashita made it to the training match against Ehime the day after this victory, which is great news, but the replacements have been doing fine jobs to make us almost forget Keisuke.

Giravanz lined up with a 4-4-2 formation, as did Gamba, but of course Kurata was more of a supporting player to Leandro up top than a striker.

Giravanz Kitakyushu XI – Takeda, Miyamoto, Watanabe, Maeda, Fuji, Morimura, Ahn, Hakkaku, Kotegawa, Oshima, Ikemoto.
Giravanz Kitakyushu Subs – Matsumoto T, Matsumoto Y, Suzuki, Naito, Watari, Kim, Kakimoto.
Gamba Osaka XI – Fujigaya, Kaji, Nishino, Niwa, Fujiharu, Ienaga, Uchida, Okazaki, Futagawa, Kurata, Leandro.
Gamba Osaka Subs – Kimura, Oh J.S., Abe, Myojin, Takei, Paulinho, Kawanishi.

1st Half:
The hosts got the ball rolling in their lovely yellow and red home uniform but it had to be retaken. Woops. There was a very early break in play as Uchida was winded by the ball within 13 seconds of the start. The home side were looking to pass the ball around, as were Gamba, with the away team doing a better job of it. The first half chance came to Leandro but his control was poor from a Kurata cross. It was Kurata who opened the door within 5 minutes to give Gamba the lead. After some lovely passing from defence to midfield, Kaji crossed from around 35 yards out on the right towards Leandro who had made a run into the box. Takeda just got to it ahead of the Brazilian as the ball came out to around 30 yards in a central position, slightly to the right. As the ball bounced, Kaji steamed in to win the header of the Giravanz man with the ball beating the next Giravanz player and flicking off Ienaga. The ball came to Kurata around 22 yards from goal where he lost his marker with a smart dummy to open some space in the opposite direction to fire an absolutely beautiful left foot strike hard and flat towards the bottom left corner of the goal, giving Takeda the chance to only brush it in with his fingers. Shu was ecstatic and it was just the start we needed – at this point, we were hoping to build on that goal with just 5 minutes of the game gone.

It indeed looked like only we were going to score again from this point on as we controlled possession and seemed comfortable with Giravanz lacking pressure on our defence. In the 9^th minute, after said passing play, we added a bit of speed to it down the left as Futagawa came off the touchline to send a pass from Uchida down the line to Fujiharu who whipped in a delightful ball to Leandro. He has ghosted between the centre back and left back to get a free header on goal from 8 yards yet he somehow managed to put it over the top when you would have banked on him to find the net. The high pressing on Giravanz continued whenever we gave the ball away which really limited the hosts. Even in the 14^th minute when Giravanz did press us into an error to get on the counter attack from the half way line, Niwa used his body smartly to get in-between the player and the ball to win a free kick and end any danger.

The hosts started to get into the game from this point without too much action in the next 5 minutes. In the 18^th minute, the hosts had made some nice passing patterns but were forced back into their own half thanks to Kurata and Leandro. After Giravanz pushed further, we broke away through Kurata who found Leandro down the middle and he attempted to chip Takeda from 25 yards but the keeper was just about in the right position to claw it away. The hosts’ first shot came in the 24^th minute as Hakkaku fired from around 27 yards straight into Fujigaya’s welcoming arms. Giravanz also got their first and only booking of the match as Fuji was cautioned after Ienaga tried a one-two with Leandro but was halted in his path.

Giravanz won a free kick in the 26^th minute as Okazaki was just beaten to the ball by Ikemoto, 30 yards from goal, but left-back Fuji could only allow Fujigaya to watch the ball go comfortably past his post. Uchida then tried his luck for Gamba this time from 25 yards but he sent it into space – nevertheless, we seemed to get back into the groove for the time being as we retained possession for around 2 minutes but it did result in Shu Kurata slipping and hurting his ankle in what was worrying times at that point, but he did make it back onto the pitch unharmed after some treatment. What was harmed more than Kurata was Giravanz’s crossbar as Futagawa cracked the top of it from the left edge of the penalty area, curling the ball after lovely play between himself, Ienaga and Fujiharu.

The final part of the half saw Fujigaya having to make a decent low save from Miyamoto in the 37^th minute as he cut inside and onto his left foot from right back. Futagawa also copied Uchida’s previous attempt as he fired well over from a similar position in the 43^rd minute which made you feel that another goal would kill off the hosts. The first half was nonetheless excellent and we bossed it; with a bit more luck or composure, we would have had a bigger lead in the match but as we had not done this, it left Giravanz with hope for the second half.

2nd Half:
What would have given Giravanz even more hope at the start of the second half was seeing no Leandro. He was substituted at half time for Shota Kawanishi. One can only assume that his injured hand that he came into the match with had got worse as he did not seem injured before the interval. Underestimating Kawanishi would have been a bad idea as he was eager to make his mark early on. The hosts did get an early corner before all this but it was swatted away at the near post. Kurata then got onto a Kawanishi flick in the 48^th minute but he dragged his volley well wide of the far post, shooting from just inside the box. Kawanishi then won a free kick on the left touchline but Fujiharu’s resulting shot was blocked.

Giravanz were pressing a lot better in the second half, trying to suffocate us going forward but that did not stop us making some chances. In the 55^th minute, we countered following a Giravanz corner with the ball coming down the left and into the middle with Kurata, whose shot was blocked due to the sheer number of defenders after some lovely, fast interchanges. It took only a minute to make another chance as Ienaga played a one-two with Kurata on the right where he fired a cross-cum-shot across goal but it was too fast for Kawanishi at the near post and Futagawa at the back post. Lovely football though. Lovely football indeed.

The hosts brought on Naito for Morimura just before the hour mark in a like-for-like change as the game started to stretch and open up, just as Ikemoto fired wide from 25 yards. Kurata won a free kick on the right, which was whipped towards Nishino at the back post as he nodded it back across goal to Uchida who stretched to get his head on it but he hit the side netting. Following a corner for us, Giravanz went on the counter through Naito in the 65^th minute with a 3-on-3 but Fujiharu covered superbly to block his shot. This allowed us to break, ending with Okazaki’s tame shot being blocked and it rolled gently to Takeda. Kakimoto came on for Oshima in the 67^th minute whilst Okazaki was replaced by Myojin 2 minutes later. In-between these changes, Kawanishi did brilliantly to relieve pressure in his own half after a couple of Giravanz crosses were dealt with.

In the 72^nd minute, we countered through Kurata and Kawanishi, ending with Ienaga winning a corner. It was the latter who should have scored as Futagawa’s second cross landed on the midfielder’s head but he misses the ball completely whilst being unmarked. As Giravanz pressed for an equaliser, the defence stood strong whilst we always looked dangerous on the counter attack. Futagawa’s last contribution before being subbed for Abe in the 80^th minute was to win a free kick 25 yards from goal but he only hit the top of the wall. Kim came on for Ahn for the hosts a couple of minutes before that final switch.

The hosts were threatening to threaten the goal but never really had up until the 82^nd minute where Kotegawa hit the post with Fujigaya well beaten, following a cross from the right which Fuji controlled ahead of Kaji to lay off to the youngster, who fired with his left foot against the upright. The hosts continued to press and win set pieces but our defence was very strong which only let those half chances be half chances. As the hosts left bodies in attack, Abe had a shot right at Takeda saved whilst he turned provider for Ienaga as he sent in a cross from the left to our number 41 at the back post. He was in space but instead of taking a touch, he decided on a volley which went well wide. Added time was spent mainly by the corner flags as Ienaga and Abe allowed the clock to tick down and the 3 points were secured. It was not a dazzling performance but Giravanz were kept at arm’s length for the majority of the match whilst our forward line wasted a few decent chances. Nevertheless, we fully deserved the win and played excellent football for the majority of the match and always seemed to be a threat on the counter attack. We did not make it easy for ourselves but we did a top job, as did Giravanz who put in everything but simply lack some top quality players. There should be no complaints about the performances as we got the job done, ensuring our 5^th straight win and our 2^nd clean sheet in a row.

Man of the Match:
I have had to have long think about this one because there were many stand-out performers as most players did their jobs well. I think Akira Kaji and Takaharu Nishino were excellent at the back, especially Nishino, who kept Giravanz at arm’s length for the majority of the match, whilst Kaji was sound at right-back, whilst Niwa was seen controlling the defence at times. Akihiro Ienaga put in a great shift and should have scored, whilst the youthful centre of our team was very strong once more. Shu Kurata just beats them all as my choice, not only because he got the goal, but he was also the biggest threat going forward and worked his socks off at all times. People might think I am biased towards Kurata as he is one of my favourite players but he did everything we now expect of him and more. He almost led the team from the front and linked brilliantly with every single other player – when your team is not finishing the game off, you need players like Kurata. It is almost second nature to see him like this but his determination and hard work made it a lot easier on his defence. Everything starts from the front and he epitomised that and his goal was just wonderful. Shu Kurata, I LOVE YOU.

Where it leaves both teams:
It was another excellent weekend for Gamba as we added another goal to our superior goal difference over Vissel Kobe, but we also made 1^st place decisively our own as Vissel could only draw 2-2 at home to a Kempes inspired JEF United. Things got better for Gamba, and worse for Giravanz, as FC Gifu pulled their second victory of the season from nowhere against V-Varen Nagasaki at the Nagaragawa Stadium, netting the winner with the 100% last touch of the game in a fully deserved victory. This made the gap between Gamba and V-Varen 7 points, meaning we have a comfortable cushion in the automatic promotion places. Teams from 6^th to 11^th are a win/defeat away from swapping places. At the other end, Giravanz’s rivals ThespaKusatsu moved within 2 points of them with a 0-0 draw with Kataller Toyama. Giravanz are 5 points away from Tottori and Yokohama FC, whilst FC Gifu are now 3 points behind our hosts for the day but with a worse goal difference.

We continue on the road to Mito on Saturday, whilst Giravanz stay at home for a Kyushu derby with Roasso Kumamoto who lost to Kyoto Sanga 3-1 on Sunday through a Kubo hat-trick for the purple visitors.

Stats

Photos taken from J’s Goal, Nishi Nippon and the official J.League Website. No copyright infringement intended. Originals here, here and here.