Archive for the 'F.C. Tokyo Match Reports' Category

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Match Report: Nabisco Cup Quarterfinals Second Leg: Nagoya Grampus vs. FC Tokyo

Published on August 8, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports and J.League Nabisco Cup 2009 by Lantis. 0 Comments

Nabisco Cup Quarterfinals Second Leg: Nagoya Grampus vs. FC Tokyo
	First Half 1 – 0 Second Half 1 – 1 Final 2 – 1
July 29th 2009, 8PM Kickoff at Mizuho Athletic Stadium (Mizuho, Nagoya) Attendance 6,463
GK 30 Koichi Hirono DF 32 Hayuma Tanaka DF 3 Milos Bajalica DF 4 Maya Yoshida DF 6 Shohei Abe MF 10 Yoshizumi Ogawa MF 14 Keiji Yoshimura MF 13 Kei Yamaguchi MF 19 Keita Sugimoto FW 17 Yuki Maki FW 16 Joshua Kennedy	Starting Members	GK 1 Hitoshi Shiota DF 33 Kenta Mukuhara DF 4 Bruno Quadros DF 6 Yasuyuki Konno DF 5 Yuto Nagatomo MF 10 Yohei Kajiyama MF 22 Naotake Hanyu MF 40 Tatsuya Suzuki MF 27 Sotan Tanabe FW 9 Cabore FW 24 Shingo Akamine
55′ 18 Tomohiro Tsuda (for Keiji Yoshimura) 62′ 28 Taishi Taguchi (for Keita Sugimoto) 83′ 26 Masaya Sato (for Kei Yamaguchi)	Substitutes	55′ 25 Yuhei Tokunaga (for Cabore) 58′ 18 Naohiro Ishikawa (for Naotake Hanyu) 77′ 13 Sota Hirayama (for Sotan Tanabe)
33′ Yuki Maki 65′ Maya Yoshida	Goals	85′ Sota Hirayma
15′ Keiji Yoshimura	Cautions
	Ejections

Report

We came with an adjusted lineup from the previous 8 games, they scored 2 goals, but Hirayama put one in the net late to seal Tokyo’s victory. Sadly the game wasn’t broadcast so I had no way of seeing it, but the 1-2 loss was enough to get Tokyo to the semifinals 6-3 on aggregate. Our next opponent will be Shimizu S-Pulse (again), with the away leg on 9/2 and the home leg on 9/6. Winner plays the winner of Yokohama vs. Kawasaki in the final.

Match Report: J1R18 Omiya Ardija 0-3 FC Tokyo

Published on July 20, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports by dokool. 2 Comments

J.League Division 1 Round 18
	First Half 0- 1 Second Half 0 – 2 Final 0 – 3
July 18th 2009, 6:30PM kickoff at NACK5 Stadium (Omiya, Saitama) Attendance 13,527
GK 21 Nobuhisa Kobayashi DF 2 Taishi Tsukamoto DF 5 Daisuke Tomita DF 3 Mato Neretljak DF 4 Yasuhiro Hato MF 23 Shin Kanazawa MF 17 Hayato Hashimoto MF 11 Chikara Fujimoto MF 7 Tomoya Uchida FW 9 Naoki Ishihara FW 18 Dudu	Starting Members	GK 20 Shuichi Gonda DF 25 Yuhei Tokunaga DF 4 Bruno Quadros DF 6 Yasuyuki Konno DF 5 Yuto Nagatomo MF 28 Takuji Yonemoto MF 10 Yohei Kajiyama MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa MF 22 Naotake Hanyu FW 9 Cabore FW 13 Sota Hirayama
44′ 34 Seo Yong-Duk (for Dudu) 65′ 25 Kohei Tokita (for Tomoya Uchida) 81′ 15 Masato Saito (for Shin Kanazawa)	Substitutes	60′ 27 Sotan Tanabe (for Naotake Hanyu) 79′ 32 Yusuke Kondo (for Cabore) 85′ 40 Tatsuya Suzuki (for Naohiro Ishikawa)
	Goals	44′ Sota Hirayama 70′ Yasayuki Konno 89′ Sota Hirayama
4′ Mato Neretljak 88′ Chikara Fujimoto	Cautions
	Ejections

Report

Omiya’s game plan was very similar to that of mine whenever I play Winning Eleven against my Japanese friends, and worked about as well. Tokyo was tired and made the usual assortment of passing mistakes (Kajiyama is back to his 5 fuckups:1 good pass ratio), and Yusuke was… embarrassing in his 15 minutes as a substitute. Jofuku’s out of his right mind if he considers putting him back in the squad for anything but the reserve team until he gets out there and shows some hustle like Akamine did on Wednesday. Omiya did manage to keep Nao off the scoreboard, stopping his streak at 6 games. Yet in doing so, the Mighty Squirrels unleashed the beast that is Sota Hirayama, as seen in this photo courtesy of J’s Goal:

hirayama_supersaiyan

…yes, this report was pretty much an excuse to post that image, and I’m comfortable with that.

Reports that #13 is considering a change in uniform number to something over 9000 remain unverified, but the two goals he scored on Saturday night were basically the exclamation point on the incredible two months he’s had ever since shaving his head. His aggressive play and on-the-field mannerisms have inspired even some Tokyo supporters to refer to him as a heel (the traditional term for ‘the bad guy’ in pro wrestling). I know Agent Orange over at Go!Go! Omiya Ardija thinks he’s a bastard. That said he’s our bastard and we love him for it. Plus there are any number of other players who are bigger douches, when it comes down to it.

In other news, as word of Tokyo’s continued rampage throughout J.League spread, the top 4 teams in the standings managed to soil their pants at the same time. Kashima, Kawasaki, and Albirex all drew their matches, while Urawa lost on the WWI-era trench zone that is the Kyushu Oil Dome to cellar-dwellers Oita Trinita. This leaves the top 5 as follows:

1. Kashima Antlers (43 points)
2. Urawa Reds (34 points)
3. Albirex Niigata (33 points)
4. Kawasaki Frontale (33 points)
5. FC Tokyo (31 points)
6. Sanfrecce Hiroshima (26 points)

The coming month will be crucial for Tokyo as we play three of these teams – Hiroshima this coming weekend, Kawasaki next weekend, and Kashima on the 23rd. Given how within striking distance we are to 2nd place Urawa (and just behind them on goal difference too; +5 to their +6), should Tokyo’s good run continue summer could end with the team in position for an ACL bid; or even the league championship.

Tags: 8 wins in a row, omiya ardija, sota hirayama.

Match Report: Nabisco Cup Quarterfinals First Leg: FC Tokyo vs. Nagoya Grampus

Published on July 16, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports and J.League Nabisco Cup 2009 by Lantis. 1 Comment

J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup Quarterfinal Round Game 1
	First Half 4 – 0 Second Half 1 – 1 Final 5 – 1
July 15th 2009, 7:30PM Kickoff at Ajinomoto Stadium (Chofu, Tokyo) Attendance 12,226
GK 20 Shuichi Gonda DF 25 Yuhei Tokunaga DF 4 Bruno Quadros DF 6 Yasuyuki Konno DF 5 Yuto Nagatomo MF 28 Takuji Yonemoto MF 10 Yohei Kajiyama MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa MF 22 Naotake Hanyu FW 9 Cabore FW 13 Sota Hirayama	Starting Members	GK 21 Koji Nishimura DF 32 Hayuma Tanaka DF 2 Akira Takeuchi DF 5 Takahiro Masukawa DF 26 Masaya Sato MF 10 Yoshizumi Ogawa MF 7 Naoshi Nakamura MF 14 Keiji Yoshimura MF 8 Magnum FW 19 Keita Sugimoto FW 9 Davi
Half 24 Shingo Akamine (for Cabore) 68′ 40 Tatsuya Suzuki (for Takuji Yonemoto) 71′ 27 Sotan Tanabe (for Naohiro Ishikawa)	Substitutes	Half 11 Keiji Tamada (for Davi) 61′ 13 Kei Yamaguchi (for Keiji Yoshimura) 70′ 18 Tomohiro Tsuda (for Keita Sugimoto)
3′ Sota Hirayama 10′ Takuji Yonemoto 11′ Naohiro Ishikawa 26′ Yuto Nagatomo 75′ Own Goal	Goals	53′ Yoshizumi Ogawa
	Cautions	26′ Akira Takeuchi 88′ Hayuma Tanaka
	Ejections

Report

Those of you who are familiar with the legendary Blizzard game Starcraft probably remember the one time you played against a Korean player. You shoulders immediately tensed, the hairs on your arm stuck straight up, a fine line of sweat formed across your brow; all of this before the game even started. While you attempted to build up your noble Terran army and began to construct factories and even a few bunkers, your opponent already had an army under his command. Then, out of nowhere, a wave of zerglings overruns you as if you were the last Tickle-Me-Elmo on Black Friday, and they leave behind them a twisted mass of wreckage akin to New Orleans, post-Katrina. You sat at your computer, desolate, perhaps a small wet spot spreading on the front of your pants, wondering why you’d even bothered showing up in the first place.

That’s more or less what it must have felt like to be a Nagoya fan in Ajinomoto Stadium last night.

Nagoya, stung by a 3-0 defeat on Sunday, attempted to barrel their way to the Tokyo goal and get a couple goals that would, at the very least, help them in the event of a tiebreaker. Tokyo had other intentions, however, and the first goal was so quick that some fans were probably still pouring into the stadium. 10 minutes later the score was 3-0 courtesy of an incredibly well-placed shot by Yonemoto and yet another score by Ishikawa, bringing his streak to 6 games in a row which sets a new team record. Nagatomo contributed a score of his own at 26′, and the team basically spent the rest of the first half in incredibly intricate passing sequences, much like bullies passing a stuffed animal back and forth to keep it away from a little kid. Nagoya’s players were visibly frustrated, as were the fans who hoisted a banner exclaiming “Fight back if you’re man enough! behind their goal. Pixi looked like he wanted to impale himself on the corner kick flag and end it all right then and there.

The second half featured a lot more miscues, errors, and generally sloppy play by Tokyo; not enough to turn the game to Nagoya’s favor but just enough to wipe out the afterglow of an amazing first half. One could argue that playing 2 games in 4 days against the same opponent is quite tiring, especially when Nagoya played some dirty football in an attempt to derail Tokyo’s concentration, but some of these mistakes were facepalm-worthy. Poor clearing choices, missed passes, hesitations on the attack… you name it, they screwed it up. Fortunately this lapse only lasted long enough to give away one goal, and Tokyo went back to kicking ass and taking names for the rest of the match until newly-signed striker Owen Gouru, appearing on a one-day contract, knocked in the 5th goal.

With the win, Tokyo takes a 4-goal difference into Nagoya in two weeks. A 3-goal loss or a better result would be enough to send Tokyo into the semifinals, where it will face either Shimizu or Urawa (who won their first match 2-1 at home).

Tags: 7 wins in a row, nagoya grampus, naohiro ishikawa, Owen Gouru, sota hirayama, takuji yonemoto, yuto nagatomo.

Aishiteru Liveblogging: FCT vs. Nagoya Grampus, Nabisco Cup Quarterfinal

Published on July 15, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports and J.League Nabisco Cup 2009 by dokool. 0 Comments

Got a shiny new iPhone so let’s try this liveblogging thing again! Follow @aishiterutokyo on Twitter for the latest from Ajinomoto Stadium.

Tags: liveblogging, nagoya grampus.

Match Report – J1R17 FCT 3-0 Nagoya Grampus

Published on July 13, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports by dokool. 0 Comments

J.League Division 1 Week 17
	First Half 2 - 0 Second Half 1 - 0 Final 3 - 0
July 12th 2009, 6:34PM Kickoff at Ajinomoto Stadium (Chofu, Tokyo) Attendance 24,736
GK 20 Shuichi Gonda DF 25 Yuhei Tokunaga DF 4 Bruno Quadros DF 6 Yasuyuki Konno DF 5 Yuto Nagatomo MF 28 Takuji Yonemoto MF 10 Yohei Kajiyama MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa MF 22 Naotake Hanyu FW 9 Cabore FW 13 Sota Hirayama	Starting Members	GK 1 Seigo Narazaki DF 32 Hayuma Tanaka DF 2 Akira Takeuchi DF 5 Takahiro Masukawa DF 6 Shohei Abe MF 13 Kei Yamaguchi MF 14 Keiji Yoshimura MF 10 Yoshizumi Ogawa MF 8 Magnum FW 11 Keiji Tamada FW 9 Davi
64′ 27 Soutan Tanabe (for Hanyu) 77′ 40 Tatsuya Suzuki (for Ishikawa) 80′ 24 Shingo Akamine (for Cabore)	Substitutes	45′ 17 Yuki Maki (for Yoshimura) 63′ 27 Sho Hanai (for Yamaguchi) 69′ 19 Keita Sugimoto (for Davi
3′ Ishikawa 34′ Cabore 89′ Suzuki	Goals
	Cautions
13′ Davi	Ejections

Report

Last night’s match at Ajinomoto Stadium was in many aspects a homecoming. First in the most obvious sense of the word; the match was the first in nearly two months played at Ajinomoto Stadium following a complete re-sodding of the pitch and repairs to the sprinkler system. Second in the sense that the team playing in front of just under 25,000 fans last night has finally returned to where they were in 2008: playing nearly flawless soccer and ascending once again to dark horse status. Though the sidelines were full of cameramen and video crews angling to get a once-in-a-lifetime shot of Naohiro Ishikawa delivering another goal, few in the media have highlighted the fact that Tokyo has now won 4 league matches in a row and has recovered from a dismal first third of the season to once again contend for an ACL bid.

The press didn’t have to wait long; in the 3rd minute of play Nao recieved a header from Hirayama and proceeded to shred the Nagoya defensive line like a packet of pachinko hall tissues, stopping just inside the box for long enough to send a sharp grounder into the left side of the net.

With the supporters in a frenzy and Tokyo showing all the poise and confidence of a champion, Nagoya resorted to pettiness of the sort that we tend to expect from Urawa players. Davi risked an ejection by arguing with the official after recieving a yellow for roughing Gonda in the box, and expressed his displeasure minutes later when FCT kicked the ball out of bounds following an injury. Rather than kick the ball towards the opposing goalkeeper as is considered proper sportsmanship, Davi tapped the ball to the sideline, forcing an FC Tokyo throw-in. This was about as civilized as Nagoya would play for the rest of the night, but Tokyo wouldn’t rise to the bait and ended the match with a clean sheet. As for Davi, he was neutralized by Bruno and Yonemoto to the point where he was substituted out midway through the second half. His yellow card was the 4th of the season, ensuring that he will recieve a one-game suspension and will thus be absent for Wednesday’s Nabisco Cup draw.

Tokyo put an exclamation point on the first half with a beautiful display of teamwork; Nao crossed the ball over to Hirayama, who laid in a solid shot that the goalkeeper stopped but could not get a hold of. Cabore was waiting nearby for an all-too-easy kick-in.

Special notice should be given to Hirayama; although he’s still not quite able to find the net his work ethic since he shaved his head has been stunning. He may not get the headlines but Sota is helping to carry this team as much as any other player and even a bit more.

Nagoya attempted to fight back in the second half but shot its load too quickly by bringing in three substitutes in quick succession. Shortly after Davi was substituted a collision happened in front of the Nagoya goal that soiled many pairs of underear in the stadium; mainly because Ishikawa had attempted to drill the ball into the net with his leg fully extended. Though he got up and walked away seemingly unharmed, Jofuku decided that the team’s leading scorer had had enough adventure and danger for the night and Suzuki went in for Nao instead of for Cabore as had been planned.

Nagoya player Sho Hanai did not get up, however, and was taken off the field due to injury leaving Nagoya shorthanded. Unfortunately Tokyo tried to get too cutesy with its passing and without firestarters Nao or Cabore on the field the team seemed hesitant to attack at times. Nagoya made its most threatening attacks of the night when they were shorthanded, but Gonda seemed to catch every ball that came his way.

Finally, Tatsuya Suzuki capped off the night in injury time with a goal similar to Ishikawa’s at the start.

By The Numbers

5th place - Tokyo’s standing after 17 games this season

10th place – Tokyo’s standing after 17 games last season

+2 – Tokyo’s goal difference after tonight’s game, the first time it has been in positive territory all season

10 – Goals scored by Naohiro Ishikawa so far this season

5 – Ishikawa’s previous season high

Tags: 6 wins in a row, cabore, fuck davi, naohiro ishikawa, rampage mode, tatsuya suzuki.

First Impressions: J1W17 FC Tokyo 3 – 0 Nagoya Grampus

Published on July 12, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports by dokool. 0 Comments

nagoya_victory

This will do until I write my full report tomorrow. G’nite all!

Tags: fuck davi, nagoya grampus, naohiro ishikawa, total goddamned victory.

Match Report: J1 Week 16, Vissel Kobe vs. FC Tokyo

Published on July 7, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports by dokool. 2 Comments

J.League Division 1 Week 16
	First Half 0 – 0Second Half 0 – 2 Final 0 – 2
July 4th 2009, 7PM Kickoff at HOMES Stadium (Kobe, Hyogo) Attendance 14,915
GK 1 Tatsuya Enomoto DF 25 Yosuke Ishibitsu DF 4 Kunie Kitamoto DF 14 Tsuneyasu Miyamoto DF 15 Toshihiko Uchiyama MF 22 Kenji Baba MF 10 Botti MF 18 Hideo Tanaka MF 50 Yoshito Okubo FW 13 Kazuki Ganaha FW 21 Hiroto Mogi	Starting Members	GK 20 Shuichi Gonda DF 25 Yuhei Tokunaga DF 4 Bruno Quadros DF 6 Yasuyuki Konno DF 5 Yuto Nagatomo MF 28 Takuji Yonemoto MF 10 Yohei Kajiyama MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa MF 22 Naotake Hanyu FW 9 Cabore FW 13 Sota Hirayama
56′ 7 Park Kang-Jo (for Kenji Baba) 64′ 31 Akihito Kusunose (for Kazuki Ganaha) 85′ 8 Alan Bahia (for Botti)	Substitutes	73′ 40 Tatsuya Suzuki (for Naotake Hanyu) 78′ 33 Shingo Akamine (for Cabore) 84′ 24 Jo Kanazawa (for Takuji Yonemoto)
	Goals	50′ Naohiro Ishikwa 55′ Cabore
42′ Toshihiko Uchiyama 89′ Kunie Kitamoto	Cautions	69′ Takuji Yonemoto
	Ejections

Report

Y’know those games that are unbalanced not because one team is playing particularly poorly, but because their opponent is in such a groove that they are simply outmatched? Where you almost feel embarassed for the losing squd because they simply have no chance and everyone in the stadium knows it?

That’s pretty much how I felt watching the second half of Saturday night’s fiesta in Kobe (a late afternoon nap caused me to sleep through the first half). In recognition of the 4th of July, the blue and red boys put on some white and added a few fireworks to the evening.

Tokyo outshot Kobe 19 to 4. Let me repeat that because I ‘m not entirely sure I believe it. 19. to 4. There were so many 2-on-1, 3-on-1, even 4-on-1 breakaways that Vissel is very lucky that their goal differential only took a 2-point hit. Kobe resembled a mouse underneath the paw of a giant cat, doing its damndest to put up a fight but ultimately resigned to the fact that it would eventually be crushed and consumed. If you told me that over 2/3rds of the second half were played on Vissel’s side of the field, I would not be surprised in the least. When Kobe did mount a counterattack, it was quickly snuffed by the likes of Yonemoto or Konno, whose performance was so outstanding that El Golazo gave him Man of the Match status.

But of course while defense saves games, offense wins them. There are truly not enough terms in the footballing vernacular to describe Naohiro Ishikawa’s form at the moment. His play is worthy of praise from bombastic ESPN commentators declaring that you cannot stop Ishikawa, you can only hope to contain him. While the entire front line worked together to trap the Vissel defense and open up the top of the box, Nao produced a shot that made his needle-threading against Shimizu seem like childs play. He now sits at the top of the league scoring table along with a couple of foreign players, but sooner or later he will likely stand alone.

Hanyu should also be lauded as well for his beautiful pass to Cabore which managed to shred Kobe’s defense completely and make the second goal a mere formality.

After a fortuitous set of results on Sunday, Tokyo sits alone in 5th place, 6 points out of an ACL slot and something like 13 away from league leaders Kashima. We have a big test coming next week – 3 games in 7 days, two at home against Nagoya and one away at Omiya. While I’d of course like to see Tokyo advance in the Nabisco Cup (since I’ve started following the team they’ve been eliminated in the quarterfinals twice), now that the team has regained its footing all eyes should be on cracking the top 3.

Vamos!

Tags: naohiro ishikawa, Vissel Kobe.

Match Report: J1 Round 15: FC Tokyo vs. Shimizu S-Pulse

Published on June 29, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports by dokool. 0 Comments

J.League Division 1 Week #
	First Half 1 – 0Second Half 1 – 1 Final 2 – 1
June 27th 2009, 7PM Kickoff at Kokuritsu Stadium (Shinjuku, Tokyo) Attendance 28,987
GK 20 Shuichi Gonda DF 25 Yuhei Tokunaga DF 4 Bruno Quadros DF 6 Yasuyuki Konno DF 5 Yuto Nagatomo MF 28 Takuji Yonemoto MF 10 Yohei Kajiyama MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa MF 22 Naotake Hanyu FW 9 Cabore FW 13 Sota Hirayama	Starting Members	GK 29 Kaito Yamamoto DF 25 Daisuke Ichikawa DF 3 Naoaki Aoyama DF 2 Arata Kodama DF 4 Kosuke Ota MF 23 Shinji Okazaki MF 8 Takuma Edamura MF 7 Teruyoshi Ito MF 13 Akihiro Hyodo FW 11 Kazuki Hara FW 18 Frode Johnsen
74′ 40 Tatsuya Suzuki (for Naotake Hanyu) 85′ 33 Kenta Mukuhara (for Cabore) 89′ 24 Shingo Akamine (for Naohiro Ishikawa)	Substitutes	42′ 6 Marcos Paulo (for Takuma Edamura) 73′ 10 Jungo Fujimoto (for Akihiro Hyodo) 83′ 15 Shinji Tsujio (for Daisuke Ichikawa)
7′ Yohei Kajiyama (PK) 62′ Naohiro Ishikawa	Goals	58′ Frode Johnsen
17′ Sota Hirayama 26′ Yohei Kajiyama 42′ Shuichi Gonda 66′ Yasuyuki Konno	Cautions	6′ Akihiro Hyodo
	Ejections

Report

The blue and red express continues to roll up the J.League table as Tokyo played a tough game of soccer against a Shimizu squad that was much improved from that of two weeks ago.

Once again, Tokyo started the game off with an early goal to take the lead and momentum. This time it came off of a PK that Cabore earned when he was egregiously tackled on the far left side of the Shimizu penalty box. Kajiyama took the kick and sent it rocketing to the left post past the keeper for an easy 1-0 lead.

After that, as if he felt that he had given FCT an unfair advantage, the referee seemed to favor Shimizu for the rest of the match; S-Pulse took 20 free kicks in the match compared to Tokyo’s 11. Furthermore, Tokyo recieved no less than 4 yellow cards during the match. Despite this, Tokyo’s defense did a terrific job of stopping any Shimizu attacks; in partciular Bruno made a terrific tackle late in the first half to stop what appeared to be a dangerous drive.

Tokyo continued to dominate in the second half as well, but Shimizu brought the game back to a deadlock when their goalkeeper fell over while walking the ball out (I’m actually pretty sure that an FCT player bumped into him but I could have been mistaken, causing play to stop and the referee to come over and check on him. This break in the action allowed Shimizu extra time to move its men down the field, and Johnsen was able to sneak an easy one past Gonda.

Five minutes later, Naohiro Ishikawa took a deflection off Kajiyama of a pass from Hirayama and proceeded to thread the goddamned needle, rocketing a shot that slipped just above the goalkeeper’s outstretched hand and slamed in and under the crossbar for the score. Nao is now the second-highest scorer in J.League with 8 goals, first among Japanese players.

From then on it was simply taking control of the field and depriving Shimizu of any opportunities to even the score. While Tokyo missed several opportunities over the course of the game that could have easily made it a 3-1 or even 4-1 game, this was a well-earned victory and if Nagatomo’s postgame speech was any indication, team spirits couldn’t be higher.

Quotes

“I feel like I’m seeing more shooting opportunities than I used to. In the first half there were some chances, but in the second half the play just opened up and I felt like there were a lot more options. My game is definitely becoming more interesting lately.” ~ Naohiro Ishikawa

“In the first half we moved the ball around a lot but we weren’t able to move the ball forward as much as I would have liked. On defense we fell into some dangerous spots a few times but we successfully forced Shimizu to give up the ball. Overall we were able to get thigns done so all we can do is look at what we need to correct from today’s match.” ~ Naotake Hanyu

“One of the important points we looked at heading into this season was whether we could break the kind of zone defense that Shimizu used against us so effectively last year. Because we scored three points against them in the Nabisco match, the players came into this game with confidence. I’m happy that 28,000 fans came to help us start our summer counter-attack.” ~ Hiroshi Jofuku

Tags: naohiro ishikawa, shimizu s-pulse.

Nabisco Cup Group B Round 6: FC Tokyo vs. Shimizu S-Pulse

Published on June 14, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports, F.C. Tokyo News and J.League Nabisco Cup 2009 by Lantis. 0 Comments

Nabisco Cup Group B Round 6
	First Half 1 - 0Second Half 2 - 1 Final 3 - 1
June 13th 2009, 2PM Kickoff at Komazawa Stadium (Setagawa, Tokyo) Attendance 12,538
GK 20 Shuichi Gonda DF 33 Kenta Mukuhara DF 4 Bruno Quadros DF 15 Daishi Hiramatsu DF 25 Yuhei Tokunaga MF 28 Takuji Yonemoto MF 10 Yohei Kajiyama MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa MF 27 Sotan Tanabe FW 9 Cabore FW 32 Yusuke Kondo	Starting Members	GK 21 Yohei Nishibe DF 25 Daisuke Ichikawa DF 3 Naoaki Aoyama DF 5 Keisuke Iwashita DF 2 Arata Kodama MF 10 Jungo Fujimoto MF 7 Teruyoshi Ito MF 16 Takuya Honda MF 13 Akihiro Hyodo FW 8 Takuma Edamura FW 11 Kazuki Hara
57′ 40Tatsuya Suzuki (for Yusuke Kondo) 66′ 24 Shingo Akamine (for Cabore) 75′ 19 Yohei Otake (for Sotan Tanabe)	Substitutes	Half 20 Shun Nagasawa (for Teruyoshi Ito) 68′ 22 Genki Omae (for Jungo Fujimoto) 68′ 4 Kosuke Ota (for Arata Kodama)
6′ Cabore 61′ Naohiro Ishikawa 73′ Shingo Akamine (PK)	Goals	83′ Genko Omae
34′ Kenta Mukuhara 58′ Yuhei Tokunaga	Cautions	70′ Naoaki Aoyama 71′ Naoaki Aoyama 73′ Keisuke Iwashita
	Ejections	71′ Naoaki Aoyama

Report

For what may be the first time this season, Tokyo played 90 minutes of exciting, fast-pced, attack-oriented football and managed to absolutely decimate Shimizu S-Pulse in what was essentially a dead-rubber game for the orange legion. Shimizu had locked up a berth in the quarterfinals already; a win would guarantee first place and a matchup with Nagoya Grampus, while a loss or draw could possibly knock the team down to 2nd and result in a tieup with Group A’s first place squad (which turned out to be Urawa. Tokyo, on the other hand, controlled its own destiny and could make it to the second round (and win Group B) with a win.

The match ws a wild back -and-forth affair from the start; topped with an early goal by Cabore that gave Tokyo a rare first-half lead. Though Tokyo (particularly Kajiyama) made many silly passing mistakes, the lead held and the boys in blue and red went into the locker room feeling pretty good about themselves.

The second half featured drama, intrigue, and a rare officiating decision that favored Tokyo. 16 minutes into the second half, Naohiro Ishikwa let off a ripping shot that would prove to be the game winner. 10 minutes later, Akamine was pulled down inside the box by Shimizu defender Naoki Aoyama, who began protesting practically before the referee pointed to the penalty spot. With the Tokyo fans egging him on, Aoyama continued to protest and was eventually showed a red card for his trouble. Akamine’s first attempt was blocked, but the referee gave another Shimizu player a yellow for encroaching on the penalty area and called a redo. Akamine didn’t miss the second time and Tokyo steamed on to a 3-1 victory despite getting a bit lazy on defense with a 3-goal lead and a 1-man advantage (hence the ’1′ in the equation. Gonda proved his skills by stopping a penalty shot late in the second half that would have made it 3-2 and caused heart rates to go up behind the Tokyo goal, and from then on it was merely a question of which songs to sing until the final whistle.

Having captured Group B, Tokyo will now take on Nagoya Grampus in the quarterfinals of the Cup. The home leg will be July 15th at Ajinomoto Stadium (4 days after the teams meet in J1 play at the same stadium), while the away leg will be on July 29th. The winner will play the winner of the Urawa-Shimizu series in the semifinals.

Tags: shimizu s-pulse.

Match Report: Nabisco Cup Group B Round 5: FC Tokyo vs. Montedio Yamagata

Published on June 4, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports and J.League Nabisco Cup 2009 by Lantis. 0 Comments

J.League Division 1 Week #
	First Half 0 – 1Second Half 3 – 0 Final 3 – 1
June 3th 2009, 7:30PM Kickoff at Kokuritsu Stadium (Shinjuku, Tokyo) Attendance 14,259
GK 20 Shuichi Gonda DF 14 Hokuto Nakamura DF 4 Bruno Quadros DF 15 Daishi Hiramatsu DF 25 Yuhei Tokunaga MF 28 Takuji Yonemoto MF 10 Yohei Kajiyama MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa MF 27 Sotan Tanabe FW 9 Cabore FW 13 Sota Hirayama	Starting Members	GK 21 Taishi Endo DF 14 Takuya Miyamoto DF 22 Takuya Sonoda DF 23 Hidenori Ishii DF 13 Tatsuya Ishikawa MF 16 Kim Byung-Suk MF 19 Masaru Akiba MF 5 Takumi Watanabe MF 29 Tomoyasu Hirose FW 15 Yu Hasegawa FW 6 Kohei Miyazaki
29′ 33 Kenta Mukuhara (for Hokuto Nakamura) 71′ 19 Yohei Otake (for Sotan Tanabe) 76′ 24 Shingo Akamine (for Cabore)	Substitutes	43′ 17 Kentaro Sato (for Masaru Akiba) Half 20 Ryo Kobayashi (for Kim Byung-Suk) 76′ 7 Katsuyuki Miyazawa (for Takuya Miyamoto)
57′ Yohei Kajiyama 63′ Cabore 71′ Cabore	Goals	3′ Tomoyasu Hirose
17′ Sota Hirayama 43′ Kenta Mukuhara	Cautions	32′ Takuya Sonoda 44′ Takuya Miyamoto 51′ Kentaro Sato
	Ejections

Report

For once, Tokyo fans were treated to a come-from-behind victory against Montedio Yamagata on a Wednesday night game at Kokuritsu. Tokyo came out of the gates… poorly, to say the least, allowing a goal in the 3rd minute when the defense plain collapsed. Tokyo spent the next 30 minutes or so plodding along before finally gaining some semblance of structure.

Whatever coach Jofuku told the team at halftime seemed to kick in, however, as the team struck back with a vengeance in the second half. Our favorite player to bitch about, Yohei Kajiyama, came up big in the 57th minue with a beauty of a strike to tie the game. 6 minutes later Cabore displayed incredible follow-through effort in scoring the tiebreaker, and 8 minutes after that sealed the deal with his second goal of the game.

Tags: Montedio Yamagata.

Archive for the 'F.C. Tokyo Match Reports' Category

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Match Report: J1 Round 15: FC Tokyo vs. Shimizu S-Pulse

Nabisco Cup Group B Round 6: FC Tokyo vs. Shimizu S-Pulse

Match Report: Nabisco Cup Group B Round 5: FC Tokyo vs. Montedio Yamagata

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