Review: Cerezo Osaka 2-1 Yokohama F. Marinos (J1 MD6)
- TEAM
This was the first league match in two weeks. Cerezo Osaka welcomed last season"s J1 champions Yokohama F. Marinos at home. They changed one starter from the previous section. Instead of Mutsuki Kato, Leo Ceara, who played against his old club, entered the only one FW position.
Cerezo pressed vigorously at the beginning, but Yokohama FM took the initiative until the 15th minute of the first half. In particular, Kota Mizunuma, who had played for Cerezo from 2017 to 2019, threatened to score goals again and again, but GK Kim Jin Hyeon did not let him break the goal. Then, in the 16th minute, Leo Ceara got a scoring chance from the FK that he won by himself. His header here was blocked by the GK, but he made another header from the following CK and scored. The stadium got excited all at once with the long-awaited first goal of the uniform number 9 after his joining the team. However, Cerezo continued to endure Yokohama’s attacks from here. Even so, Koji Toriumi"s shot block and Kim Jin Hyeon’s big save did not allow a tie goal. In the first half, Cerezo had managed to launch the counterattacks from good defense, and it came to fruition in the 35th minute. Tokuma Suzuki intercepted the opponent’s pass in the middle range and sent the vertical pass, and Leo Ceara, who received it in the center, went past the opponent’s DF, dribbled and fed a pass to Hiroaki Okuno on the side. Okuno, who was close to going one-on-one with the GK, did not throw a shot, looked inside, and sent a soft and gentle cross. Leo Ceara jumped in here. He scored his second goal of the day with a spectacular header. There were some difficult time slots in front of Yokohama FM"s offensive power, but in the final part, Cerezo kept their bodies close to opponents and showed their play attitude not to take a single back step with "strength and switching", which Manager Akio Kogiku mentioned as a point before the match. They scored effectively from the set piece and the counterattack, and the first half ended with a 2-point lead.
In the second half, Cerezo took control of the match by closing the middle range and quickly sending the ball they stole into the front space, with a [4-5-1] system. In the 50th minute, after Okuno stole a ball, Shinji Kagawa, Hirotaka Tameda, and Ryosuke Yamanaka connected the passes, and then finally Leo Ceara jumped into the cross of Yamanaka, but his header went slightly out of the frame. In the 66th minute as well, Cerezo had another scoring chance from a good defense. Leo Ceara, who came out to Kagawa"s pass, was about to have the one-on-one with the GK, but the returning DF blocked the shot. Unfortunately, it did not become a hat-trick, but the play of uniform number 9 in this match was a masterpiece. Movement to create a starting point, movement to run into space, defense from the front line, and two goals to decide the game. He left the pitch in the 74th minute with an impeccable performance. Yokohama FM took possession in the second half as well, but Cerezo did not give them any real chances. Once in the 65th minute, there was a scene where the right side was broken through, but the final shot was blocked by Kim Jin Hyeon. Although they were showing the offense and defense that “was very well organized” (Manager Kogiku), in the 83rd minute, the right side was broken through again and they conceded a goal from an own goal. From here, while the way to close the game was questioned, Manager Kogiku sent Ryosuke Shindo to the pitch, and changed the system to 5 back DFs. He chose [5-4-1] as an escape plan.
The approximate 10 minutes, including the additional time, was the time when the fate of the season depended, and so Cerezo kept on blocking the Yokohama’s attack with the body until the end, centered on CB Matej Jonic and Toriumi. They succeeded in managing not to concede any more goals, and won the match against last season"s champion with all team’s force, in the first match of April aiming for catching up to the upper ranked teams. "I have been waiting impatiently for this moment. Scoring goals today gave me a confidence, so I think I can make goals more from here," said Leo Ceara with a smile. Kagawa played as the full-time appearance for the first time in this season and led the team with wrapping a captain mark at the end. Then, Manager Kogiku presented an option to overcome the challenges that they have in the end of the match. In front of the supporters who renewed the number of visitors at Yodokou Sakura Stadium, Cerezo grabbed a big win that could be a turning point this season.
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