Review: Cerezo Osaka 0-1 Kashima Antlers (J1 MD12)

In the pouring rain, despite fighting hard on offense and defense, regrettable defeat due to conceding a goal from a set piece.

After a three-day interval from the Osaka derby in the previous section which they won a dramatic victory. Cerezo Osaka welcomed Kashima Antlers at home to face the Meiji Yasuda J1 League Section 12, which was the last of three consecutive Golden Week matches. The starting lineup was 11 players, the same as the last two games. Jordy Croux entered the substitute members for the first time in four games.

Due to the rain that had been pouring down before the match, in the condition that the pitch was flooded with water in places, the early stages of the game saw both teams kicking long balls at each other. Even so, Cerezo connected the ball mainly on the left side and created chances. Then in the 23rd minute, Cerezo grabbed the first chance for both teams. Hirotaka Tameda flicked Riki Harakawa's vertical pass to break through the left side, Shinji Kagawa fed a centering pass, and Harakawa shot finally in front of the goal, but it was blocked by the opponent's DF and missed the goal. In defense, Matej Jonic and Koji Toriumi repelled the opponent's attacks and prevented them from creating chances. In addition, in this game, Hiroaki Okuno was placed in the down position in advance as a countermeasure against the second ball, forming a double anchor with Harakawa. Even in the competition of the middle range, they were competitive against Kashima, and finished the first half with 0-0, with not bad development.



In the second half, Satoki Uejo entered the pitch from the start in place of Tameda, who had received a yellow card in the first half. In the 56th minute, Uejo developed the game vertically and tried to break through the situation, and then in the 63rd minute there was a big chance. From a throw-in deep on the left side, Leo Ceara received it and sent a pass to Uejo, and Kagawa reacted to Uejo’s returning pass but his shot did not meet. In the second half, Kashima thoroughly targeted Cerezo's left side. Taking advantage of the pitch conditions where the ball was stopped, Kashima was slowly pushing in, but Cerezo responded to it as Toriumi showed good cover many times. They had avoided the pinch scenes, but in the 67th minute, they gave a CK from a throw-in and conceded a goal following the set piece. Unfortunately, the ball that was turned back on the far side hit a DF and changed its trajectory, and Ikuma Sekigawa pushed it into a goal on the other side.



Cerezo wanted to counterattack from here, but in the 71st minute, Uejo received a red card due to a dangerous play to kick his foot high. In the 75th minute under the numerical disadvantage, Manager Akio Kogiku brought in Jordy Croux and Ryosuke Shindo, in order to search for clues to breakthrough with high kick accuracy and individual strength. However, time passed without breaking Kashima's solid defense. In the 90th minute, Jordy's Crooks cross was met by Sota Kitano with a header, but this was the only one shot to be thrown in the second half.


The match ended 0-1 as it was. The most likely scoring chance to give to Kashima was the only scene of conceding a goal, but they were unable to break the opponent's solid defense and the time ran out. They did not win in a row following the Osaka Derby in the previous section, and ended up missing a chance to move up the ranks. The next section is a week away, against Kyoto Sanga F.C. In order to return the debt in the Levain Cup, which they marked the consecutive defeats, they will prepare well and challenge it.