Review: Cerezo Osaka 1-2 Ventforet Kofu (Emperor's Cup 3rd Round)

Cerezo lost to the champions of the year before last after extra time, and were eliminated in the third round of the Emperor's Cup this season.

Three days after their last league match, the 22nd round of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League against Tokyo Verdy, the stage was set for the Emperor's Cup third round match against Ventforet Kofu. There were eight changes to the starting lineup from the Tokyo Verdy match. Hayato Okuda returned to the starting lineup after missing the match due to illness, and Shinji Kagawa, Jordy Croux and other players who had been out of the lineup for the last few matches were also back in the lineup.



The first half started with Cerezo trying to fend off Kofu's attack. Cerezo could not settle down and Kakeru Funaki received a yellow card in the 5th minute, but after 10 minutes they started to get possession and after gaining time, Hirotaka Tameda, Masaya Shibayama and Croux came close to scoring with crosses from both flanks. However, they were unable to break the deadlock, and in the 24th and 26th minutes their opponents threatened from the left, but the central defenders and goalkeeper did well to keep them out. Cerezo's best chance of the first half came in the 35th minute. Ryo Watanabe, who started the match as a winger, won the ball and Kagawa passed it to Croux and Okuda, whose cross was headed on by Watanabe, but the ball went wide. The score was 0-0 at the start of the second half, but in the 46th minute the opponents scored. After losing possession on their own left flank, Peter Utaka broke free and dribbled in to score. The manager said before the game, "Kofu has a player who can score goals on his own or with another player. How to prevent counter-attacks will be a key point," and so they conceded. Another chance came in the 53rd minute when Utaka's through ball was played in, but goalkeeper Yang Han Been made a great save to prevent a second goal. The attacking players responded to their goalkeeper's efforts a minute later, in the 54th minute, when Watanabe capitalized on an opponent's mistake and fired a right-footed shot from long range. Cerezo equalized with a stunning mid-range shot from distance. Manager Kogiku, seeing this as a critical point in the game, made three changes in the 61st minute. Leo Ceara, Lucas Fernandes and Capixaba all came on at the same time as the team looked for the winner. In the 70th minute, Cerezo again had a chance after an errant pass from an opponent. Ceara found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but his shot went just wide. Kofu then had a series of good chances in the 73rd, 79th and 80th minutes, but the defenders did their best to keep them out. The game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes and the match went into extra time.





In the first half of extra time, Cerezo was on the defensive from the start as Kofu kept possession, and in the 96th and 100th minutes, Kofu had a series of chances, but again the defense managed to block the shots. In the last five minutes of extra time, Cerezo regained possession and pushed forward, but were unable to break through Kofu's back five defense and were unable to get a shot off. In the second half of extra time, with both teams looking tired, Cerezo struck first, and in the 109th minute, Fernandes broke down the right flank and penetrated deep, only to be tackled by a Kofu defender who was deemed to be on the ball and no whistle was blown. Then, in the 112th minute, Kofu midfielder Yoshiki Torikai and Fabian Gonzalez combined to score a goal. The defenders had held on until then, but the goal was finally conceded. Nishio, who was holding the back of his thigh, did not leave the field after using up all his substitutions, but went to the front and started a power play. Cerezo tried until the end to equalize with crosses and set pieces, but they could not catch up and the game ended 1-2. Cerezo lost in the third round of the Emperor's Cup this season.





"I think the game was exactly as the result showed. We couldn't hold on, and on the other hand, we couldn't score any goals," said Watanabe. Looking back on the match, "We have to face the reality that we were outscored by Kofu in terms of performance, and we have to accept the situation. We have to show with the result that we have changed because of this game, rather than pretending that this game did not happen," Nishio expressed his determination. After losing two cup competitions, the only competition left this season is the league. "We want to fight for our goals in each of the next 16 games. I believe we are still capable of achieving our goal, so we all want to do our best without wavering," said manager Kogiku. The team will first recover physically and mentally for their upcoming must-win match against Kawasaki Frontale in the 23rd round of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League in three days' time.