Review: Cerezo Osaka 0-0 Kashiwa Reysol (J1 MD32)

A scoreless draw in a match aiming for back-to-back wins; no goals conceded for the first time in six games was a positive result, but there are still issues to be addressed in the attack.

Five days after beating Shonan Bellmare to end a four-game losing streak with their first win in nine matches, Cerezo Osaka returned home to face Kashiwa Reysol in the 32nd round of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League. There were two changes to the starting lineup from the Shonan match. Hayato Okuda and Kakeru Funaki were rested and replaced by Ryosuke Shindo, making his first start of the season, and Reiya Sakata, making his second league start of the season. The 3-4-2-1 formation featured a back three of Koji Toriumi, Ryuya Nishio and Shindo, a double volante of Shunta Tanaka and Hinata Kida, Hirotaka Tameda on the left wing, Sakata on the right wing, and Sota Kitano and Lucas Fernandes behind Leo Ceara up top.



Right from the start, Cerezo gave Kashiwa a free kick and a corner kick, but they defended well. In the 12th minute, Kitano won the ball and Fernandes dribbled through the air to earn a yellow card. And in the 17th minute, Sakata was mesmerizing. His quick dribbling down the right side of the field led him to the center of the field, where he was fouled on the edge of the box and a free kick was awarded. The kicker, Fernandes, took a brilliant shot at goal, but the ball hit a defender and went wide. Kashiwa's strength on the left, Matheus Savio, was thwarted by Sakata, Shindo and Kitano, but he still managed to create a chance that led to Kohei Tezuka firing a shot that was saved by Kim Jin Hyeon. In the 30th minute, Kosuke Kinoshita headed in Diego's cross, and in the 33rd minute, Diego fired a shot from midfield, but both were saved by Kim Jin Hyeon. Cerezo also had a chance in the 37th minute. An exchange of passes between Shindo and Tanaka allowed them to break out of the opponent's press and Kida sent a pass to the left flank. Tameda collected the ball and sent a sharp cross into the box, but it just missed Leo Ceara and was cleared by the defender. The first half was a tight affair, with both sides switching quickly from offense to defense, and ended 0-0.





Unlike the first half, the second half began with Cerezo on the offensive, and in the 47th minute Savio knocked Sakata off his feet while dribbling, earning him a yellow card. Sakata, who played as a wing-back in the match, showed his sharp and fast dribbling throughout the game, and the stadium went wild. In the 49th minute, Ceara headed down a kick by Kim Jin Hyeon, the ball failed to be cleared by the defender, and Fernandes picked up the ball, dribbled in, and shot, which was saved by the goalkeeper, but it was a close call. The tempo of the ball movement remained good with Kida as the starting point, and in the 66th minute, the passing between Kida, Sakata, and Kitano broke the ball down, and the young players became more active. In the second half, the team began to show signs of scoring, as Tameda, on the left flank, moved deeper down the flanks and increased the number of corner kicks. Capixaba and Masaya Shibayama were introduced in the behind-the-striker positions in the 68th and 78th minutes, respectively. In the 84th minute, Cerezo broke down the right flank, and Capixaba met a cross, but it was blocked by the opposing defender. Cerezo dominated the second half, limiting their opponents to two shots on goal, but were unable to find the back of the net and the match ended in a 0-0 draw.





After the game, manager Akio Kogiku cited “the performance of the young players and the fact that we all worked hard and finished with a clean sheet ” as his takeaways from the game. He added enthusiastically, “Next time, we will take risks in the attack, put more people in front of the ball, and go deeper with everyone." The next game is a match where only victory is required. We will all prepare well and share the joy with our supporters at home this time.