Review: Cerezo Osaka 0-2 Kashima Antlers (J1 MD37)

Despite not winning the last home game of the season, Sakura's captain Tatsuya Yamashita left his final mark on the pitch.

Three weeks after beating Avispa Fukuoka 1-0 in their previous match, Cerezo Osaka faced Kashima Antlers in their final home match of the season in the 37th round of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League. The team was determined to finish with a win to give a proper send-off to manager Akio Kogiku, who will step down at the end of the season, and Tatsuya Yamashita, who has announced his retirement at the end of the season. There were two changes in the starting lineup from the Fukuoka game, with Hinata Kida replacing the suspended Shunta Tanaka in the volante and Hiroto Yamada starting in the top two positions for the first time since the 14th game of the season.



Kashima started the match with a long ball, but Cerezo quickly responded with a strong attack and came close to scoring. Just as they began to find their rhythm, however, they conceded their first goal in the 10th minute when Kei Chinen's mid-range shot was deflected by goalkeeper Kim Jin Hyeon and tapped in by Shu Morooka. Cerezo had no time to recover before conceding a second goal four minutes later. Gaku Shibasaki latched onto a loose ball from a Kashima corner and crossed to the far post, where Yuma Suzuki volleyed the ball into the net. The two early goals gave Cerezo a difficult start, but as their manager recalled after the match, "From that point on, we controlled the game and created a lot of chances." In the 22nd minute, Leo Ceara had a chance to score when he collected a clearance from the Kashima defense, but his shot was saved by the goalkeeper. Yamada's shot on the rebound went just over the crossbar. Cerezo continued to attack, picking up the second ball and creating another crucial opportunity in the 40th minute. After Capixaba and Hirotaka Tameda had combined on the left flank, Ceara turned to meet Tameda's cross but his shot went just wide.





In the second half, with Cerezo trailing by two goals, it was Cerezo who made the first decisive move, continuing the momentum from the end of the first half. A pass from Ryosuke Shindo found Ceara behind the defenders, who played a clever trap forward to create a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. It was decisive, but again it went just wide and the number 9 looked to the sky. Again it was decisive, but again it went just wide and the number 9 looked to the sky. In the 53rd minute, Cerezo had another great chance. After a long ball was cleared off the line, Kida and Lucas Fernandes combined and Fernandes broke vertically. Yamada was waiting in the middle of the field, but his shot was blocked by the goalkeeper and no goal was scored. In the 57th minute, Hiroaki Okuno tried to score on a rebound after Fernandes' shot was blocked by a defender, but his shot was also off target. After conceding two goals, Cerezo had a number of chances to score, but they could not find a way past the high wall of their opponents. From the middle of the second half until the end, Kashima launched counterattacks, but Tameda and Nishio worked hard to prevent them, and goalkeeper Kim Jin Hyeon made a good save to prevent a third goal. In attack, Sota Kitano, Masaya Shibayama, Ryogo Yamasaki and Satoki Uejo tried to open the scoring with a third-man move and a mid-range shot, but were unable to find the target.





In the 87th minute, manager Kogiku replaced Nishio with Yamashita. Yamashita, who was playing his last home match as a professional player, put on the captain's mark and put in a strong performance, as if to respond to the manager's wish that “I wanted him to stand on the pitch and convey his energy to the players." Yamashita himself reflected, "I wanted to do more with my headers, but I couldn't do it to my satisfaction," but he responded to the opponent's striker with his trademark hard header. He did his best to lift the team's spirits by playing to the best of his ability. With such passion from the captain, Cerezo fought for a goal until the very end. Ceara had a chance to score in second-half added time, but was offside and could not get a shot off. The match ended 0-2.



After the game, president Hiroaki Morishima, vice-captain Nishio, and manager Kogiku delivered remarks as part of the final home game ceremony. Manager Kogiku, for whom this was his last home game, choked up at times as he expressed his gratitude, and then cheerfully concluded, "Let's meet again!" The stadium was then filled with a sentimental mood as Yamashita's retirement ceremony was held. Tears welled up in his eyes as he thanked his family for their support. At the end, he said, "I want to learn what it takes for this team to win the J1 League championship, something I didn't realize as a player, and lead this team to victory in some way," as the Yodoko Sakura stadium erupted in applause. There is only one more game left in this season. We hope to end the 30th anniversary year with a win in the next game, away to FC Tokyo.