Review: Albirex Niigata 2-2 Cerezo Osaka (J1 MD4)

Despite being ahead twice, goals by Motohiko Nakajima and Rafael Ratao against their former team secured a dramatic draw.

Three days after the last match against Kashiwa Reysol, Cerezo Osaka went on the road to face Albirex Niigata in the fourth round of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League, looking for their first win in three matches. There were four changes in the starting lineup from the Kashiwa game. Thiago Andrade and Vitor Bueno made their first starts of the season, while Lucas Fernandes and Shinosuke Hatanaka returned to the starting lineup after two games. The team played a 4-3-3 with Shunta Tanaka at anchor and Sota Kitano and Bueno at inside-half.



The game started with Cerezo holding the possession right from the start, and in the 7th minute, they got a good chance when Tanaka met Fernandes' cross after a corner kick with his head, but the goalkeeper made a good save. Another chance followed in the 7th minute. Bueno dove to meet Fernandes' cross, but the defender's clearance hit the crossbar. It looked as if it would be an own goal for the visitors. Cerezo started well, but their defense up front was not working this time, and after 10 minutes, they began to lose their press, were pushed to the side and carried forward, and conceded a goal in the 17th minute. After a pass down the right flank between Ryuya Nishio, Okuda, and Fernandes was intercepted, the opponents tried to sneak in behind the defenders, and Nishio, who came in to cover, was unable to stop the ball. Ken Yamura scored from the rebound of Hayato Inamura's shot, which was deflected by goalkeeper Kim Jin Hyeon. This pattern of conceding goals when a player is caught in the middle of a build-up and loses the space behind the fullbacks has been repeated this season. This is the flip side of one of their strengths, but they need to do something about it from now on. After Cerezo started well but lost the flow of the game through their own fault, Niigata's momentum accelerated. However, Niigata had good chances in the 18th and 24th minutes, but Cerezo were able to deny them, and in the 28th minute Cerezo equalized. Fernandes received a pass from Okuda and delivered a fast cross from the right flank, which was headed home by Motohiko Nakajima. The number 13, who had been frustrated by his inability to convert chances during a recent losing streak, scored the equalizer. He played for Niigata in the 2020 season, but at that time, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the game was played with no cheering and limited admission, so after this game he expressed his emotion sincerely: “I was deeply moved to be able to play on the J1 stage with such a big cheer.” After that, Niigata threatened a goal in the final minutes of the first half, but the first half ended in a tie without a second goal.





The first chance of the second half came in the 51st minute when Cerezo's defense won the ball up front and Kitano finished quickly. In the 54th minute, the team made two changes on the left flank. Funaki was replaced by Niko Takahashi, who had just returned from the AFC U-20 Asian Cup China 2025, and Andrade was replaced by Reiya Sakata in a bid to gain some momentum. Cerezo were hoping to step up their game, but as the ball became more and more unsettled and they were unable to move it forward, Niigatabegan to press and exploit the space behind the defenders, resulting in scoring a goal in the 62nd minute. After Cerezo lost the ball on their left flank, Niigata played the ball to the opposite flank and sent in a cross that was met at the near post. As with the first goal, the problem in their pressing was evident. With Niigata pushing forward and Cerezo failing to create any chances, coach Arthur Papas made a final substitution in the 75th minute, bringing on Rafael Ratao and Masaya Shibayama. Niigata also made a final change in the 84th minute, switching to a back five, and Cerezo took control of the ball and drove deep into the opponents' half as Niigata pulled back. In the midst of this development, Cerezo finally scored a crucial equalizer in second-half added time. Tanaka's through ball found Takahashi, who ran from the center to the right and crossed to the near post, where the goalkeeper spilled the ball and Ratao was on hand to push it home. The number 9, who, like Nakajima, has previous experience with Niigata, scored his first goal of the season to level the scores. Two minutes later, Ratao had another chance to score from Nishio's cross, but he was unable to get a shot off. The game ended 2-2. Although the match seemed to be going down to defeat, Cerezo were able to pull out a draw at the last minute.





As captain Tanaka recalled, “We were slow to switch over today, and were repeatedly hit by counterattacks,” Cerezo had a difficult time with Niigata outplaying them from the middle of the first half until the end of the game, taking advantage of the space behind the defense repeatedly. Even so, the players, including the substitutes, showed the determination not to give up until the very end to get a point, and "it was great to see them continue what they had been working on for the last 10 or 15 minutes and get the goal,” said manager Papas. Ratao's first J.League goal and Takahashi's J.League debut were also positive factors for the future. The next match is at home against Nagoya Grampus. This time Cerezo would like to get their first win since the opening game and finish the match with a smile on their faces.