Review: Cerezo Osaka 1-0 Kashima Antlers (J1 MD10)

Despite five disallowed goals for offside and a missed penalty, "Papas Cerezo" continued to attack and won their first home game against Kashima in 15 years.

Five days after the last match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Cerezo Osaka returned home to face Kashima Antlers in the 10th round of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League. There was one change in the starting lineup from the Hiroshima game, with goalkeeper Kim Jin Hyeon replaced by Koki Fukui, who returned for the first time in two games after leaving the pitch due to concussion in the match against Fagiano Okayama.



Cerezo's performance had been improving and they hoped to translate that into a result in this match. Cerezo dominated possession and controlled the game from the first half. In the 4th minute, Hayato Okuda, Shunta Tanaka, and Lucas Fernandes combined on the right side, and finally Sota Kitano broke through vertically and sent in a cross. Unfortunately, the ball was not met by a player inside the box, but it was already close to Kashima's goal. In the 8th minute, Kashima had their first shot but Fukui made a good save. In the 9th minute, they attacked from the left flank. Thiago Andrade's cross was met by Rafael Ratao, which led to a corner kick that was headed by Tanaka. In the 23rd minute, Kitano fired a direct shot from the rebound of a free kick, which went just over the crossbar. Cerezo were quick in switching from offense to defense, and did not allow Kashima to attack. Kashima had two strong players up front, Yuma Suzuki and Leo Ceara, but they were able to defend well through Ryosuke Shindo and Ryuya Nishio, and did not allow the ball to get into the box. In the 44th minute, Shindo took the ball and brought it up, setting up a wave of attacks, and in the 45th minute, Motohiko Nakajima met Kyohei Noborizato's cross with a decisive shot that sailed over the crossbar. Kashima managed just two shots in the first half. Cerezo dominated possession and controlled the game until the end of the first half.





The second half was unpredictable and dramatic. Although Kashima got the first chance of the second half, the shot went wide, and Cerezo began to storm into Kashima's goal. In the 55th minute, Ratao headed a cross by Lucas from a corner kick into the net, but VAR intervened to rule it offside. In the 65th minute, Kitano won the ball and quickly played a through ball to Ratao on the front line. Ratao sent a cross for Lucas to find the net, but Ratao's position on Kitano's pass made him slightly offside. In the 67th minute, Shindo headed in a free kick from Lucas, but again, due to VAR intervention, he was ruled offside and the goal was cancelled out for the third time. In the 74th minute, Ratao received a pass from Okuda, played a one-two with Thiago, and fired in a shot, but it was saved by Kashima goalkeeper Tomoki Hayakawa. In the 80th minute, Shion Homma, who made his debut for Cerezo in the last game, was brought on to revive the left flank. In the 88th minute, Kitano received a pass from Homma and shot. This was to be Kitano's last shot in this game. He again came close to scoring a goal, but was unable to get the goal he most wanted, and left the pitch with a disappointed look on his face. Replacing Kitano was Shinji Kagawa, who scored in the last home win over Kashima 15 years ago in 2010, with manager Arthur Papas saying, “Go get the team a win."





In the added time of the second half, Cerezo found the net twice, but again, both times the goals were disallowed for offside. With a goal still a long way off, in the 90+7th minute, Lucas was brought down in the box after receiving a pass from Homma, and a penalty kick was awarded. Ratao stepped up to take the kick and aimed his shot at the bottom left corner of the net, but the goalkeeper made a good save. Still, as captain Tanaka recalled after the game, “There was an atmosphere that we were going to score on the next corner kick. None of us were giving up.” And then it happened. Ceara failed to clear a corner kick from Lucas inside the box, and Shindo was on hand to meet the ball on the far side and score for Cerezo. Although there were a few near misses, the players stayed focused until the very end to win the match 1-0. It was a tough game, with five goals disallowed for offside, but the players never gave up and kept attacking until the very end, and the manager praised the team after the game, saying, “ It was great to see the way they faced up to difficult situations no matter how many times they were faced with them." "All the dopamine in my life came out,” said Shindo, the hero of the game. On defense, Shindo worked with Nishio, Fukui, and others to keep the first clean sheet of the season. The victory, which was as much about substance as it was about results, will surely boost their confidence for the future. Tanaka said, "I have confidence that we can compete if we continue to play the Boss's style of football, so we just have to keep believing and keep playing. The team will be looking to build on their first win in 15 years, and regain their strength as a team for the cup match in three days, and the league matches to come.