Tag Archives: Kashiwa Reysol

울산 현대 (Ulsan Hyundai) 3 柏レイソル (Kashiwa Reysol) 2

Posted on by
Reply

Kashiwa Reysol became the second J.League club in as many days to exit the AFC Champions League at the hands of a South Korean outfit, and continued the abymsal record of Japanese sides taking on K-League teams in the Round of 16, which now reads seven contests and six losses.

A disappointingly small crowd at the Big Crown was treated to an enthralling tie, a first-half surprisingly ending goalless but showing many signs of the drama that would unfold in the second period. The opening forty-five minutes were notable mainly for Ulsan’s almost total domination, the Sun Kings having no answer to the aerial threat posed by Kim Shin-Wook who won headers at will, while Juan Velez, combative in midfield, broke up Reysol attacks with ease, providing a platform for the livewire Lee Keun-Ho to attack in the channels. Jorge Wagner was guilty of cheaply giving away possession of the ball, and provided little support for Daisuke Nasu as he was all too frequently drawn into the centre of midfield. Fortunately for Reysol, Ulsan could not make their superiority tell, Lee and Kim Seung-Yong in particular unable to find the finishes that their side deserved.

It came as little surprise that the Tigers opened the score, but it owed much to shabby defending from Reysol, arriving shortly after Go Seul-Ki had rattled the crossbar. Nasu, in possession 35 yards from goal, attempted to play a crossfield pass to teammate Hidekazu Otani, but merely succeeded in presenting the ball to the feet of Lee Keun-Ho, inviting the South Korean international to advance and to subsequently square into the penalty area. Kim Shin-Wook’s header found the bottom left corner, but his goalscoring duties were made considerably easier by neither Tatsuya Masushima or Naoya Kondo taking responsibility for challenging the striker as he rose to nod home from just six yards.

The goal, however, roused Reysol to action for the first time since the opening moments of the match, and they spent much of the remaining 35 minutes dictating possession and territory. After Naoya Kondo had first gone close with a swerving shot which evaded the right upright by inches, and then Junya Tanaka had turned superbly inside the Ulsan 18-yard box and seen his low cross drift past the outstretched boot of Leandro Domingues, Tanaka himself had a superb opportunity to bring his side level. Played onside by Kim Young-Sam, the pass from Leandro Domingues carved the defence open and left the striker with only Kim Seung-Gyu to beat. This he did with aplomb, but then his attempted finish was hit straight at Lee Jae-Seong on the goalline, when a shot placed either side of the right-back would have resulted in an equaliser.

Fortunately for Tanaka, Reysol would be level two minutes later, and it was a goal defined by its simplicity. Taking a throw on the right ten yards from the Ulsan goalline, Tatsuya Masukawa launched the ball into the penalty area, Leandro Domingues heading first time beyond Kim Seung-Gyu.

Having made their pressure tell, the visitors would suffer a body blow, conceding a goal in controversial circumstances on 70 minutes. Substitute Maranhao split the Reysol back line with a pass to Lee Ho, and Kondo’s attempt to put the the midfielder’s pull back for a corner snuck inside Sugeno’s left post. Referee Mohamed Al Zarooni awarded the goal in the face of furious protests from several Reysol players who were convinced that the ball had not fully crossed the line, and they were duly waved away.

Now pressing for a second equaliser, Reysol always risked being caught on the counter-attack, and Lee Keun-Ho was given the run of the Reysol half as Ulsan broke quickly from defending a corner. With a third goal almost certain to put the tie beyond the reach of Nelsinho’s side, he took the ball into the penalty area, but Sugeno saved at the forward’s feet to ensure that only a single goal still separated the sides.

With five minutes of normal time to go, Masakatsu Sawa, on for Hideakzu Otani, was given the chance to score his side’s second, but saw his shot blocked, Leandro Domingues’s initial effort pushed out by Kim Seung-Gyu and just beyond Masato Kudo following up.

Lee Keun-Ho killed the game off shortly after. Go Seul-Ki drove a pass to the feet of Kim Shin-Wook, and his delightful flick was volleyed first time into the bottom left corner. A thumping Junya Tanaka strike to reduce the margin to one goal in stoppage time came too late to serve as anything other than consolation.

Reysol, having suffered the same fate as Nagoya Grampus yesterday, also face the same challenges as their J.League counterparts in domestic competition, with manager Nelsinho needing to coax consistent performances from his team to ensure they rise up the table. A further headache for the Brazilian may present itself when his players return from the international break, as star right-back Hiroki Sakai has been heavily linked with a move to Bundesliga club Hannover 96 and any transfer involving the attack-minded 22-year old would inevitably have negative consequences on the prospects of Champions League football in 2013.

Ulsan Hyundai Kashiwa Reysol
Goalscorers Min Goalscorers Min
Kim Shin-Wook 54 Leandro Domingues 67
Naoya Kondo (O.G.) 71 Junya Tanaka 90+1
Lee Keun-Ho 88
Substitutes Min Substitutes Min
Kim Seung-Yong
Maranhao		 67 Hidekazu Otani
Masakatsu Sawa		 77
Lee Ho
Kang Jin-Ouk		 86 Masato Kudo
Ryohei Hayashi		 86
Cautions Min Cautions Min
Kim Shin-Wook 58 Hiroki Sakai 21
Leandro Domingues 60

Ulsan Hyundai: 4-3-3/4-5-1 (Blue); Kashiwa Reysol: 4-4-2 (Yellow)

AFC Champions League: Group H Matchday Six Round-up and Results

Posted on by
Reply

(Highlights of Kashiwa Reysol’s Group H Matchday Six victory which sent them into the Round of 16. The Sun Kings will now meet either fellow J.League Division 1 side FC Tokyo or South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai on 30 May for a place in the quarter-final)

Kashiwa Reysol travelled to the Jeonju World Cup Stadium knowing only a victory would suffice against K-League champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors to progress to the Round of 16. The Sun Kings ran out surprisingly comfortable winners, a 2-0 triumph coming courtesy of second-half goals from Leandro Domingues and Junya Tanaka. Lee Dong-Gook failed to convert a late penalty for the South Korean side, but they otherwise found chances difficult to come by, Naoya Kondo and Tatsuya Masushima excellent in defence for the visitors.

The result sent Reysol to the top of Group H temporarily, and until the 90th minute of the remaining tie they looked set for a home fixture in the Round of 16. Also requiring all three points to enter the knockout stages, Guangzhou Evergrande were being held at the Thunder Castle by Buriram United, a 49th minute goal from Gao Lin being cancelled out ten minutes later by Suriya Domtaisong, but a last gasp penalty from Dario Conca gave the Southern Chinese Tigers first place in the group and in so doing put last year’s finalists Jeonbuk out of the competition.

Second place in Group H means Reysol will play their Round of 16 elimination match against either FC Tokyo or Ulsan Hyundai away from home on 30 May. The Gas and the Horangi play at the Big Crown on 16 May, with the J.League side only requiring a point to maintain their pre-eminence in Group F.

(Kashiwa Reysol’s victory in South Korea against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors meant both Guangzhou Evergrande and Buriram United needed to win to advance to the latter stages of the tournament. The two sides missed a number of excellent chances to win the game, until Dario Conca converted a 90th minute spot-kick for the Chinese team)

Group H

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0 Kashiwa Reysol Small Kashiwa Reysol
Domingues 49′
Tanaka 63′		 2
Buriram United
Domtaisong 57′		 1 Guangzhou Evergrande
Gao Lin 49′
Conca 90′ (pen.)		 2
Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Guangzhou Evergrande 6 3 1 2 12 8 +4 10
2 Kashiwa Reysol 6 3 1 2 11 7 +4 10
3 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 6 3 0 3 10 15 -5 9
4 Buriram United 6 2 0 4 8 11 -3 6

AFC Champions League: Group H live-blog – 전북 현대 모터스 (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors) v. 柏レイソル (Kashiwa Reysol)

Posted on by
Reply

0 Min: Welcome to today’s match in the 2012 AFC Champions League, which pits the respective reigning K-League and J.League champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Kashiwa Reysol against each other in a match the Sun Kings must win to qualify for the Round of 16. Reysol’s poor start to the domestic season has been well-documented on Football Japan, the gap between league leaders Vegalta Sendai and the Sun Kings currently thirteen points, while Jeonbuk are relatively comfortable in sixth position, merely five points behind table-topping Suwon Samsung Bluewings.

The South Korean side suffered from a dreadful opening to Group H, having been receiving end of 5-1 thrashings from Guangzhou Evergrande and Reysol, but since then have won three consecutive Group H games, including an impressive 3-1 victory at the Tianhe Stadium on Matchday Five to head the Group, and they have form in the competition, losing only on penalties to eventual winners in Al-Sadd in the 2011 final.

I’ll have team news for you from the Jeonju World Cup Stadium very soon.

0 Min: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors – Kim Min-Sik; Kim Sang-Sik, Jin Kyung-Sun, Choi Chul-Soon, Park Won-Jae; Eninho, Jung Hoon, Kim Jung-Woo, Hugo Droguett, Seo Sang-Min; Lee Dong-Gook

Substitutes – Lee Bum-Soo; Jeon Kwang-Hwan, Sim Woo-Yeon, Luiz Henrique; Lee Seung-Hyun, Kim Dong-Chan; Jeong Seong-Hoon

0 Min: Kashiwa Reysol – Sugeno; Kondo, Sakai, Masushima, Nasu; Otani, Leandro Domingues, Jorge Wagner, Barada; Tanaka, Kudo

Substitutes – Inada; Fukui, Sawa; An, Kurisawa, Mizuno; Hayashi

0 Min: We’re just about to kick-off at what appears a sparsely populated Jeonju World Cup Stadium, as the clock ticks over to 11:00 BST/19:00 JST.

1 Min: And Jeonbuk kick-off, in a match which I’ll re-iterate Reysol must win to proceed to the next round. Any other result seems them eliminated from the competition.

2 Mins: It would appear from the early moments that Hiroki Sakai has switched to a left-back position, and he wins a corner which Leandro Domingues will take.

3 Mins: Domingues sends his delivery beyond the first defender, but it’s well-cleared with a Kim Sang-Sik header.

4 Mins: Naoya Kondo gives away an unnecessary free-kick 10 yards outside the penalty area, which Eninho takes but Masushima heads well away from danger.

6 Mins: A spell of possession for the home side ends with Seo Sang-Min unceremoniously felled by Hidekazu Otani. Eninho attempts to strike from long distance, but it merely hits Tatsuya Masushima in the face.

9 Mins: A throw-in well inside the Jeonbuk half eventually makes its way to Hiroki Sakai, now back in his familiar position, whose left footed effort doesn’t trouble Kim Min-Sik.

10 Mins: Jorge Wagner is found in space on the left, which is too close to Kim in the Jeonbuk goal, and he collects easily.

10 Mins: Ten minutes played, it’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0 Kashiwa Reysol 0.

12 Mins: Steady beginnings from Reysol against a Jeonbuk side who in the game’s opening minutes are quite content to sit deep.

14 Mins: The first hint of an opportunity for the Sun Kings, but a pass to Leandro Domingues forces him wider than he would have liked, and his cross from inside the penalty area is under the crossbar for Min-Sik to catch.

16 Mins: Otani catches Seo Sang-Min on the ankle, and Eninho’s long ball is headed backwards by Park Won-Jae well clear of Takanori Sugeno’s goal.

17 Mins: Excellent defending from Tatsuya Masushima prevents Hugo Droguett from latching on to Lee Dong-Gook’s header back across goal. Dong-Gook was ideally positioned to aim at goal, but perhaps in being unselfish chose the wrong option. A let-off for Reysol, which followed excellent work from Eninho.

20 Mins: Akimi Barada forces Choi Chul-Soon to conceded a corner, but Domingues’s delivery is straight into the arms of Kim Min-Sik.

23 Mins: Jorge Wagner forces Min-Sik into making a save, Domingues chipping a ball into the penalty area which Kudo heads on, and the Brazilian whipped a shot left-footed which was beaten away at the near post for a corner. Yet again Domingues fails to find a Reysol player from the dead ball.

26 Mins: Reysol are working the ball patiently around in midfield, but in committing few players forward, they are significantly outmatched in central areas.

28 Mins: Naoya Kondo gives away an unnecessary set piece 30 yards from goal, climbing over the back of Lee Dong-Gook. The dead-ball routine, obviously practiced on the training ground, falls flat as it finds the back of Tatsuya Masushima and dribbles into the hands of Sugeno.

30 Mins: The clock shows thirty minutes played, and it’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0 Kashiwa Reysol 0.

32 Mins: A good period of possession for Reysol ends with Daisuke Nasu lofting a ball over the Jeonbuk defence for Junya Tanaka, but the forward is narrowly offside. Tanaka would have had a clear run on goal if his timing had been marginally better.

35 Mins: Daisuke Nasu has a run down the Reysol left, but cuts in on to his weaker right foot, and slices his drive well-wide of Min-Sik’s right upright.

37 Mins: Kondo pulls the shirt of Lee Dong-Gook this time, and from the set piece they fail to clear. Otani connects with Seo Sang-Min’s ankle rather than ball, and it’s a free-kick for Jeonbuk from 30 yards. Eninho crashes his effort into the wall.

40 Mins: Masushima takes a long throw from the right, but Sakai impedes Park Won-Jae and the official blows for the foul.

43 Mins: It’s a tight, scrappy affair, two evenly matched midfields assisted by some solid defending, which is making for a fairly dreary encounter so far.

45 Mins: There will be one minute to be added on at the end of the first period. Reysol keep the ball in defence, and Saki nearly places Masushima in trouble with a weak back pass than Droguett came close to intercepting. The centre-back did well to recover.

45 Mins+1: And the officlal signals for the end of the first period.

HT: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0 Kashiwa Reysol 0

HT: A dreary, flat first-half ends with little to recommend it, Wagner’s shot and Lee Dong-Gook’s header across goal the closest we have come to a goal. Reysol will be relatively satisfied with their performance, however, and have 45 minutes to find the single goal without reply that will take them through to the next stage of the competition.

46 Mins: Reysol get the second period going.

47 Mins: A bizarre decision from the Bahraini official to penalise Hidekazu Otani for a non-existent challenge on Eninho. Fortunately for Reysol the set piece is cleared.

49 Mins: GOAL! Leandro Domingues makes the crucial breakthrough after a defensive mix-up from Jeonbuk. He’s clear on the right inside the penalty area, and his low finish across Kim Min-Sik nestles in the bottom left-hand corner.

49 Mins: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0 Kashiwa Reysol 1

51 Mins: It’s a goal which will force Jeonbuk on the attack, their own progress resting on a draw in this match or better.

54 Mins: The first yellow card of the game is shown to Jin Kyung-Sun, ploughing into the back of Leandro Domingues. It’s a free-kick 40 yards from goal which Wagner bends left-footed into the penalty area. It’s headed on by Daisuke Nasu, and Naoya Kondo dives to meet the ball which he nods inches wide. Will the miss prove costly to the Sun Kings?

56 Mins: Lee Sung-Hyun enters play in place of Hugo Droguett.

58 Mins: A small break in play as Naoya Kondo goes down under an aerial challenge from Lee Dong-Gook.

60 Mins: A pass from sends Masato Kudo through one-on-one with Min-Sik, but it’s just a little too heavy and with the South Korean goalkeeper off his line quickly, he claims.

60 Mins: Half an hour left to play plus any stoppages, it’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0 Kashiwa Reysol 1.

61 Mins: Reysol look like they are capable of attacking a more advanced Jeonbuk side on the break, and have nearly broken through twice more.

63 Mins: GOAL! A lovely break down the right sees Hiroki Sakai square a ball to Leandro Domingues, and he cuts inside Kim Jung-Woo before shooting left-footed from twelve yards. Kim Min-Sik save’s well diving to his left, but the ball rolls against the post and Junya Tanaka is on hard to complete the simplest of tap-ins.

63 Mins: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0 Kashiwa Reysol 2.

65 Mins: Masato Kudo should have ended this contest. Otani played a pass to Tanaka, and with his back to goal he neatly chipped the ball over his shoulder to the on-rushing Kudo. Kudo’s attemped lob over Min-Sik, however, clears the crossbar.

68 Mins: It’s one foul too many for Hidekazu Otani, who chops down Lee Seung-Hyun on the left and he is the first Reysol player into the notebook.

69 Mins: Leandro Domingues is clearly pulled back by Park Won-Jae running through the middle, when he would have advanced one-on-one by Min-Sik. Had it been seen by the official, it would almost certainly have merited a red card.

73 Mins: Lee Seung-Hyun, who only came on to the pitch 17 minutes ago, is replaced by Jeong Seong-Hoon.

74 Mins: Reysol are passing the ball around in midfield with ease, but ideally would find the third to completely kill off this match as a contest.

75 Mins: Excellent play from Hiroki Sakai on the right, beating Park Won-Jae and the defend is shown a yellow card for pulling back the defender.

76 Mins: The set piece is to the right of the Jeonbuk penalty area. Wagner’s ball curls goalwards, and Min-Sik’s punch is weak but eventually cleared away.

77 Mins: PENALTY! It’s a very debatable decision, Naoya Kondo challenging seemingly fairly with Lee Dong-Gook as both players went to ground, but the official pointing to the spot.

78 Mins: The decision is made an irrelevance as Lee Dong-Gook beats Takanori Sugeno, but his spot kick strikes the post and rebounds away from goal. Sugeno dived the right way but would not have saved had his effort been more precise.

80 Mins: Ten minutes left to play, it’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0 Kashiwa Reysol 2.

82 Mins: After Sakai, Domingues, Wagner, Barada and Tanaka are all involved in midfield eventually Tanaka tries his luck from distance, Min-Sik diving to his left to save.

83 Mins: The first change for Kashiwa Reysol, and the last action for Junya Tanaka, as he makes way for Koki Mizuno.

86 Mins: After some late pressure from Jeonbuk but in which they have been unable to test Sugeno, Masato Kudo exits the field for Ryohei Hayashi. Unless Buriram United and Guangzhou Evergrande draw in Thailand, last year’s finalists will exit the 2012 tournament at the group stage.

88 Mins: The seconds are counting down and Reysol are in possession in midfield. Mizuno is challenged unfairly by Jung Hoon, ceding a free-kick to Reysol forty yards away. Hayashi controls Domingues’s lofted ball into the 18-yard area, and wins a corner off Jung Hoon.

90 Mins: While the corner is poor, Reysol are now three minutes away from the Round of 16.

90 Mins+2: It certainly won’t be Jeonbuk’s night. Jeung Seong-Hoon is inches away from a ball which flashes across Sugeno’s six-yard box, but can’t apply the finishing touch with is outstretched leg.

90 Mins+3: CROSSBAR! Jorge Wagner’s bending effort from distance thuds against Min-Sik’s bar with the goalkeeper beaten, but it doesn’t matter as the official blows his whistle for full-time, and Kashiwa Reysol are into the Round of 16.

FT: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0 Kashiwa Reysol 2

FT: A surprisingly easy win for Reysol, against a side which beyond Lee Dong-Gook’s spot kick failed to provide any test for Takanori Sugeno. Masushima and Kondo were excellent in defence, and Hiroki Sakai provided confirmation of what will be missed as he was a constant menace on the right flank. The Sun Kings go top of Group H temporarily, and both Reysol and Jeonbuk now await the result of Buriram United versus Guangzhou Evergrande with interest.

FT: Thank you for joining me. A full match report will appear on

AFC Champions League: Group H live-blog schedule – 전북 현대 모터스 (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors) v. 柏レイソル (Kashiwa Reysol)

Posted on by
Reply

On 15 May Kashiwa Reysol face one of their sternest tests of the season so far when they travel to the Jeonju World Cup Stadium for a match they must win if they are to progress to the knockout rounds of the 2012 AFC Champions League.

Jeonbuk may have suffered two 5-1 reversals at the hands of Guangzhou Evergrande and Reysol, but they top the group having won their three other matches and need take only a point from the final Group H game to advance.

Join me from 10:30 BST/18:30 JST for team news and the build-up to the match, or from 11:00 BST/19:00 JST for kick-off in what should provide a thrilling climax to the group stage. Click the following link for the current standings in Group H.

AFC Champions League: Group H Matchday Five Round-up and Result

Posted on by
1

(The main highlights from Kashiwa Reysol’s success over Buriram United on Matchday Five of the AFC Champions League, including Leandro Domingues’ outstanding individual effort which means the Sun Kings are once again in control of their own destiny in Group H)

A fascinating final day is in store in Group H of the 2012 AFC Champions League, as Kashiwa Reysol won a crucial tie versus Buriram United 1-0 at the Hitachi Kashiwa Soccer Stadium, but their chances of qualifying for for the Round of 16 were made more difficult by Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors coming from behind in Guangzhou to defeat Evergrande 3-1. Had the Southern China Tigers taken just a point at home, the Sun Kings would have only needed to draw at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium on 15 May to progress, but they now must win in South Korea against a team they defeated 5-1 on Matchday One.

Leandro Domingues scored the only goal of the tie with a wonderful individual effort 24 minutes into the first half. Gathering a pass from Ricardo Lobo midway inside Buriram’s half, he glided past three challenges before planting a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner from sixteen yards. The Thunder Castle, who were restricted to shots from distance and were unable to beat replacement goalkeeper Koji Inada, in fine form in the Reysol goal, must now rely on Kashiwa Reysol failing to overcome Jeonbuk and win their remaining fixture against Evergrande to make the cut for the latter stages of the tournament.

Group H

Kashiwa Reysol
Leandro Domingues 24′		 1 Buriram United 0
Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 5 3 0 2 10 13 -3 9
2 Guangzhou Evergrande 5 2 1 2 10 7 +3 7
3 Kashiwa Reysol 5 2 1 2 9 7 +2 7
4 Buriram United 5 2 0 3 7 9 -1 6

AFC Champions League: Group H Matchday Four Table

Posted on by
Reply

(All the goals from the 2012 AFC Champions League Group H fixture between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Buriram United on 17 April. A brace from Dong-Gook Lee and Frank Ohandza respectively kept the scores at 2-2 until the 80th minute, when Won-Jae Park scored the winner for the home side at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium. Jeonbuk and Buriram are separated by goal difference in second and third, with qualification likely to come down to results in the final Group H matches on 15 May)

Group H

Position Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Guangzhou Evergrande 4 2 1 1 9 4 +5 7
2 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 4 2 0 2 7 12 -5 6
3 Buriram United 4 2 0 2 7 8 -1 6
4 Kashiwa Reysol 4 1 1 2 8 7 +1 4

AFC Champions League: Group H Matchday Four Round-up and Result

Posted on by
Reply

Kashiwa Reysol defender Hirofumi Watanabe brings down Guangzhou Evergrande centre forward Muriqui outside the 18-yard box. Referee Abdulrahman Abdou incorrectly pointed to the spot, and Dario Conca converted the resulting spot kick to give Evergrande a 1-0 lead in the AFC Champions League Group H fixture on 17 April. The Chinese Super League champions would win the match 3-1.

Kashiwa Reysol must now rely on results elsewhere in Group H if they are to stand any chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages of the 2012 AFC Champions League, after they collapsed to a 3-1 loss to Guangzhou Evergrande at the Tianhe Stadium. Starting the day in second place on goal difference from the reigning Chinese Super League champions, Reysol fell behind on 28 minutes to a Dario Conca penalty, but the Sun Kings justifiably had some complaint over Abdulrahman Abdou’s decision to point to the spot. Defender Hirofumi Watanabe, who misjudged the pace of a long ball out of the Evergrande defence, became locked in a sprint with opposition forward Muriqui, but while the Guangzhou player was certainly upended, the infringement clearly took place a yard outside the penalty box (See photo above). Conca subsequently converted the spot kick, blasting into the bottom right with Sun Kings goalkeeper Takanori Sugeno.

Right-back Hiroki Sakai gave Reysol some hope five minutes into the second half when he capitalised on the failure of the Evergrande defence to clear a Leandro Domingues free kick. The Brazilian whipped a cross in from the right of the penalty area, and two attempted Guangzhou headers only resulting in the ball dropping outside the six-yard box, and the 23 year-old reacted sharply to drive home from short range.

However, Reysol hopes were short-lived as the Southern China Tigers were back in front only seven minutes later. With only Sakai covering, defender Sun Xiang played a pass to Gao Lin, and the left-back continued his run to the left of the Reysol penalty area, Xiang returning the ball into his path. A first time cross was pulled back to the penalty spot, and Muriqui headed down and over Sugeno.

Miriqui made sure of the victory with six minutes of normal time remaining and Reysol chasing an equaliser, and manager Nelsinho should be concerned about the ease with which four of his players failed to prevent a goal being scored when created by just two attacking players. Receiving the ball ten yards inside the Reysol half, Muriqui turned and drilled a pass sideways to teammate Cléo. Cléo’s return pass split Hidekazu Otani and Watanabe, and Sakai did not do enough to prevent Muriqui firing a powerful shot from 16 yards across Sugeno into the bottom left corner.

The result leaves the Sun Kings at the bottom of Group H with two group matches remaining, two points behind second place. Reysol will be eliminated from the competition if they are defeated by Buriram United at the Hitachi Kashiwa Soccer Stadium on 1 May.

Group H

Guangzhou Evergrande
Conca 28′ (pen.)
Muriqui 57′, 84′		 3 Kashiwa Reysol
Sakai 50′		 1

柏レイソル (Kashiwa Reysol) 0 広州恒大 (Guangzhou Evergrande) 0

Posted on by
Reply

Kashiwa Reysol line-up for the official photo before the AFC Champions League Group H fixture with Guangzhou Evergrande on 4 April, which ended 0-0. Reysol are second in Group H on goal difference with three matches remaining (Image courtesy official Kashiwa Reysol website)

The Sun Kings took a point in a tactically interesting but otherwise excitement-free contest in Wednesday’s Group H AFC Champions League against Chinese Super League title holders Guangzhou Evergrande, but they will need to produce a better performance in the return fixture if they are to avoid a repeat of a home leg in which they were outplayed by technically superior opponents for large periods.

Manager Nelsinho chose to make three changes to the team which stumbled to a 1-0 defeat at Jubilo Iwata, Ryoji Fukui coming in at left-back for his first appearance for Kashiwa Reysol, while Tatsuya Masushima was favoured over Daisuke Nasu at centre-back and Leandro Domingues returned to the heart of midfield, Koki Mizuno the player to make way.

Within the first minute the attacking intent of the Southern China Dragons was made clear. A defence splitting pass found Muriqui, and with Masushima holding the Brazilian winger and pulling him to the floor, the referee overlooked a clear penalty claim as Cleo followed up on the loose ball but lashed his shot over the crossbar.

Defensive frailties have cost Reysol on a number of occasions already this season, and they were nearly made to pay three minutes later when Masushima failed to clear a cross from Gao Lin on the right, the ball dropping to Xiang on the edge of the penalty area whose strike only narrowly cleared the bar.

Reysol attempted to use a favoured tactic of Leandro Domingues sliding a ball to overlapping full-back on a few occasions, but the channel was largely closed down by the interesting shape adopted by Evergrande. What at times appeared an orthodox 4-2-3-1 shifted to a 2-5-3, the forwards pressing tightly on Reysol’s defensive line and forcing them to cede possession, while the crowded midfield meant Domingues had both little time in possession and space to pass in to. One of the limited successes was on the 10 minute mark when Sakai latched on to a pass and drifted into the box, but his pull back was too strong for the arriving Jorge Wagner, and then moments later Domingues found Sakai again, his cross headed back to the waiting Domingues by Masato Kudo, but the Brazilian midfielder found his shot blocked.

Midway through the first period Reysol had a brief glimpse of goal. Sakai, probably Reysol’s best performer of the evening, escaped the challenge of Sun Xiang, and although the subsequent cross slightly too high for Junya Tanaka, the forward did extremely well to glance a knock-down to Wagner, and his sliding right-footed shot was just wide of the upright.

Takanori Sugeno was the first of the goalkeepers called into action on the night. Half an hour had been played when Dario Conca, the elusive Argentinian midfielder whose $10.4 million annual salary makes him among the highest paid players in the world, lined up a free-kick from 35 yards after Muriqui had been brought down. His powerful shot cleared the Reysol wall, but was straight at Sugeno, who punched long to clear.

With thirteen minutes to go in the first period, it was Yang Jun’s turn to make a save. Domingues had a rare sight of goal, and he bent a low left-footed shot from 18 yards, which Jun gather comfortably to his right. The home side and manager were visibly frustrated towards the end of the half, passes being misplaced and a very high defensive line from Evergrande regularly catching Reysol forwards in an offside position. As the half drew to a close, the question would be whether Nelsinho would shuffle the side and formation to deal with tactics meant to stifle their attacking play and catch the Sun Kings on the counter-attack.

Unfortunately for Reysol, the second-half began in similar fashion to the first. After Tanaka had been caught offside within the very first minute, only two excellent tackles, first from Sakai and then from Naoyo Kondo, prevented both Muriqui and Cleo having just Sugeno to beat. Twelve minutes had elapsed in the second period when Masushima was then required to make a last-ditch block, Conca crossing and Gao Lin turning Sakai before the centre-back ensured the shot was deflected away for a corner.

Captain Hidekazu Otani and Leandro Domingues were still struggling to get a foothold in the midfield, but with 25 minutes on the clock Nelsinho opted not to reinforce the midfield, instead opting to replace Junya Tanaka with Akimi Barada, and two minutes later the naivety of the substitution was underlined when Kudo was caught offside once more.

70 minutes had passed when Reysol finally appeared to find some possession, coinciding with substitute Ricardo Lobo coming on for Masato Kudo, Lobo acting as a pivot between the midfield and Akimi Barada when all too often the Reysol forward line had been isolated. The Sun Kings had to endure a couple of nervous moments moving in to the last 10 minutes, but they had their two best opportunities of the match in quick succession, first Sakai breaking down the right-wing and whipping a cross which Lobo steered beyond Jun’s right post, and then on 81 minutes Jorge Wagner gaining possession on the left edge of the penalty area, his attempted shot was met by a sliding Lobo but with not enough purchase to send it into the goal, the ball only inches wide of the right post.

Both sides seemed satisfied to play out the remaining minutes and settle for a draw, but the Chinese side will be most content with the draw. Both sides are level on points in second place in Group H, but Evergrande with two matches to play at home, including the return fixture with Reysol at the Tianhe Stadium on 17 April.

Kashiwa Reysol Guangzhou Evergrande
Goalscorers Min Goalscorers Min
Substitutes Min Substitutes Min
Junya Tanaka
Akimi Barada		 65
Masato Kudo
Ricardo Lobo		 73
Cautions Min Cautions Min
Ryoji Fukui 14
Ryoichi Kurisawa 64

Kashiwa Reysol: 4-4-2 (Yellow); Guangzhou Evergrande: 4-1-3-2/2-5-3 (Red)

AFC Champions League: Matchday Three Tables

Posted on by
Reply

(Goals from the AFC Champions League Group F tie between Beijing Guoan and FC Tokyo on 4 April. The match finished 1-1, FC Tokyo remaining unbeaten in the group and topping the table by goal difference)

Group E

Position Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Pohang Steelers 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6
2 Adelaide United 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6
3 Gamba Osaka 3 1 0 2 3 6 -3 3
4 Bunyodkor 3 1 0 2 4 5 -1 3

Group F

Position Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 FC Tokyo 3 1 2 0 5 3 +2 5
2 Ulsan Hyundai 3 1 2 0 5 4 +1 5
3 Beijing Guoan 3 0 2 1 3 4 -1 2
4 Brisbane Roar 3 0 2 1 2 4 -2 2

Group G

Position Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Nagoya Grampus 3 1 2 0 6 3 +3 5
2 Seongnam Il. Ch. 3 0 3 0 4 4 +0 3
3 C. Coast Mariners 3 0 3 0 2 2 +0 3
4 Tianjin Teda 3 0 2 1 1 4 -3 2

Group H

Position Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Buriram United 3 2 0 1 5 5 +0 6
2 Kashiwa Reysol 3 1 1 1 7 4 +3 4
3 G. Evergrande 3 1 1 1 6 3 +3 4
4 Jeonbuk H. Motors 3 1 0 2 4 10 -6 3

AFC Champions League: Matchday Three Round-up and Results

Posted on by
Reply

FC Tokyo's Aria Hasegawa (8) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a 44th minute equaliser against Beijing Guoan on 4 April. Guoan took the lead with a dubious penalty inside 10 minutes, but Hasegawa's goal gave the Gas a share of the spoils and keeps them at the top of Group F on goal difference with three matches remaining (Image courtesy AFP)

FC Tokyo secured a valuable 1-1 draw against Beijing Guoan at the Workers Stadium, and it could have been more had referee Abdulrahman Hussain not astonishingly pointed to the penalty spot for an entirely inoccuous challenge by Hideto Takahashi on Wang Changqing, who appeared to make the most of the contact and collapsed in the penalty area. Takashi was subsequently booked and Changqing’s behaviour in celebrating his success unbecoming. Wang Ziaolong stepped up to take the 10th minute penalty kick and converted, despite Shuichi Gonda getting a hand to it.

The visitors netted a deserved equaliser just before the break, a quick exchange of passes between Masato Morishige and Naohiro Ishikawa teeing up Aria Hasegawa from 20 yards to strike first time left-footed beyond the dive of Yu Yang in the Beijing goal, silencing a crowd in excess of 31,000. Ishikawa had a chance to take all three points for the Gas, but running on to a cross he just couldn’t find the touch to divert the ball beyond Yang. The result means Tokyo top Group F on goal difference from South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai, both unbeaten on five points and three points clear from Guoan and Brisbane Roar with three matches remaining.

Group F

Beijing Guoan
W Xiaolong 10′ (pen)		 1 FC Tokyo
Hasegawa 44′		 1

Kashiwa Reysol also drew with Chinese opposition, but found the going much more uncomfortable and will consider themselves fortunate to take a point after having been outplayed for large periods in the match against Guangzhou Evergrande. At times defending desperately, the Sun Kings escaped with a goalless draw, and will hope for a better performance when they face the Southern China Tigers at the Tianhe Stadium on 17 April. The liveblog for this match can be found here, and a full report and analysis will follow on 5 April.

Group H

Kashiwa Reysol 0 G. Evergrande 0

(Matches played 4 April 2012. Gamba Osaka and Nagoya Grampus played their respective Group E and G games on 3 April 2012)