Michael Tuckerman
Saturday, August 19. 2006
Nihondaira Stadium, Shizuoka
SHIMIZU S-PULSE 4 - 0 VENTFORET KOFU
Nearly 15,500 fans turned out at Nihondaira Stadium tonight to
witness Shimizu S-Pulse reinforce their championship credentials
with a 4-0 drubbing of near-neighbours Ventforet Kofu.
Goalkeeper Yohei Nishibe and captain Takahiro Yamanishi were both
celebrating one hundred matches for the club, as the same eleven
that started last week against Sanfrecce Hiroshima took to the field.
It was midfielder Jungo Fujimoto who went closest early, lobbing
just over with an early range-finder in the first minute of play.
Fujimoto then fired a superb reverse pass to set fellow midfielder
Akihiro Hyodo free in the sixth minute, however Hyodo miscontrolled
and a clear run to goal went begging.
There was controversy in the ninth minute as striker Takuro Yajima
appeared to be brought down in the box following a mix-up between
the Ventforet defence and keeper. The referee waved play on, much
to the annoyance of the vociferous home crowd.
Last week's
two-goal hero against Sanfrecce, Takuma Edamura then had a chance
but his 12th minute shot was blocked after a great pull-back from
the right by Brazilian striker Marquinhos.
In the 18th minute Yajima controlled a long ball, took on two
defenders and struck a shot just wide of the right hand post as
S-Pulse asserted their authority. Next it was Daisuke Ichikawa's
turn to cause havoc in the Ventforet defence, as his marauding run
down the right touchline released Marquinhos, whose cross failed
to reach anyone in an orange shirt.
Disaster nearly struck for S-Pulse in the 25th minute as Ventforet
almost converted a scrappy chance completely against the run of
play. The S-Pulse defence somehow managed to clear off the line.
Three minutes later, Edamura picked up where he left off last week
by driving in a low, right-foot shot into the bottom corner of the
Ventforet goal. It was a fantastic 25-yard-strike, created out of
nothing by a player currently bursting with confidence.
The goal spurred S-Pulse on and just four minutes later they scored
again, this time through a fabulous team effort. After knocking
the ball around in style, midfielder Hyodo cut inside his marker
to unleash a venomous left-foot drive. His effort was spilled by
the Ventforet keeper, but Marquinhos was on hand to smash home the
rebound and give S-Pulse a comfortable 2-0 lead.
The Wingheads were playing some wonderful football and after defender
Naoaki Aoyama had headed wide from a corner, Marquinhos rounded
the goalkeeper and cut the ball back to fellow striker Yajima, whose
powerful strike was touched on to the crossbar.
This prompted a defensive substitution by the shell-shocked Ventforet.
The reshuffle was to no avail however, as Yajima again carved the
Kofu defence apart, only to see his left-foot strike touched around
the post. Fujimoto had the last chance of the half as his 43rd minute
shot was cleared off the line, with S-Pulse going in two goals to
the good at the break.
After a dominant first half, S-Pulse started the second with an
early goal, just as they did last week. Almost directly from the
kick-off, Edamura chased a hopeful long ball over the top and pulled
an inch-perfect pass back to the unmarked Hyodo, who was happy to
smash the ball home with his left foot. There was no way back for
Ventforet, whose only hope now was to try and limit the damage inflicted
by a rampant Shimizu team.
In the 63rd minute, after Marquinhos and Yajima had conspired
to miss a hat full of chances between them, S-Pulse manager Kenta
Hasegawa replaced midfielder Fujimoto with Jumpei Takaki.
South Korean striker Cho Jae-Jin also came on in place of Marquinhos,
who was by now labouring under a knee injury. Takaki's first involvement
was to shoot just wide in the 66th minute, before Cho narrowly avoided
connecting with Yajima's cross-cum-shot which struck the post two
minutes later.
Veteran Ryuzo Morioka came on to replace injured captain Yamanishi
at left-back in the 77th minute. It was cruel on Yamanishi, who
had marshalled his defence superbly on his one hundredth appearance,
and Ventforet nearly took advantage when they first hit the post,
and then forced Nishibe in to an acrobatic save just two minutes
later.
With the game beginning to fizzle out, Cho went close to adding
his name to the scoresheet when he rattled the crossbar, after being
beautifully played in by fellow substitute Takaki. Hyodo went one
better in the 87th minute, playing an excellent one-two with Ichikawa
before unleashing a low, left foot drive which crashed in off the
post for his second goal of the game. S-Pulse were again denied
a penalty when Cho was brought down in the box in the last minute
of play, but that couldn't hide the delight of the S-Pulse
fans as they celebrated with the players at the end of the match.
So Shimizu S-Pulse start the second half of the 2006 J-League season
with back-to-back victories. This was an ominous performance of
sheer attacking football by S-Pulse, which should have their main
rivals in the upper reaches of the table looking over their shoulders.
Next up S-Pulse face a tricky trip to Kyushu to face Oita Trinita
on Wednesday, before they play FC Tokyo in a live television match
the following Saturday night.
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