Competition: J.League Division 1
Date: Saturday, 17th July 2010 (19:00 kick off)
Venue: Kashima Stadium
Attendance: 26,607
Scoresheet:
FELLYPE GABRIEL 21'
LEE 78' |
KUROTSU 39'
(INAMOTO sent off 42') |
Teamsheet:
GK AIZAWA
DF IGAWA
DF ITO (replaced by NOBORIZATO 81')
DF KIKUCHI
DF KOMIYAMA
MF INAMOTO (yellow card 23', 42')
MF NAKAMURA
MF TASAKA
MF VITOR JUNIOR (replaced by KUSUKAMI 75')
FW KUROTSU
FW RENATINHO (replaced by TANIGUCHI 87')
Comment:
An away day in Kashima is a tough enough prospect with 11 players on the field. So it was no great surprise to see Frontale come away with nothing following the first-half dismissal of Junichi Inamoto.
That's not to say they didn't have their chances. Had the likes of Renatinho and Vitor been a bit more clinical on the counter in the second half, it could have been a very different story. Although, to be fair, Takashi Aizawa's goal did live a charmed existence at times.
(For those wondering why Aizawa's suddenly been promoted to first-choice keeper, Riki Sugiyama picked up a calf injury in training the day before the Omiya match and is likely to be out for at least a month.)
There's still a long way to go this season, but the boys now need a decent run of three-pointers if they're to avoid falling too far off the pace.
However, after the loss of two big names (in Eiji and Tese), one gets the feeling that some kind of morale booster is now required to get things back on track, whether it be the return to action of an in-form Juninho or a new signing. Worryingly, I'm not too sure how likely either of these is.
Highlights:
To follow...
