Kawasaki Frontale UK (川崎フロンターレ): nagoya grampus

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Nagoya Grampus 2-3 Kawasaki Frontale

Competition: J.League - Division 1
Date: Saturday, 13th March 2010 (16:00 kick off)
Venue: Toyota Stadium
Attendance: 25,176

Scoresheet:

KANAZAKI 06'
MAGNUM 78'

RENATINHO 03'
CHONG 16', 90'

Teamsheet:

GK KAWASHIMA
DF MORI
DF KIKUCHI (yellow card 25' / replaced by SONODA 29')
DF ITO
DF KOMIYAMA (yellow card 49')
MF INAMOTO (replaced by YOKOYAMA 46')
MF TANIGUCHI
MF TASAKA
FW KUROTSU
FW CHONG (yellow card 42')
FW RENATINHO (yellow card 20' / replaced by KIMURA 77')

Comment:

That's what it's all about! I'd like to distill that game, bottle it, and stick a label on the front saying "Vintage Frontale". Not that I think it was the best of performances, but it contained all the characteristics that make Frontale a great team to follow.

There were wonder strikes, glaring misses, goalkeeping acrobatics, lucky breaks, and wave after wave of skin-of-the-teeth defending. But most importantly there was drama from start to finish.

Frontale got off to a dream start courtesy of a Renatinho free kick. It was a decent hit from a central position just outside the area, but Nagoya keeper Seigo Narazaki must feel he could have done better.

Still, no sooner had Grampus won their first corner, the scores were level again. Kawashima did well at the far post to block a goal-bound header from former Frontale favourite Magnum. But the ever-agile Mu Kanazaki was quickest to react and lashed in the rebound.

Then, with 15 minutes barely on the clock, Chong Tese notched up his first of the season. It was another free-kick from the edge of the penalty box, but this time a massive deflection off the wall gave Narazaki no chance.

Nagoya came tearing back, giving the Frontale defence all sorts of problems. Josh Kennedy missed the target with a free header and Eiji got a strong hand to a well-struck Keiji Tamada free-kick.

Komiyama seemed solid enough on the left and Inamoto was quietly effective in the middle of the park. But Mori and the centre-backs spent much of the time looking uncomfortably stretched.

The defensive problems weren't helped by Kikuchi's injury, and subsequent departure, after 25 minutes. That said, Sonoda gave a steady performance in his place and continues to look a capable deputy.

Other than a fine mid-range effort from Taniguchi, Frontale did little to trouble Narazaki for the remainder of the half. But it was by no means a wholly one-sided affair. And it was no great surprise when the visitors resumed control of the game after the break.

Rather worryingly, Inamoto failed to re-emerge for the second half. Hopefully it was just a precautionary measure (certainly it wasn't a tactical switch). Adding Inamoto's name (or Kikuchi's for that matter) to the list of walking wounded would be yet another hammerblow to an already injury-stricken squad.

However, the introduction of Yokoyama in place of Inamoto brought about a period of midfield dominance during which Frontale had a handful of good chances to extend their lead. Renatinho and Chong both sent free headers wide of the mark. And Taniguchi struck a swerving drive almost too cleanly as it curled back just far enough to hit the post.

But the tide was set to change with the arrival of Nagoya's Montenegrin midfielder Igor Burzanovic. Suddenly, the home team were in total control and proceeded to pile on the pressure until a breakthrough was inevitable.

It came, all-too-predictably, from Magnum. (He always plays well against his old team and, on this evidence, he's back to his very best.) Burzanovic curled in a free kick from the left and the shaven-headed No. 8 easily escaped the attentions of Kurotsu to head home from 8 yards out.

At this stage, the three points no longer seemed an option and it was looking more like an exercise in damage limitation. But Takahata's decision to bring on Kimura for Renatinho started to give Frontale a bit more traction in midfield. And with a minute of normal time remaining Chong Tese delivered his first piece of magic of the season.

Kimura's cross into the box fell behind him, but running away from goal the Korean managed to swivel 180 degrees and crack one into the corner of the net. Now, if he could just do that a bit more often!

Two wins from two games equals Frontale's best ever start to a J1 season. In 2006 they went on to lose their third away to Ventforet Kofu. What odds a new club record in Yokohama next Saturday?

Highlights:

To follow...

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

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J.League 2010 Opening Fixtures

Thursday, October 01, 2009

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Nagoya Grampus v Kawasaki Frontale

Thursday, September 24, 2009

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Kawasaki Frontale v Nagoya Grampus

ACL QF 1st leg: Wed, 23rd September 2009

	2 - 1
NAKAMURA 60' JUNINHO 63'		KENNEDY 28'

Venue: Kokuritsu Stadium
Attendance: 17,939

Short on time today, so it's just the top 5 pros and cons for this one.

The Good:

1. Fantastic support despite having to make do with the national stadium as a makeshift home venue. (Todoroki was playing host to Tyson Gay and friends. I knew that running track was there for a reason.)

2. A return to the unrestrained style of olden times. Haven't seen the team create so many good chances in a long time. Of course they had to go a goal down first...and Nagoya aren't exactly renowned for their defence.

3. Kikuchi repeatedly getting stuck into the ever-whinging Josh Kennedy. Not sure how he escaped without a booking, but he did a wonderful job.

4. Magnum not scoring against us. (He says, tempting fate).

5. Yokoyama's distribution skills. Considering he was playing as a centre-back last year, this never ceases to impress me.

The Bad:

1. Renatinho's shooting of late. He's generally on target, but he either scuffs it or hits it into the ground. Hopefully, this is something he can remedy sooner rather than later.

2. Chong Tese's inability to keep possession. Nothing new here, but if you give him the ball you can be 90% sure he'll give it away.

3. Kawashima on Kennedy's goal. I know it just scraped inside the post, but it was hardly a rocket and you'd expect someone with Eiji's athleticism to cover the ground. He made up for it, mind, with the finger tip save on the goal line...and when deflecting Kennedy's second half shot with the end of his boot.

4. The prospect of Sekizuka reverting to the defensive approach in Nagoya. The priority has to be getting an away goal, not defending a precarious lead.

5. The diving is getting a bit embarrassing now. I generally don't mind when Juninho does it - can't teach an old dog new tricks, after all. And Renatinho is so blatant that it's actually quite funny. But to see even Kawashima getting involved now...someone needs to have a word. Actually this should have gone in a separate section called "The Ugly". Too late now!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

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Nagoya Grampus v Kawasaki Frontale

J.League Division 1: Sat, 15th August 2009

	0 - 2
		JUNINHO 11', 73'

Venue: Mizuho Stadium
Attendance: 18,025

On a hot and humid Saturday night, Frontale secured a deserved 2-0 victory over a talented but disjointed Nagoya Grampus.

Juninho got both goals as he continued his impressive mid-season form. The Brazilian has now scored 6 in his last 8 outings (league and cup) and joins Gamba's Leandro and Naohiro Ishikawa of FC Tokyo as the J.League's joint-top scorer.

The first goal was vintage Juni, but owed a great deal to the determined defending of Kosuke Kikuchi. The pulchritudinously-challenged centre-back single-handedly pressed the Nagoya midfield back to the halfway line. His interception then broke to the veteran Brazilian who skipped inside one challenge before racing past a flat-footed Milos Bajalica, rounding Seigo Narazaki and slotting in from a tight(-ish) angle.

The goal sparked a bit of life into the Nagoya attack as they aimed to utilise the aerial threat of recent signing, Josh Kennedy. The towering Australian looks a handful, but was ably marshalled (for the most part) by Kikuchi and Ito.

Terada got back well to block a shot from Keiji Tamada, sent through by Magnum after some quick thinking from Kennedy. But Frontale continued to make chances of their own.

Taniguchi had the best of them when released on a one-on-one by the quick-thinking Kengo. The energetic midfielder had time to look up and pick his spot, but Narazaki stood strong.

Just before the interval, Magnum almost notched up yet another goal against his former club. However, a strange bounce, caused either by the spin on the ball or the dreadful playing surface, bamboozled the former Frontale favourite and, with the goal at his mercy, his shot rocketed high and wide.

After the break, Nagoya continued to look for Kennedy in the air, but the quality of their final ball was mostly poor. Alex Santos, newly-signed from Urawa Reds, was particularly wayward with his delivery from the left.

As the game wore on, the visitors were inevitably finding more space to launch their trademark counters. Kengo skewed a half-volley over the bar from 8 yards after a pin-point cross from Yamagishi. And Juninho pulled a strike narrowly wide.

However, Kengo was soon back in more familiar territory, providing the clinical pass for Frontale's second. On the receiving end, Juninho raced away from his marker (the wretched Bajalica once again) and unleashed a rasping drive. Narazaki did well to block the initial shot but was helpless as the striker followed up to head in the rebound.

Shortly afterwards, Nagoya thought they'd pulled one back when a goalmouth scramble culminated in Maya Yoshida sticking the ball in the net. But, to the evident disbelief of manager Dragan Stojkovic, the linesman ruled that the defender had come back from an offside position.

There were late chances for both sides. Nagoya substitute Yuki Maki headed wide the kind of cross Josh Kennedy surely wishes had come his way a bit more often. And Renatinho, on for the last 5 minutes, narrowly missed when under pressure from the ever-impressive Narazaki.

As well as providing a valuable 3 points, this was an interesting insight into how Nagoya shape up ahead of next month's ACL clash. With their spate of recent signings, there's clearly a lack of cohesion in the side. However, the talent looks to be there and I'd be very surprised if they're not playing more like a team by the end of September.

Monday, June 29, 2009

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ACL Pits Dolphins Against Whales

Sunday, April 05, 2009

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Kawasaki Frontale v Nagoya Grampus

J.League Division 1: Sat, 4th April 2009

	3 - 1
VITOR JUNIOR 24' TANIGUCHI 29' CHONG 61'		MAGNUM 23'

Venue: Todoroki Stadium
Attendance: 20,148

The sakura lining the streets round Todoroki Stadium wasn't the only thing in full bloom on Saturday afternoon as Frontale finally put together a performance befitting the pre-season press hype and high hopes of their fans.

So far this season there have only been brief glimpses of the free-flowing football of last year. But against a potentially dangerous Nagoya Grampus they seemed to find the balance and composure that's been so absent of late.

Yusuke Tasaka earning his first start of the season, added an extra touch of dynamism to the side - his hustle and bustle allowing Kengo to play a slightly more withdrawn role than in recent games. The pint-sized midfielder had the occasional heavy touch and his cross, midway through the first half, to an unmarked Juninho was criminally overhit, but he could well prove to be a valuable asset this season.

Despite a fairly comfortable start from the home team, it was Nagoya who opened the scoring. Yoshizumi Ogawa jinked his way neatly between Mori and Tasaka before arrowing in a lethal cross which Magnum, who seems to be making a habit of scoring against his former team, bundled in at the far post.

However, within a minute of the restart the game was all square. Competition for the right back spot has done Mori the world of good and he immediately made amends for his defensive slip, tearing up the right wing and crossing for Vitor Junior to prod the ball home. Seigo Narazaki, the Nagoya keeper, complained that he'd been obstructed by an offside Chong Tese, but there was no way the North Korean could have been deemed active.

Vitor, it must be said, deserves a lot of the credit for the team's impressive display. In recent games he's looked on a totally different wavelength from his team mates. But on Saturday he was back to his best. Maybe it's the return of milder weather.

Indeed it was Vitor's corner that led to Frontale's second. Delivered long to Terada, the towering defender nodded the ball back into the danger zone where Taniguchi placed a looping header perfectly into the top corner.

Nagoya ended the first half strongly, but the home team's much-maligned defense battled admirably to keep them at bay. The left side is starting to look very solid, with Ito in the middle and Murakami bringing a bit of pace and energy to the full-back position. On the right, as already mentioned, Mori looks a new player. And Terada, a strong contender for man of the match on Saturday, made the talented Davi look surprisingly ordinary.

Davi did have one opportunity to make space for himself in the Frontale box, but Taniguchi was on hand to make a double block at point blank range. There were mild penalty appeals from the Nagoya players for handball, but it would have been a very harsh call at such close range.

Another penalty shout came when Ito blocked on the line minutes later. But the referee again waved it away.

At half time Sekizuka looked to consolidate and brought Yokoyama on for Tasaka. And it was the lanky defender-turned-midfielder whose timely interception in the centre of the park brought about Frontale's match-killing third. The ball broke to Chong Tese who charged up the middle like a modern-day Moses as the Nagoya defense parted before him and tucked away his third goal in four league matches.

Overall it was a pretty disappointing performance from Nagoya. They showed very little steel in the middle of the park, coming out second best in the majority of the 50-50 challenges. And they left far too much space at the back against a team renowned for their strength on the counter attack. That said, they can probably count themselves unlucky to have come knocking on the day Frontale finally found their form.

After a performance like this it's hard to criticise, but it should be noted that Frontale's much-lauded front pairing were once again not quite at the races. Chong Tese can be forgiven, having just flown back from 2 tough World Cup qualifiers against UAE and South Korea. Juninho, however, was lucky not to be hauled off much sooner after repeatedly missing chances and squandering possession. Ultimately it didn't matter on Saturday, but I just wonder if Renatinho might be due another chance to impress.

One final thought. Nagoya fans would probably disagree, but I felt the referee had a very good game. At least, that is, until the dying minutes when he elbowed Ogawa in the head. Check out this YouTube clip, around the 2:20 mark - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSfuv5tAOmg. The ref looked to have come off worse, but it turned out Ogawa had a bleeding gash to his forehead and was ordered off the field!

Monday, July 28, 2008

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Kawasaki Frontale v Nagoya Grampus

J.League Division 1: Sat, 26th July 2008

	1 - 1
VITOR JUNIOR 52'		MAGNUM 12'

Venue: Todoroki Stadium
Attendance: 21,952

A cracking display of football at Todoroki on Saturday night, with both teams justifying their status as serious title contenders. Frontale again came back from a goal down and, although both sides had chances to win it, a draw was probably the right result.

Magnum marked his first return to Todoroki, since transferring to Nagoya in the winter, with a stunning shot to give the visitors an early lead. Not only did this come against the run of play, but it was also largely brought about by an untimely recurrence of Shuhei Terada's hamstring injury.

Terada, who was starting his first game after over a month on the physio's couch, looked a safe bet to clear a long ball that was flicked on by Keiji Tamada in the middle of the field. However, the stalwart defender was obviously in trouble as he not only lost a mile of ground, but also failed to make any attempt at a block as Magnum raced on to the ball and struck a fierce drive into the back of the net from 20 yards.

The Brazilian's goal celebration was respectfully subdued, as Terada had to be helped from the pitch, clearly in some distress. It is still unclear how serious the big veteran's injury is, but let's just hope it's nothing career-threatening.

The game now settled into a pattern with Frontale controlling much of the play and Nagoya breaking dangerously on the counter. The rest of the first half saw the away team defending their lead staunchly and soaking up a great deal of pressure. Still, they almost doubled their lead when Johnsen's stinging shot rifled against the foot of the post and away to safety.

In the second half Frontale began to dominate possession far more effectively. They were finding more dangerous positions in attack and giving away much less in defence. Their first real opening came when Vitor Junior found room in the box and saw his lobbed shot-cum-cross rebound off the inside of the far post, past the waiting Juninho and eventually away by a relieved defender.

Nagoya were now starting to rock and the Todoroki crowd, continuing to earn their reputation as "12th player", piled on the pressure by raising the volume a few decibels. Within minutes Vitor Junior had levelled things up, pouncing on a blocked shot from Chong Tese and firing into an untended net.

At this stage, it looked like the game could only go one way, and Seigo Narazaki was forced to be at his very best in the Nagoya goal to keep out a couple of fine efforts from Juninho. However, once things were back on an even footing Nagoya, obviously not content to play for the draw, began to show that they're not just a counter-attacking outfit.

With the visitors now at their most attacking, Frontale did well to keep them at bay. The biggest scare came late on when Eiji Kawashima failed to claim a cross and only a last-ditch, goal-line block from Tomonobu Yokoyama, who was outstanding all game (after coming on for the ill-starred Terada), prevented the visitors from stealing all 3 points.

Overall, this is the best Kawasaki Frontale have been playing all season. Defensively the team is far less error-prone, Juninho seems a lot more confident as a provider rather than just an out-an-out goal scorer, and Vitor Junior (although this might be a bit premature) is an absolute revelation. Here's hoping they can maintain this kind of form when they return to action in a couple of weeks.