Kawasaki Frontale v Montedio Yamagata

J.League Division 1: Sun, 23rd August 2009

	2 - 0
TANIGUCHI 18' TASAKA 23'

Venue: Todoroki Stadium
Attendance: 17,341

Frontale returned to winning ways on Sunday night with a comfortable 2-0 victory at home to Montedio Yamagata.

Home form has been the keystone of Frontale's title challenge this year, winning 8 and drawing 3 of their 11 appearances at "fortress" Todoroki so far.

Things have been very different on the road where they've picked up a meagre 15 points from a potential 36. The fact that 3 of their 5 remaining away games are against teams likely to be battling for their J1 survival (Omiya, Oita, Kashiwa) doesn't augur all that well.

Only managed to catch the last 15 minutes of the Yamagata game, by which stage cruise control had well and truly kicked in. In the end it looked a walk in the park, but Montedio have a reputation for dogged defending and this could have been an evening of frustration for the Frontale players and fans alike. All important then that the home team made an early breakthrough.

That breakthrough came on 18 minutes. Montedio were caught napping as Kengo's quickly-taken free kick released Taniguchi to fire in from the right corner of the 6-yard box.

Within 5 minutes Tasaka had doubled the advantage from close range after Yamagishi had nodded down a Juninho cross. (There was a vague whiff of offside about the goal, but them's the breaks). And that, as they say, was that.

There were of course further chances, but Juninho was in profligate mood and Chong Tese can't buy a goal at the moment.

The Aichi assassin has now scored only once since his late winner in June's reverse fixture in Yamagata. He has had a few fitness problems which haven't helped him to rebuild confidence. However, judging by Sunday's performance it seems just a matter of time before he's scrambling his way up the goal-scoring ladder once more.

Most notable event of the second half was probably the debut of Jumpei Kusukami. The 21-year-old came on for Kengo for the last couple of minutes and almost made an immediate impact.

After winning the ball in midfield, Frontale's most recent signing made a strong run down the middle, before laying off to Juninho. The veteran striker curled a shot well wide from the edge of the box, ignoring the support run of young Jumpei - in acres of space with the goal at his mercy. Another encouraging glimpse of Frontale's future!

Big game coming up against 3rd-placed S-Pulse on Sunday. Every year, as sure as night follows day, Frontale drop 3 points in Shimizu. With any luck it can become just as inevitable that we take 3 points off them at home.

P.S. Anyone seen Vitor Junior???

Jubilo Iwata v Kawasaki Frontale

J.League Division 1: Wed, 19th August 2009

	2 - 1
MAEDA 29', 40'		JUNINHO 45' (MORI sent off '87)

Venue: Yamaha Stadium
Attendance: 10,545

Frontale once again missed an opportunity to narrow the gap at the top of the table, going down 2-1 away to Jubilo Iwata.

League-leaders Kashima Antlers suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Vissel Kobe, but it was almost inevitable that Frontale would fail to take advantage.

Jubilo dominated the first half, racing into a 2-goal lead before the break. Both goals came courtesy of Ryoichi Maeda, a player who's now notched up 6 goals against Frontale in the last 3 seasons. The first was a fine turn and strike that beat Eiji at his near post. The second was a simple tap in after an inviting cross from the newly re-signed Lee Keun-Ho.

There was something rather lackadaisical about Frontale's performance, with Chong in particular looking out of sorts. But, even 2-0 down, there was an air of expectation that the J.League's comeback kings would turn things around in the second half.

That expectation grew when Juninho pulled one back within a minute of the restart. Frontale's man of the moment played a neat give-and-go with Kengo at the edge of the box before slotting past Yoshi Kawaguchi.

The replacement of Yamagishi with Renatinho at half time was proving effective and Jubilo spent the next 15 minutes on the rocks as Frontale found their attacking groove. There's a terrible, momentum-killing negativity about Yamagishi's play, always favouring the safe backward pass. Renatinho is the chalk to Yamagishi's cheese, occasionally wasting possession or taking the wrong option, but always a threat.

Chong Tese missed two great chances to make things level before Jubilo were able to regroup. But regroup they did, after which it was pretty much a free-for-all with chances coming thick and fast at both ends.

By the end the visitors were playing with 4 up front, but even the kitchen sink couldn't bring about an equaliser. Mori was unlucky to have a goal-bound effort blocked on the line by Kentaro Ohi. And the excellent Kawaguchi saved bravely at the feet of Kurotsu when the substitute was clean through.

Mori stupidly got himself sent off late in the game, lunging in with 2 bookable tackles in the space of 2 minutes. His frustration at Jubilo's keep-ball tactics is understandable, but he should know better by now (although, it must be said, the second one did look a bit soft).

So Kashima's 8-point lead at the top of the table remains intact. One gets the feeling that if Frontale are to claw those points back, it's the reckless, attacking style of the second half rather than the cagey, defensive approach of the first that's going to get them there.

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.

Did I Miss Anything?

"No one realises how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." - Lin Yutang.

I love a good, long holiday as much as the next man, but there's always something nice about coming home. Especially when some of the season's most exciting action has taken place in your absence.

The 2-2 draw away to Niigata sounded like a corker and Taniguchi's last-minute winner against FC Tokyo may well have rejuvenated a title challenge that looked to be flagging. But the 3-0 victory over Kashima has to go down as the one not to have missed.

Having crossed the halfway stage, the good ship Frontale finds itself in pretty good shape. In the league they sit in 2nd place, 8 points adrift of table-toppers Kashima. A quarter-final clash against Nagoya Grampus awaits in the ACL. And they've claimed a semi-final spot in the Nabisco Cup thanks to Juninho's late, late heroics against Kashima.

It was another slow start for Juninho this campaign. But in recent weeks he's been back to his best - rescuing the team on more than one occasion. He'll need to maintain this impressive form if Frontale really are to go on and claim their first piece of silverware. It would certainly be a shame if the Brazilian, now in his 7th season at the club, were to end his career in Japan without lifting a trophy.

To be fair, it wasn't only Juninho whose early season form left a lot to be desired. Defensively the team was a shambles while Sekizuka tinkered with player selection and formation in his backline. And up front there was very little cohesion between midfield and attack.

While the team is still not exactly water-tight at the back, they've made vast improvements. Kikuchi has emerged as a real asset in the heart of defence, offering the kind of speed and aerial power that Igawa lacks. And having either Terada or Yokoyama sit in front of the centre-backs has helped to shore things up.

In attack there are still problems that need to be addressed if Frontale are to fulfil their potential. Yajima doesn't look good enough to be a starter and Yamagishi has also been getting an alarming amount of field time of late. The team is simply not at full strength with these two involved.

I'm not sure what's going on with Vitor Junior - whether he's still struggling for match fitness after his spell out through injury, or if his form is not good enough in training - but his creative presence is sorely missed. He scored Frontale's only goal in their 3-1 Satellite League loss to FC Tokyo on the 2nd August, so perhaps he'll be ready to start against Nagoya at the weekend.

Chong Tese is another one who's been notable by his absence in recent times. Sekizuka now seems to be using him predominantly as an impact sub, but whether this is by choice remains to be seen.

A hectic couple of months lie ahead, but for the Frontale faithful there's plenty to be excited about.

Kawasaki Frontale v FC Tokyo

J.League Division 1: Sat, 1st August 2009

	2 - 1
JUNINHO 55' TANIGUCHI 89'		ISHIKAWA 37'

Venue: Todoroki Stadium
Attendance: 21,379

Kawasaki Frontale v Kashima Antlers

Nabisco Cup: QF 2nd leg: Wed, 29th July 2009

	3 - 0 aet (3 - 1)
JUNINHO 89' RENATINHO 94' CHONG 102' KIKUCHI sent off 108'

Venue: Todoroki Stadium
Attendance: 13,581