By Pearse McLaughlin
Yokohama F. Marinos are reduced to 10 men following VAR drama which saw Katsuya Nagato receive his marching orders for a flying elbow. Yokohama cling on to salvage a point in their 1-1 draw versus Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
Yokohama F. Marinos have altered their formation from 4-3-3 formation and have gone with the 4-2-1-3 formation as Kevin Muscat looks to carry on the momentum and get maximum points from their opening three matches. Yokohama make two changes from their last match with Urawa Red Diamonds Powell Obinna Obi and Kota Mizunuma are replaced by Jun Ichimori and Kenta Inoue.
Michael Skibbe has also changed formation from 3-4-2-1 and gone with more fire power with the 3-1-4-2 formation. He has made three changes to his side as they try to get their first win of the season at the 3rdattempt. In came Shunki Higashi, Tsukasa Morishima and Pieros Sotiriou to replace Yoshifumi Kashiwa, Taishi Matsumoto and Shuto Nakano.
Early breath through here on the 4th minute of Friday night J-League 1 action between Yokohama F. Marinos and Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC. It is Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC who take a shock lead here at Nissan Stadium courtesy of Shunki Higashi who slid the ball in from close range following a dangerous ball fired across the box which caused mayhem by Makoto Mitsuta. It is one wing back setting up another here and what a start for the visitors. 1-0 Sanfrecce.
On the 6th minute and Nassim Ben Khalifa produces a smart save out of debutant goalkeeper for Yokohama F. Marinos, Jun Ichimori. Takumu Kawamura gathers the loose ball in the middle of the park and spreads it out to the right-hand side for Gakuto Notsuda whose clever first-time ball fired over the back line with his instep straight into the path of Ben Khalifa who flicked the ball in between both of Shinnosuke Hatanaka and Ken Matsubara before firing in a dangerous half volley. Terrific save as the score remains 1-0.
It is Makoto Mitsuta who nearly caught out the goalkeeper on the 7th minute whose positioning left a lot to be desired as he was nearly left with egg on his face as Mitsuta’s free kick struck the post. The freekick was just inside Yokohama’s half and must have been from about 40/45 yards from goal just left of the centre circle and no one was expecting the shot. Clever play from Makoto Mitsuta as his quick thinking caught out Yokohama F. Marinos but unlucky for him struck the inside of the post and bounced clear. It remains 1-0 to the visitors but should be more from Michael Skibbe’s side as they have come out the blocks fast and shocked Kevin Muscat’s men.
Just five minutes and it’s the first real opportunity for Tricolor to get back into the game and it was courtesy of Takuma Nishimura who raced clear on goal and found himself one-on-one with Keisuke Osako who spread himself brilliantly and got a left boot out to keep his side in front.
It is the equalizer here as the champions are level on the 18th minute after a slow start courtesy of Brazilian striker Anderson Lopes. It was a delicate finish from Anderson Lopes who chests the ball into the back of the net. Elber chased down a lost cause and gets there before Makoto Mitsuta, checks back inside, and delivers an inch perfect cross for his compatriot who just adjusts his body brilliantly and guides the ball into the bottom right-hand corner. Parity restored for the home side. 1-1 game on.
Nearly a gift for the home side on the 36th minute after a loose touch by young Japan internationalist Keisuke Osako and is nearly punished by Anderson Lopes who was alert to the situation and closed down the keeper but managed to clear off Lopes and goes behind for the corner.
It is level here at the break in this matchup between 2nd and 14th and you would never have guessed that before kick-off. It was Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC who came out of the blocks firing and took an early and deserved lead on the 4th minute through Shunki Higashi and could have found themselves further in the lead but were denied by the post twice and Jun Ichimori produced a brilliant stop too. Sanfrecce dominated the opening 10 minutes of the game but as the game wore on, they lost control and Yokohama F. Marinos started to grow into the game and didn’t take them long to level the scores through Anderson Lopes. But on the balance of play and chances created I think both sides will be happy to go in level at the break in what has been an entertaining half with chances galore for both sides.
In a second half that has seen very few chances occur, there is late drama here as there is a straight red card has been awarded to Katsuya Nagato on the 76th minute. Nagato challenged for a header with Shuto Nakano and caught him across the face with his left elbow. Right decision has been made here following a quick VAR check and the champions are now down to 10 men and without their left back now. Really opportunity here for Sanfrecce to take advantage and grab all three points.
With 10 minutes of the game remaining and Pieros Sotiriou holds his head in his hands as he fails to capitalise on a golden opportunity as he found himself unmarked in the six-yard-box and somehow ballooned his header over the bar. Clever free kick situation as Gakuto Notsuda fires the ball down the right-hand channel to the lively Makoto Mitsuta who digs out an inch perfect cross to the forehead of Pieros Sotiriou but squirms his opportunity. Big let off for Yokohama. It should be 2-1 to Viola.
It is that man again Pieros Sotiriou with just 2 minutes left of normal time as he fails to capitalise on another golden opportunity as Makoto Mitsuta who has been at the heart of everything Sanfrecce Hiroshima have created picks out the run of Pieros Sotiriou, but his shot is tipped behind by Jun Ichimori who done superbly to close the angle down.
It ends all square here between Yokohama F. Marinos and Sanfrecce Hiroshima. It will be the current champions Yokohama F. Marinos who will be the happier of the two sides as they didn’t get going for large spells in the game and had to cling on with 10 men in the last 15 minutes. Makoto Mitsuta was a live wire all game and thoroughly deserved his man of the match award as he set up the opening goal for Shunki Higashi and put two chances on a plate for Pieros Sotiriou who failed to take them. All though the one real moment of quality from the champions came from their Brazilian stars with Elber showing a terrific burst of speed to keep the ball in play before picking out Anderson Lopes who skilfully chested the ball into the back of the net.
Next up for Yokohama F. Marinos is a home league cup tie on Wednesday the 8th of March against J-League 2 side Jubilo Iwata where they will be hoping for a much-improved performance. Sanfrecce’s next game is home tie in the league cup on Wednesday the 8th of March against newly promoted Yokohama FC where they will be looking for more of the same performance wise but ultimately looking for their first win of the season so they can kick on and have a successful season.
Yokohama F. Marinos: Jun Ichimori, Ken Matsubara, Shinnosuke Hatanaka, Ryotaro Tsunoda, Katsuya Nagato, Takuya Kida, Kota Watanabe, Takuma Nishimura (Marcos Junior 86’), Kenta Inoue, Anderson Lopes (Takumi Kamijima 79’), Elber (Yan 86’). Subs not used: Hiroki Iikura, Eduardo, Joel Chima Fujita, Kota Mizunuma.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC: Keisuke Osako, Tsukasa Shiotani, Hayato Araki, Sho Sasaki, Makoto Mitsuta, Gakuto Notsuda, Shunki Higashi (Takaaki Shichi 46’), Tsukasa Morishima, Takumu Kawamura, Pieros Sotiriou, Ben Khalifa (Shuto Nakano 70’). Subs not used: Goro Kawanami, Yoshifumi Kashiwa, Hiroya Matsumoto, Ezequiel, Taishi Matsumoto.
Match Reporter: Pearse McLaughlin
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