Cerezo 1 - 2 Vissel

Looks like Vissel Kobe are back on track with another convincing win, this time away at Cerezo. Adachi opted for the exact same starting lineup as the Omiya match - a standard 4-4-2 headed by Yoshida and Ogawa. Right from the get go, we were playing an open game, trying to stretch the Cerezo midfield with Park and Nozawa playing wide on their respective sides. They were fed passes by Okui and Soma either down the lines or by switching play via long horizontal/diagonal balls from both sides. The pressure we put on their defense whenever they were in possession was very effective, often forcing them to give up the ball by punting it straight back to us. This is an approach we have used a lot this season, so I guess Wada deserves some credit, even though he is no longer on the sideline to see it actually working.
Our first came from a Yoshida penalty after Okui was brought down needlessly in the area in the 36th minute. Cerezo grabbed a lucky equalizer, also through a penalty, after Soma was judged to have brought down one of theirs, although the replay showed this decision to be extremely harsh. Cerezo had the better of the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half, but the Kobe defense managed to hold them off, although it cost us 3 yellow cards. I've been particularly impressed with the way we are defending balls in the air, both from crosses and set pieces, thanks to a resurgent Kitamoto and our new Korean giant Lee Kwang Seon. The winner came from a sweet finish by Nozawa in the 68th minute after receiving a nice ball from substitute Morioka. This was the kind of shot we would have missed 9 times out of 10 last year. Effort can only take you so far in top level football. You need class to get anywhere near the top and I think we have a better chance than any other year of finishing somewhere up there in 2012.

J.League Division 1 - Round 10
Cerezo Osaka			1	2	Vissel Kobe
13:05 Sunday May 6th, 2012
Kincho Stadium (Attendance: 16,446)
KIM Bo Kyung (40')				YOSHIDA (36')
				NOZAWA (68')
GK. KIM Jin Hyeon				GK. TOKUSHIGE
DF. MONIWA				DF. OKUI
DF. FUJIMOTO				DF. LEE
DF. MARUHASHI (71')				DF. KITAMOTO
DF. SAKEMOTO				DF. SOMA (81')
MF. OGIHARA				MF. OYA
MF. YAMAGUCHI				MF. INOHA (57')
MF. KIM Bo Kyung				MF. PARK
MF. KIYOTAKE				MF. NOZAWA
MF. KAKITANI (76')				FW. OGAWA
FW. KEMPES				FW. YOSHIDA (67')
GK. MATSUI				GK. KAMITA
DF. KIM Song Gi				DF. TAKAGI
MF. BRANQUINO				MF. MORIOKA (67')
MF. KUROGI				MF. TANAKA
MF. MURATA (76')				MF. MIHARA (57')
FW. BANDO				FW. OKUBO
FW. NAGAI (71')				FW. MOGI (81')