Gamba Osaka (J1)   3-0 (1-0, 2-0)   Sanfrecce Hiroshima (J1)

The 95th Emperor's Cup All Japan Football Championship had the semi final matches on 29 December. In Yanmar Stadium Nagai, Osaka, last year’s champion Gamba Osaka (J1) faced this year’s J. League Champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima (J1). 

They have already faced each other 4 times this season, and in the Meiji Yasuda J1 League, both teams got 1 win and 1 loss. In the Meiji Yasuda J1 2015 Championship, Hiroshima got the victory with the result of 1 win and 1 draw. This time, Gamba Osaka, who is aiming at the title again, started its attack. From the beginning, they launched aggressive attacks and in the 7th minute KURATA Shu got the ball on the right wing and raised a cross, PATRIC headed the ball to drop it to USAMI Takashi and he pushed it to the right corner of Hiroshima’s goal. Gamba Osaka took the lead in the early stage. They kept aiming at the opponent’s goal; in the 8th minute, ABE Hiroyuki jumped out from right wing to move the ball and Usami made a shot which didn’t find the goal.

On the other hand, Hiroshima tried to find counter attacking chances moving the ball around mainly by MARUTANI Takuya and CHIBA Kazuhiko, but they couldn’t break through the opponent’s defense even though they could carry the ball to in front of the goal. In the 42nd minute, SATO Hisato could catch the ball at the lower position from the cleared ball and AOYAMA Toshihiro hit the ball from post play, but it couldn’t find the net. 

During the half time, Hiroshima’s Coach MORIYASU Hajime encouraged the players; “don’t panic and keep attacking.” They managed to get the rhythm of the play from the 2nd half. In the 52nd minute, Hiroshima’s ASANO Takuma jumped into the front line and made a free shot but Gamba Osaka’s HIGASHIGUCHI Masaaki blocked it. Hiroshima substituted MINAGAWA Yusuke and KASHIWA Yoshifumi to strengthen their offense and in the 67th minute, there was a deep pass to CHAJIMA Yusuke and he got the chance to face against the Gamba’s goalkeeper in 1-on-1 situation, but Higashiguchi blocked it again. Gamba Osaka’s players quickly blocked cleared balls and Hiroshima couldn’t equalise.

Gamba Osaka had to keep patience and defend for a long time, but as the team’s Coach HASEGAWA Kenta had told the players earlier, they found the chance to start attacking the Hiroshima’s goal again. In the 74th minute, Kurata carried the ball to raise a counter and it was passed to the substitute player NAGASAWA Shun. In the end Usami scored the goal collapsing and Gamba Osaka got the second goal. Gamba Osaka’s Nagasawa made another goal by beating the keeper in a 1-on-1 situation. The match ended 3-0. The final will take place on New Year’s Day. Gamba Osaka will play against Urawa Reds（J1）competing for the consecutive victory. 

Match detail (Japanese version only)

Coach and Players' Comments

HASEGAWA Kenta, Coach (Gamba Osaka)
The players worked very hard with passion throughout 90 minutes today. I think they could respond to the voice of supporters’ “win!”. When we play against Hiroshima, the real match starts from turning up the team after substituting some players. Their offense is very difficult to stop. I think we could add other goals because the players used their full strengths to keep a clean sheet. For the final, we have to win; it is meaningless if we don't. We will face with even more strength to finish this competition with victory. 

USAMI Takashi (Gamba Osaka)
I don’t think I changed my play style, but I thought I had to switch my mind in terms of positioning. For my recent matches, I have worked as a winger player and I try to receive the ball near the penalty area. With that mind, I could score the first goal calmly. Patric’s last pass was good enough to smash through the opponent’s legs; I decided it when I made the first touch on the ball. It was good that my goal contributed to the victory today. I want to remember the feeling of this and to make my own scoring style.

MORIYASU Hajime (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
We lost the match 0-3, but I appreciate our players to work as much as possible today. It is such a bitter thing that we lost, but I would like to show my appreciation to each player since they were united well to fight against Gamba Osaka. What we have tried to do was to play tough to get the victory, but we couldn’t make it. That means our strengths are not enough yet. We want to prepare well by improving our issues found today for next season.

YAMAGISHI Satoru (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
(He is leaving the team after the end of this season) It will be a wonderful memory for me to play with my teammates; I have played for Hiroshima for 6 years. Before going on to the pitch, what the Coach said to me was “you still have chances, so keep going”, and “enjoy.” This year, I learned that I can make good results if I keep working hard and there aren’t always hard things in your life. I believe that each of this kind of lesson learned will help myself as a football player, so I will keep playing football and hopefully my retirement from a professional player will be delightful in the future. 

The 95th Emperor's Cup All Japan Football Championship

Sat. 29 August 2015 - Fri. 1 January 2016
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