The two Michinoku-region sides, J1 Vegalta Sendai and J2 Montedio Yamagata, clashed in the semi-finals of the Emperor's Cup JFA 98th Japan Football Championship on Wednesday 5 December. It was the Sendai side who prevailed in the Michinoku Derby after a close match that went 3-2 and booked their spot into the final for the first time. Coach WATANABE Susumu expressed his enthusiasm ahead of the final, “Grabbing a win at this derby will give us great confidence and we will fight in behalf of the Yamagata side to bring back our first title.”

In the early minutes of the match, Sendai took the initiative with their swift and collective approach to the ball, while initiating their attacks from the flanks. The opening goal came in the 14th minute when GERMAIN Ryo converted the delivery from NAKANO Yoshihiro with a superb left-footed volley. Sendai continued pressing forward as YAJIMA Shinya captured their second goal from a shot from distance, just four minutes following their opener.

Although Yamagata was forced to be in the defensive end for a while, they struck back when SAKANO Toyofumi headed home a cross delivered by KUMAMOTO Yuta to cut their deficit in half. The two sides exchanged a goal apiece in the remaining minutes of the first half to enter halftime with a one goal difference.

The second half saw the trailing Yamagata side rallying back in efforts to level the match. The J2 side created opportunities from MIKI Kai’s cross and set-pieces to capture the equaliser but fell short from finding the net. While this match was Yamagata’s first match in half a month, Sendai entered the match with just three-days rest, but the J1 side showed great persistence to keep their lead intact. After getting himself involved in all three goals, Germain shared his aspiration ahead of the final, “We will give our very best to take down the title.”

After making an incredible run by defeating multiple J1 teams such as Kashiwa Reysol, FC Tokyo, and Kawasaki Frontale, Yamagata failed to advance to their first Emperor’s Cup final since the 94th tournament where they finished as the runners-up. Coach KIYAMA Takashi regretted the goals conceded in the early minutes of the match, “We struggled to keep up with our opponents’ speed and techniques at the beginning of the match. It took us too long to get used to it.”

Coaches and Players' Comments

WATANABE Susumu, Coach (Vegalta Sendai)
We managed to attack with great intention and score goals in the early minutes of the match. Ideally, we wanted to score the third goal before our opponents scored a goal, which would have allowed us to take control of the match with a firmer grip. The closing minutes of the match saw the Yamagata side rallying back while our side showed fatigues from the tight match schedule. We might have showed many flaws and lacked quality in the final third, but we managed to end up as the winners. This derby win will give us great confidence moving forward and we will continue to work hard to fight in behalf of the Yamagata side and take back the title.

FW #19 GERMAIN Ryo (Vegalta Sendai)
I really wanted to advance to the final, so I was fully focused on how to contribute to the team. As a result, I managed to get myself involved in the three goals score by our side. When I scored the goal, Nakano delivered the cross exactly where I wanted so I took a step back and struck the ball with my left foot. It came right after a potential goal was erased from us, but we managed to keep our composure and kept on attacking despite the turn of an event.

KIYAMA Takashi, Coach (Montedio Yamagata)
We struggled to keep up with our opponents’ speed and techniques at the beginning of the match. It took us a while to adjust to them and as a result conceded goals to put ourselves in a tough spot. But the fact that we managed to end the first half with a score of 3-2 gave us hope for the second half. We showed great intensity in the early minutes of the second half but came short from equalising the match and Sendai did well to utilise the time effectively towards the end. I told my players not to forget this bitterness and to feed off of this experience to improve themselves. We will now regroup and strive to get promoted to the J1.

DF #3 KURIYAMA Naoki (Montedio Yamagata)
It took us 35 minutes to make the adjustments and put up an equal fight against our opponents today. We failed to match our opponents’ techniques and height until we conceded three goals. It felt like we were forced to cover such a huge area per player and we couldn’t really showcase our team’s colour. I just can’t help myself thinking that, if we could have done a better job during that stretch. But even so, the outcome would have been different if we could have scored in the second half when we had control of the match.

【1st Round】Sat. 26, Sun. 27 May
【2nd Round】Wed. 6 June
【3rd Round】Wed. 11 July
【Round of 16】Wed. 22 August (Reserve date Wed. 26 September)
【Quarterfinals】Wed. 24 October, Wed. 21 November
【Semi-final】Wed. 5 December
【Final】Sun. 9 December

Tournament Information