The quarterfinals of the 95th Emperor’s Cup were held on 26 December as four semi-finalists were determined. Gamba Osaka, contending for the back-to-back title, beat Sagan Tosu 3-1 with USAMI Takashi’s brace, advancing to the semi-finals on 29 December at Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Osaka against J.League Champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who defeated F.C.Tokyo 2-1 in an extra-time contest.

While Kashiwa Reysol eliminated Vegalta Sendai 5-3 on penalties after finishing extra-time 3-3, Urawa Reds cruised past Vissel Kobe 3-0. Kashiwa and Urawa square off against each other on 29 December at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo.

Pick-up Match 1

Gamba Osaka (J1)　3-1 (1-0, 2-1)　Sagan Tosu (J1)

After failing to pick up the pace early, Gamba gradually started to dominate possession and created more chances in front of goal after 20 minutes.

As KONNO Yasuyuki headed a corner kick in the 21st minute and ENDO Yasuhito fired a shot after playing a one-two with PATRIC, Gamba's efforts continued despite not going on goal. Then Gamba gained their offensive tempo and opened the scoring two minutes later.

When KURATA Shu took the ball in the midfield, Usami found himself in space behind the defensive line. He received Kurata's long ball and controlled it with his right foot. Then he swiftly shifted the ball to his left foot and sent it into the right side of the net.

Usami and Kurata created additional chances afterwards, helping their team finish the second half with a good rhythm.

In the second half, however, the flow of the game changed. Tosu rallied back after a pep talk at halftime by coach MORISHITA Hitoshi saying, "be confident and show what you've done so far." From the start of the second half, Tosu attacked space on Gamba's left side with MIZUNUMA Kota and YOSHIDA Yutaka and played more in the opposition's end.

Tosu's equaliser came in the 62nd minute. Yoshida fired the ball switched to the right. Then, HAYASAKA Ryota tapped in a deflection fumbled by Gamba goalkeeper HIGASHIGUCHI Masaaki. Even after that, Tosu continued to come close with Yoshida's right cross.

But the match was interrupted by an unexpected goal net repair for seven minutes from the 76th minute. Apparently it changed the course of the match.

Gamba, possessing the ball from the restart after the pause, looked for an opening with careful passes. As Kurata received a message from his coach during the interruption, saying “you initiate our attack,” he cut inside and fed the ball to NAGASAWA in the 79th minute. After Nagasawa laid the ball off to Usami rushing to the box, Usami brilliantly smashed home Gamba’s go-ahead goal with his left foot.

One minute later, Nagasawa intercepted a back pass and sent home a right-footed shot for his team’s third goal.

Tosu battled it out to come back but fell short. Their efforts to advance to the last four spot after two years came to naught.

Match detail (Japanese version only)

Pick-up Match 2

Vissel Kobe (J1)　0-3 (0-3, 0-0)　Urawa Reds (J1)

At Yanmar Stadium Nagai, Vissel Kobe (J1) and Urawa Reds (J1) played against each other.

After dominating the Kobe side from the start, Urawa got a golden opportunity in the 22nd minute, when KOROKI found himself 1-on-1 with Kobe goalkeeper. He composedly sent the ball into the right side of the net to break the dead lock. "I got a good ball and all I needed to do was just score," said Koroki after the match.

In the 25th minute, KASHIWAGI Yosuke responded to UGAJIN Tomoya's pass and pulled the defenders to let the ball through to the right. LEE Tadanari fired it with his left foot to extend his team's lead to two goals. Kobe needed to rally back, but MIHARA Masatoshi was sent off in the 32nd minute when picking up his second yellow of the match after he hauled down Lee trying to get behind defenders. The 10-man Kobe finished the first half 3-0 down after conceding a goal to Ugajin in the 44th minute.

Kobe subbed in TAKAHASHI Shunki and BUENO in the second half to shore up their defence. Kobe coach NELSINHO said to his players at halftime, "keep the balance and play on counterattacks," and they went on an offensive surge with aggressive challenges on the ball. In the 58th minute, WATANABE Kazuma raced onto a through ball, but his shot went straight to goalkeeper NISHIKAWA Shusaku. In the 60th minute, LEANDRO headed Takahashi's cross against the crossbar.

To maintain the 3-0 lead, Urawa did not lose the initiative with composed passing moves and kept a clean sheet until the match came to an end. The Saitama side moved through to the semi-final to be held on Tuesday 29 at Ajinomoto Stadium.

Match detail (Japanese version only)

Other Matches

F.C.Tokyo (J1)　1-2 (1-0, 0-1, extra 1st 0-1, extra 2nd 0-0)　Sanfrecce Hiroshima (J1)

Vegalta Sendai (J1)　3-3 (1-1, 1-1, extra 1st 1-0, extra 2nd 0-1, PSO 3-5)　Kashiwa Reysol (J1)

Hiroshima, looking for another big title after winning the league, came back from behind to edge F.C.Tokyo with substitute forward ASANO Takuma’s match-tying and go-ahead goals.

Tokyo were aiming to win the Cup for the first time since the 91st tournament in 2011. They took the first lead in the 37th minute when midfielder HIGASHI Keigo scored the opener. Although they were successful in the first half in limiting Hiroshima’s shot attempts to zero, they saw Hiroshima come back in the second half. What made matters worse for Tokyo, Higashi got ejected in the 66th minute for his foul, forcing the squad to play with only 10 players.

Following quick-footed Asano subbed in in the 61st minute, Hiroshima also sent midfielder MIKIC in the 74th minute and forward SATO Hisato in the 78th on to the pitch to reinforce their attacks. Then in the 85th, Asano met a cross from midfielder KASHIWA Yoshifumi to equalise the scoring. In the 103rd minute of the extra period, Asano again headed a cross this time from Mikic to put his team ahead by one goal. Later Tokyo lost defender MORISHIGE Masato for another ejection with his second yellow card in the match, which dispirited their come-back efforts and turned out to nail the coffin for themselves.

The contest between Kashiwa and Sendai witnessed multiple lead changes. With 2-1 lead, Kashiwa in the 70th minute had their midfielder AKINO Hiroki sent off the pitch due to his second yellow card, and allowed Sendai tie the match right after. Moments into the extra period, forward WILSON scored his own to take the lead for Sendai. But Kashiwa came back again on level terms when forward CRISTIANO put a free-kick home just before the end of the second half to force the penalty shootout. Actually it was his third made free-kick of the day. In the shootout, Sendai’s third kicker midfielder RYANG Yong Gi missed his attempt to give away the 5-3 win to Kashiwa.

The semi-finals on 29 December kick off at 1:05 p.m. for Urawa Reds against Kashiwa Reysol and at 3:05 p.m. for Gamba Osaka against Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Coach and Players' Comments

HASEGAWA Kenta, Coach (Gamba Osaka)
I am glad that we have reached the semi-final. My players played well in front of our supporters, and that let us finish the last match at this stadium with a win. It was very difficult match, but our players kept believing in our win and Usami did a fantastic job. We have only two days off before the semi-final, so we want to make sure that we recover from this with the limited number of players and get ready.

MORISHITA Hitoshi, Coach (Sagan Tosu)
Considering how we played in the second half, the loss is really disappointing. Although people were saying what they wanted to say, our players kept their focus on what we were supposed to do and worked hard. I would like to thank them for that. It was a pity that it took so long to fix the net. We were playing very well in that stretch, so it may sound as an excuses, but I wanted to let our players keep playing. Usually matches decide their outcome right after one play stops and I was saying that to my players, but it just came true. I think Gamba players kept their composure.

NELSINHO, Coach (Vissel Kobe)
What I can say about today’s match is simple. When you play against an experienced, high-quality team, you can’t play a wrong defence. Maybe our defence was too afraid of Muto and Koroki, or maybe they thought too much about them. We weren’t able to put tight pressure on the ball, and didn’t deal with them how we were supposed to. To me our players looked lacking determination and confidence for this match. Next season we need to improve individually and also as a team in order to play evenly against title contenders.

PETROVIC, Coach (Urawa Reds)
I think we were able to come out for this match very nicely. Then through good combinations plays, we were able to score. In the second half, partly because we were leading by three goals and also because there is another match (semi-final) that we possibly play, out tempo got slowed. But we still could manage time wisely by controlling the match. There are only two off days before the semi-final, and also two more days again before the final. So to save some energy, I made three substitutions. It was good we could finish it with the 3-0 lead in the end.

The 95th Emperor's Cup All Japan Football Championship

Sat. 29 August 2015 - Fri. 1 January 2016
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