Urawa Reds (J1)   1-0 (0-0, 0-0, extra 1st 0-0, extra 2nd 1-0)   Kashiwa Reysol (J1)

The 95th Emperor’s Cup All Japan Football Championship had its semi-finals on 29 December and Urawa Reds defeated the 92nd tournament (2012) champions Kashiwa Reysol at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo with the go-ahead goal by forward LEE Tadanari in the extra period to grab the 1-0 win and the first final appearance in nine years. 

The final match-up on 1 January is set as Urawa against reigning champions Gamba Osaka, who took down the J.League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the semi-final 3-0. It is scheduled to kick off at the same Ajinomoto Stadium at 2:15 p.m.

The contest between Urawa and Kashiwa with the Cup finalist honour and next year’s AFC Champions League seed turned out to be a deadlock match where neither side never gave in.

While Urawa moved the ball around to firing 20 shots, twice as many as their opponents, Kashiwa’s midfielder NAKATANI Shinnosuke stayed back in the backline to make up the 5-man defence and waited for counter-attack opportunities.

It was the first semi-final to play for Urawa since the 86th tournament (2006) when they completed the back-to-back championships. Right after the kick-off, they had right winger SEKINE Takahiro feed a cross to midfielder MUTO Yuki who was rushing in front of goal to scare Kashiwa by meeting the feed with his right foot. Later on Urawa kept creating scoring opportunities, and in the 22nd minute, midfielder ABE Yuki fired his shot through a corner-kick, but it failed to find the net. 

In the 35th minute, Urawa’s matchmaking midfielder KASHIWAGI Yosuke collided with an opponent and four minutes later had to leave the pitch due to the injury caused. But still Urawa kept the initiative until the match finished its first half 0-0.

Kashiwa, last 8 contestants of this year’s ACL, occasionally executed their attacks including a free-kick in the 26th minute by CRISTIANO, who recorded hat-trick in the quarter-final only with free-kicks, and a header by defender EDUARDO through a right corner-kick in the 29th minutes. But both efforts went above the crossbar. 

Urawa continued their offence in the second half. After the beginning of the half, defender NASU Daisuke volleyed a corner-kick, while midfielder UMESAKI Tsukasa in the 64th minute reacted well to a through ball from Muto for a shot, but Kashiwa’s goalkeeper SUGENO Takanori denied Umesaki’s attempt. Then in the 84th minute, it was forward ZLATAN that headed a cross from Umesaki, but it was again fell short.

As time was going by, Kashiwa’s defender WAKO Naoki went up to right-foot his strike in the 87th minute and moments before the end of the regulation, Cristiano sent a beautiful cross to forward KUDO Masato waiting in front of goal only to see the last minute attempt stopped by Urawa’s defender MAKINO Tomoaki.

After finishing the 90 minutes scoreless, URAWA sent Lee and another forward KOROKI Shinzo onto the pitch at the beginning of the extra period. On the other hand, Kashiwa also tried to reenergise their attacking side with substituting in forward OTSU Yuki.

It was Urawa who finally broke the deadlock. In the 117th minute, Umesaki broke down the left flank and fed a cross into the middle, which was headed into the back of the net by Lee, who later said “we really wanted to end the match within the 120 minutes.” It was his third goal in the past three straight matches. Kashiwa were not able to give a win to their coach YOSHIDA Tatsuma, who had decided to step down from the position at the end of the season.

As a side note, Urawa, third-placed team in the J.League’s year-total standings, were given the spot in next year’s AFC Champions League (ACL) regardless of the outcome of the final, since Gamba Osaka had already cemented their own spot. J.League’s fourth-place finishers F.C.Tokyo are now set to participate in the ACL Playoff. 

Match detail (Japanese version only)

Coach and Players' Comments

Mihailo PETROVIC, Coach (Urawa Reds)
I often see matches where we keep attacking and our opponents keep defending and looking for counter-attacks, and today’s match was just like that. Our players had some fatigue and they made some mistakes. But they tried to control the match calmly until the end. Before going into the extra period, there were some situations where we could have scored. My players played hard with strong mindset that they want to win and advance no matter what. They seemed confident in believing that we can win any match if we can control the match patiently. That resulted in this win. The past two years, we have missed titles and we didn’t get credits that we deserved. But by winning this Emperor’s Cup, we want to prove that what we have done was right.

FW  LEE Tadanari (Urawa Reds)
Until the time I got subbed on, I was sitting on the bench and thinking like “give me a chance with the match being tied. Then I will be the hero.” (On the goal scored) I felt everyone’s will in that pass, and the goal also had everyone’s will in it. Nobody gave up and we all kept moving the ball, and it just came to me. So all I had to do was to put it home. This team including myself are in good shape. I want to make this tournament my tournament. So I want to do my best in the final to win the championship.

YOSHIDA Tatsuma, Coach (Kashiwa Reysol)
We lost and we can’t spend 1 January 2016 on the pitch. It’s disappointing, and I am very sorry that I couldn’t leave the ACL spot to the team. We played with everything we had and there were some good plays, too. But in the 117th minute in the extra period, we allowed the goal with only a few minutes remaining, and it determined the outcome. Urawa are physically tough and have complete game plans. They are strong, smart and skilled. I want to give credits to their style, plays and quality. 

FW  KUDO Masato (Kashiwa Reysol)
Losing is disappointing and it’s a shame. It was a very close match, and it was up to who makes that one chance given. Then Urawa took that. That was it. I wanted to finish this tournament after getting the ACL spot.

The 95th Emperor's Cup All Japan Football Championship

Sat. 29 August 2015 - Fri. 1 January 2016
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