Match Report

Zweigen Kanazawa (J2)   6-3 (0-1, 2-1, Extra 1st 1-1, Extra 2nd 3-0)   FC Imabari (Ehime)

The first round of the 95th Emperor's Cup All Japan Football Championship was held on Sunday 30 August. Zweigen Kanazawa (J2), who have been promoted to the MEIJI YASUDA J2 LEAGUE this season, met FC Imabari (Ehime) from the Shikoku Soccer League. Kanazawa made significant changes to the team from the league match, while ICHIKAWA Daisuke and YAMADA Takuya of Imabari, both of whom used to play for the national team, stayed on the bench.

At the beginning of the game, Kanazawa playing at home, took the initiative. In the 2nd and the 4th minute, they aimed at the goal from corner kicks, but they were cleared by Imabari’s defenders. Imabari, on the other hand, started to attack back after the initial struggle. KUWAZIMA Kohei in the left wing and OKAMOTO Takeshi in the right wing played widely to stretch the opponent’s defensive line in order to create some space for attack.

After 12 minutes, Imabari sent a long-distance pass to the space behind Kanazawa’s defenders, where Kuwazima reacted to a cross from SHIMOMURA Kazuma, striking the opener. With this first score, Imabari relaxed and continued playing calmly.

An under-pressure Kanazawa could not attack back well with less experienced players in the defensive line. They failed to score through their limited counter-attack opportunities, and the match went into the second half 1-0.

Kanazawa, who were eager to change the game, substituted HOSHINO Yusuke and TANAKA Paulo Junichi onto the pitch. This worked swiftly and efficiently. After 48 minutes, TAMASHIRO Syungo, who ran towards a cross from Hoshino, levelled the game. Then Tamashiro once again reacted to a pass from Tanaka, and struck a goal in the 67th minute, turning the game around.

After conceding two goals in the second half, Imabari stayed patient. The team kept changing the players aggressively, including sending Yamada to the pitch. After 1 minute in injury time, NAKANO Kei received a pass from Okamoto to score the equaliser. The dramatic and exciting game went into overtime.

During extra time, Imabari, who aimed to turn the game around, had a player injured after running out of substitutions. As a result, they had to play with ten players. However, each player never stopped running, and NAGAO Yoshikimi struck a goal in the 98th minute, turning the match around.

Although everyone expected Imabari’s victory, OTSUKI Yuhei of Kanazawa slotted a loose ball in the goal from a corner kick during the additional time of the first half of extra time. Then in the 108th minute, MINEGISHI Keisuke scored from a penalty kick and once more turned the game around. 

Then three minutes later, both MOTEGI Shunsuke and Tanaka added more insurance. Through extra time, after a real see-saw of a game, Kanazawa beat Imabari in the end and got through to the second round.
Match detail (Japanese version only)

Coach and Players' Comments

MORISHITA Hitoshi, Coach (Zweigen Kanazawa)
In the end, we scored six goals in total. Although the players did put in a good performance, they still made mistakes, displaying their low quality of judgment. While they passed the ball freely around, they couldn’t move into positions, which the opponent didn’t like, or couldn’t send accurate last passes. I’m not blaming the players. It is up to me and I have to think about how to show the players how to improve their playing quality. I learned that from today’s match.

MINEGISHI Keisuke (Zweigen Kanazawa)
I went for the penalty kick, which decided the game, because the kicker must have been either Motegi or me among today’s players. As OMACHI Shogo had earned the foul, I thought he’d like to take the shot, but he didn’t.

So I thought I would. We were under pressure to turn the game around. Having said that, I was quite confident. So I asked Motegi to let me, when he came towards the penalty spot. I was glad to score through a penalty kick and contribute to the team’s victory.

KIMURA Takahiro, Coach (FC Imabari)
I didn’t really expect that a player could possibly pick up injury during extra time, and we had to put up with a numerical disadvantage. Although we really didn’t want to lose the game, I thought of dragging the game into penalties. After all, our performance level wasn’t high enough. Every detail, including my assessment, was not enough. I feel really complicated and frustrated. 

NAGAO Yoshikimi (FC Imabari)
Although I felt positive about scoring goals, we lost the game conceding six goals in total. So we have to admit our current level. I know we must play without flinching whoever the opponent is. However, I felt nervous especially in the first half, as it was the first match in the Emperor's Cup. As I got used to the opponent’s speed and the atmosphere more in the second half, I wish I could do that from the beginning. 

The 95th Emperor's Cup All Japan Football Championship

Sat. 29 August 2015 - Fri. 1 January 2016

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