Review: Cerezo Osaka vs Shimizu S-Pulse (J1 100 Year Vision League MD5)

In a penalty shootout reached after a 0-0 draw where chances went unconverted, Kosuke Nakamura makes a string of big saves, stopping two shots to bring the team two points.

Six days have passed since the away game against V-Varen Nagasaki. Cerezo Osaka returned home to face Shimizu S-Pulse for Matchday 5 of the Meiji Yasuda J1 100-Year Vision League Regional League Round. There were three changes to the starting lineup from the Nagasaki match, with Masaya Shibayama, Reiya Sakata, and Shinji Kagawa making way for Motohiko Nakajima, Yumeki Yokoyama, and Nelson Ishiwatari. Nakajima returned to the XI for the first time in four matches since the season opener, while Yokoyama and Ishiwatari made their first starts in the Meiji Yasuda J1 100 Year Vision League.



In the 1st minute, Shimizu’s Oh Se Hun created a focal point, leading to a cross from Capixaba on the left flank, but goalkeeper Kosuke Nakamura punched it away firmly. In the 2nd minute, Cerezo responded as Shinnosuke Hatanaka and Ishiwatari linked up to bypass the opposition, with Nakajima receiving the ball centrally and playing a through ball forward. Each team’s characteristics were clearly on display from the start. Nakajima continued to lead the attack thereafter; in the 8th minute, his powerful dribbling drew a yellow card from the opponent, and in the 21st minute, he carried the ball on a counter-attack to deliver a cross, creating a chance. While the match remained balanced for the first 30 minutes, Cerezo defended set-pieces with focus before intensifying their offensive after the half-hour mark. In the 31st minute, Thiago Andrade drew close to the goal after latching onto a Nakajima through ball, followed immediately by Yokoyama cutting in from the right to shoot. In the 38th minute, Solomon Sakuragawa met a cross from Thiago, who had broken into space on the left. A decisive chance arrived in the 42nd minute: Nakajima spread the play wide to the left, Thiago received it and cut the ball back, and Ayumu Ohata, having made an underlapping run, laid it off for Nakajima to fire a left-footed mid-range shot. Despite the well-worked move, the shot was saved by the goalkeeper. Although the deadlock remained, Cerezo gradually took control after the initial back-and-forth battle as the first half drew to a close.





Cerezo started the second half by continuing their momentum from the end of the first, pushing forward. In the 46th minute, Yokoyama drove vertically to deliver a cross that narrowly missed Sakuragawa. In the 47th minute, Thiago received a pass from Shunta Tanaka and dribbled forward to shoot. As each player showed aggression toward the goal, another big chance arrived in the 57th minute: Ishiwatari cleverly drew a pass from Dion Cools to find space and played a through ball to Nakajima running behind. Thiago met Nakajima’s cross from the opposite side with a header but failed to make solid contact. Defensively, every player put their body on the line in potentially dangerous situations, preventing Shimizu from registering a single shot on target. Desperate to find a goal at home, Cerezo made a double substitution in the 67th minute, bringing on Shion Homma and Sakata for Yokoyama and Thiago. By introducing fresh legs on both wings, they attempted to break through from the flanks. Shortly after in the 69th minute, Homma cut inside toward the center and spread the play to the right. A pinpoint cross to the near post from a high-positioned Dion Cools went untouched, but Nakajima picked up the loose ball on the far side and crossed again. After shifting the play from side to side, Sakata met it at the far post, only to see his header saved by the goalkeeper. In the 77th minute, Sakata broke through via a one-two with Tanaka to deliver a cross. With Nakajima at the near post and Homma at the far, he chose the near side, but the effort was blocked by a defender. It was a game where the opening goal remained elusive. Intensifying the attack by introducing Hinata Kida in the 82nd minute and Shibayama in the 87th, a decisive chance finally came in the 90th minute. Capitalizing on an opponent’s error, Sakata won the ball high up the pitch, and Sakuragawa carried it forward to play a final pass into the center. Shibayama, running in, faced a golden opportunity, but his shot from point-blank range went wide of the target. A last-gasp winner was not to be. Defensively, led by Rikito Inoue and Hatanaka, the team kept Oh Se Hun quiet and successfully limited Shimizu to zero shots on target until the final whistle.





The match proceeded to a penalty shootout, where Nakamura stopped the first attempt from Shimizu’s Capixaba with his foot. As Yodoko Sakura Stadium erupted over the goalkeeper’s big play, Cerezo’s first kicker, Tanaka, converted clinically. After Cools and Hatanaka also succeeded, the fourth kicker arrived. Nakamura produced another big save against Shimizu’s Kengo Kitazume. Shibayama then stepped up for the chance to win it, calmly slotting the ball into the opposite side of the goalkeeper to settle the contest. In terms of performance, while Hatanaka noted it was "a match we had to win in 90 minutes," the team secured its first home victory of the season. The hero, Nakamura, spoke modestly of his joy, saying, "I’m happy I could contribute to the team," while expressing his hunger for three points, adding, "I want to work toward delivering an even better result next time." The next match is away against Kyoto Sanga F.C. in six days. The team looks to defeat an opponent sitting three points above them and break into the upper tier of the Meiji Yasuda J1 100 Year Vision League West.