Review: Cerezo Osaka vs Shimizu S-Pulse (J1 MD3)

Thiago Andrade scores the winner after running onto a through ball from Jackson Irvine. Cerezo battle hard in the duels to make it back-to-back home wins.

Six days after their 0-3 defeat to Avispa Fukuoka in the previous match, Cerezo Osaka returned home to face Shimizu S-Pulse in Matchweek 3 of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League. There was one change to the starting XI from the Fukuoka game, with Jackson Irvine replacing Kosei Okazawa in defensive midfield to make his first J1 start.



Cerezo were initially attacked in behind on both sides, but quickly regained control of the game. In the 3rd minute, Shinji Kagawa switched play to the left after Solomon Sakuragawa held up the ball. Kagawa then made a run to the far side to meet Shunta Tanaka's cross. In the 8th minute, Yumeki Yokoyama picked up another lay-off from Sakuragawa, drove forward and delivered a cross. Six minutes later, Yokoyama carried the ball forward from just outside the penalty area before shooting. His sharp bursts forward got the stadium going. Cerezo dominated the opening 15 minutes, recording 57% possession, and in the 26th minute, the ball fell to Rikito Inoue as he moved in from the left towards the centre, but his shot narrowly missed the target. Their share of possession increased even further to 73% between the 15th and 30th minutes, but as manager Pablo Machin reflected, "In the first half, we lacked the ability to move forward after getting the ball to Solo (Sakuragawa), as well as the movement to get into deeper positions." Cerezo made few entries into the attacking third in the first half, with Inoue's effort the only shot they managed. Looking ahead to the second half, manager Pablo Machin made proactive substitutions, saying, "We wanted to increase the number of times we picked up the ball after playing it forward, made runs in behind, and broke through using combinations." Before the interval, however, Cerezo faced their biggest scare of the match in the 38th minute, when goalkeeper Kosuke Nakamura made a superb save to deny Oh Se-hun from a clear chance. Given the flow of the game, it proved to be a hugely important moment.





At the start of the second half, manager Pablo Machin brought on Yota Komi for Kagawa. "Their line was getting higher, so I brought on a fast player who could exploit the space in behind," he explained. The game began to open up, with Komi finding space in the right-side pocket and creating a chance early in the half. Then, in the 58th minute, Machin made another attacking change, replacing Yokoyama with Thiago Andrade. The move paid off immediately. In the 63rd minute, Cerezo took the lead. Sakuragawa challenged for Kosuke Nakamura's kick, and when the opposing defender cleared the resulting second ball, Tanaka reacted and used his body to win possession, before Jackson played a left-footed through ball into the space ahead. Thiago ran onto it, rounded the goalkeeper who had come off his line and, twisting his body, slotted the ball into the net with his left foot. With Shimizu pushing forward at this point, Cerezo caught them out brilliantly and scored. The goal also gave Cerezo a mental advantage, and they went on to dominate Shimizu at both ends of the pitch. In the 67th minute, Ohata unleashed a powerful long-range shot from a set-piece routine, while in the 82nd minute, Jackson finished off a move involving several players with a well-placed shot. Both efforts were denied by good saves from the Shimizu goalkeeper, but Cerezo continued to push eagerly for a second goal. Shimizu created more opportunities from set pieces late on, but Cerezo dealt with them firmly to close out the game. They kept their first clean sheet of the season and secured a 1-0 victory.





A week after their heavy defeat to Fukuoka, Inoue said, "The result last time was really disappointing, so we came into this game with a strong desire to get three points at home." Cerezo as a team won the battles for the ball, including their one-on-one duels. Jackson, meanwhile, made an outstanding home debut. He grew more impressive as the game went on, taking control of the game late in the match by winning the ball himself and playing it forward. "There were a lot of second balls and duels in my area today. I wanted to give the whole team momentum by winning those battles," Jackson said, bringing "energy" to the team. Early in the season, Cerezo secured an important victory to avoid back-to-back defeats and recorded their 350th J1 win.