Review: Vissel Kobe vs Cerezo Osaka (J1 MD4)

Cerezo Osaka lose 0-1 away to Vissel Kobe, unable to finish their chances as a penalty proves decisive.

Six days after their 1-0 victory over Shimizu S-Pulse in the previous match and two days after their 3-1 win over FC Gifu in the second round of the Emperor’s Cup, Cerezo Osaka faced the third game of a five-match run in all competitions, traveling to face Vissel Kobe in Matchweek 4 of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League. There were nine changes to the starting XI from the Emperor’s Cup game. Dion Cools retained his place in the starting lineup, while Yota Komi, who scored twice against Gifu, started as the right attacking midfielder for his first league start since joining Cerezo.



Cerezo came under pressure from Kobe early on, but began to push back in the 5th minute when Solomon Sakuragawa got in behind after receiving a long ball from Takumi Nakamura. Cerezo created a clear chance in the 12th minute. Cools switched play to the left, where Ayumu Ohata received the ball before Komi combined with Yumeki Yokoyama on a one-two to enter the penalty area. Komi worked his way into a good position and went one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but his shot toward the near post was saved. Cerezo continued to threaten using the width of the field, but could not turn their attacks into shots. In the 20th minute, a misplaced pass in their own half allowed Kobe to launch a counterattack, giving Cerezo a scare. Kobe created another clear chance from a corner in the 23rd minute, but Nanasei Iino’s shot hit the post, and Cools cleared the rebound to prevent a goal. In the 33rd minute, Yokoyama received a pass from Jackson Irvine and found space on the side before crossing, while in the 42nd minute, Takumi Nakamura did the same after receiving a pass from Shinnosuke Hatanaka. Neither cross, however, found a Cerezo player in the middle. Cerezo could not break the deadlock, but they held their own in the duels that the manager had identified as a key point before the match, and the teams went into halftime level.





As in the first half, Cerezo came under pressure from Kobe at the start of the second half. In the 47th minute, goalkeeper Kosuke Nakamura made a good save to deny Yosuke Ideguchi from a tight angle. Nakamura also dealt with the final shot from a Kobe counterattack in the 51st minute. Cerezo gradually began to push into Kobe’s half, and in the 53rd minute, Komi met Takumi Nakamura’s cross with a header after receiving a pass from Rikito Inoue. Cerezo then created a clear chance in the 60th minute. Inoue again started the move, with the ball moving quickly through Yokoyama and Sakuragawa before Komi received Sakuragawa’s lay-off and sent a cross into the middle. Sakuragawa finished the move with a header, but Kobe goalkeeper Daiya Maekawa made a good save. In the 61st minute, Sakuragawa had another chance from a corner won after Yokoyama drove forward, but his header went over the crossbar. In the 65th minute, manager Pablo Machin brought on Thiago Andrade, looking to make the most of what he saw as a crucial moment and take the lead. However, in the 67th minute, VAR intervened after Thiago was judged to have stopped Gotoku Sakai’s shot with his hand inside Cerezo’s penalty area. Following an on-field review by the referee, a penalty was awarded, and Ren Komatsu converted in the 71st minute to put Kobe ahead. Cerezo then chased the game, bringing on Lucas Fernandes in the 73rd minute, followed by Shinji Kagawa and Pablo Sabbag in the 81st. In the 82nd minute, Sabbag got in behind after receiving Jackson’s pass and played the ball to Thiago in the middle. Thiago found the bottom-right corner, but the goal was ruled out because Sabbag was just offside. In the 86th minute, Thiago met Lucas’ cross after Lucas received a pass from Kagawa, but his effort was saved by the goalkeeper. Cerezo limited Kobe to one goal thanks in part to several more good saves from Kosuke Nakamura, but could not find an equalizer and narrowly lost 0-1. They were unable to make it back-to-back league wins and dropped to 10th in the standings.





After the match, Tanaka said, “We won’t be able to move up the table unless we win games like this.” He nevertheless turned his attention to the next game against Kashiwa Reysol, which comes just three days later. “We need to be tougher as a team, and another game is coming up soon. We have a run of home games, so we don’t want to dwell on this result. We need to come together, get the win, and aim higher.” Kashiwa, who sit at the top of the table after winning their first four games, will be a tough opponent. But at home, where Cerezo have won three straight games in all competitions this season, they will look to bounce back from this defeat by taking down the league leaders.