Review: V-Varen Nagasaki vs Cerezo Osaka (J1 MD8)

A half-step forward after the heavy defeat last time out: Cerezo Osaka come from behind to draw with V-Varen Nagasaki through a Lucas Fernandes goal and earn their first away point of the season.

Six days after their heavy 1-6 defeat to Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Cerezo Osaka traveled to face V-Varen Nagasaki in Matchweek 8 of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League. Coming off that lopsided loss, the question was how Cerezo would make adjustments and show that they had bounced back. There were two changes to the starting lineup from the previous match. Ayumu Ohata returned at left wingback, while Kosei Okazawa made his first start in six games, since Matchweek 2 against Avispa Fukuoka.



Cerezo had faced danger from the opening minutes in the previous match. “We lacked concentration at the start of the last game. I asked the team to make that our first priority,” manager Pablo Machin said after the match. This time, Cerezo maintained possession, transitioned quickly from attack to defense, and pushed into the opposition half. In the 5th minute, Hayato Okuda got in behind on the right after receiving a pass from Lucas Fernandes, creating a clear chance, but after cutting back onto his left foot, his shot went just wide. In the 13th minute, Lucas fired a shot after a defender cleared Dion Cools’ cross, threatening the Nagasaki goal. In the 16th minute, Cerezo suffered an injury setback when Shinnosuke Hatanaka hurt the back of his thigh. Javi Hernandez came on in his place, with Rikito Inoue moving into the center of the back three. Even so, Cerezo’s momentum did not change. In the 22nd minute, Solomon Sakuragawa brought down a pass from Hernandez, who took up a position on the left side of the back three, and Cerezo advanced from there. After building a layered attack, Inoue won the ball high up the pitch and sent it straight forward to the front line, where Okazawa shot after Okuda laid it off. Okazawa, starting as one of the attacking midfielders in this match, continued to look for chances aggressively. Along with improving how they started the game, another area of focus was “risk management,” according to manager Pablo Machin. In this match, Jackson Irvine held his position firmly in the center of the pitch, closing down space and preventing Nagasaki’s second line from establishing a foothold. Cerezo did not allow Nagasaki to create any effective attacks. However, while controlling the match in their own rhythm in both attack and defense, Cerezo conceded in the 34th minute. Matheus Jesus received the ball in a deep position, laid it off to Thiago Santana up front, and then ran forward. Cerezo could not stop Santana completely and allowed a one-two, then failed to track Jesus as he broke into the space behind the defense. He went one-on-one with the goalkeeper and finished with a looping shot. “We defended while understanding their strengths, but one of those strengths led to the goal,” the manager said. It was precisely the strength Cerezo had been aware of, but they were unable to stop it. In the 43rd minute, Jesus struck the post with a shot from distance. Cerezo created a chance immediately afterward. Building a powerful attack from the right, Okazawa shot after receiving Jackson’s layoff. In first-half stoppage time, Cerezo won the ball high up the field and launched a quick counterattack, with Shunta Tanaka turning and shooting. Both were big chances, but Cerezo could not finish them and went into halftime one goal down.





Cerezo continued to attack from the start of the second half. In the 47th minute, they broke down the right side, with Okazawa shooting after receiving a pass from Lucas. Shortly afterward, Cerezo won a penalty when an opposing defender’s tackle caught Okazawa on the ankle. In the 51st minute, Lucas calmly converted into the bottom-right corner to equalize. For Lucas, it was a welcome first league goal since returning from injury. This was also the first time since his return from injury that he had started two consecutive matches. “I’m feeling better and better,” he said, as he led Cerezo’s attacks down the right alongside Cools and Okuda. As the match progressed, more space began to open up on the pitch, and both teams created chances from counterattacks and set pieces. In the 63rd minute, Jackson met Lucas’ corner with a header that looked destined to score, but it went over the crossbar. In the 81st minute, a shot from substitute Thiago Andrade deflected off a defender and bounced forward, creating a chance for Ohata, who had followed up. However, his right-footed effort was denied by an excellent save from the Nagasaki goalkeeper. Cerezo could not find a go-ahead goal, while they continued to put their bodies on the line defensively, blocking Nagasaki’s shots until the end. In second-half stoppage time, Kosuke Nakamura made a superb save to deny a clear chance, and the match ended 1-1. Cerezo desperately wanted a win to erase the memory of the previous match’s heavy defeat. Still, after falling behind away from home and fighting back to earn a point, they will look to take the positives from the result.





After the match, captain Shunta Tanaka said, “If we want to move up the table, we have to win games. I’m more frustrated that we couldn’t take all three points.” Regarding Cerezo’s difficulty in increasing their goal tally, he remained positive: “I don’t think we’ll score more goals from open play unless the whole team can work on things in more detail. With this break in league action, I want the entire team to get on the same page.” The league will now enter a three-week break for the international window. Jackson and Cools will leave the team to join their respective national teams, but Cerezo will look to sharpen their attacking patterns ahead of their next official match, the September 29 J.League YBC Levain Cup second-round fixture against Fujieda MYFC.