Review: Kashima Antlers vs Cerezo Osaka (J1 MD13)

With little improvement in their first-half performances, Cerezo continue to concede avoidable goals and suffer a heavy defeat away to Kashima. The next match, the Osaka Derby, will be their biggest test of the season.

Just two days after their J.League Yamazaki Biscuits Levain Cup 1st Round 4th Match against Mito Hollyhock, Cerezo Osaka returned to league action, taking on Kashima Antlers away from home in Meiji Yasuda J1 League Matchweek 13. It was the second consecutive away match for Cerezo.



Cerezo made eight changes to their starting lineup from the Mito match. They created the first chance of the game in the 3rd minute. Shinji Kagawa played a pass to Lucas Fernandes, who got into the space on the right flank and sent in a cross. Yota Komi met it in the middle, but his shot was blocked by a defender. In the 5th minute, Komi carried the ball forward on a counterattack, and Pablo Sabbag finished the move with a shot. It was a promising start, but from around the five-minute mark, Kashima began to dominate possession and forced Cerezo’s defensive line deeper. Kashima found ways to build attacks down both flanks and threatened with crosses. In the 14th minute, they exploited the space behind Rikito Inoue as he moved forward to win the ball in the center, and scored. Travis Takahashi and Dion Cools were unable to provide cover in time, as Kashima took advantage of a gap in Cerezo’s back three. In the 21st minute, Kagawa suffered an ankle injury and had to be substituted, with Kosei Okazawa coming on at short notice. Immediately afterward, Kashima scored their second goal from a corner. Yuma Suzuki headed the ball back across from the far post, allowing Elber to score again. The problems Cerezo had shown in the first half against Yokohama F. Marinos in Matchweek 9 remained unresolved, and once again they found themselves in trouble after conceding two goals in quick succession. Even so, they pulled one back in the 25th minute. Cerezo played their way out of Kashima’s press and switched the attack to the left. Ayumu Ohata passed to Okazawa, who found Lucas on the right. Lucas then delivered a pinpoint cross into the middle, where Sabbag headed the ball into the net. It was an excellent goal, created through well-spaced passing and by moving the opposition from side to side. However, Cerezo were unable to build on it, and their attacks remained isolated. In the 36th minute, they conceded a third goal. Kashima took a quick throw-in in Cerezo’s half, and Matheus Bueno fired a powerful long-range shot into the net. Although possession was evenly shared in the first half, Cerezo conceded three goals after their defensive organization broke down across the team. The severity of their current situation was laid bare.





Cerezo made no changes at halftime, but the second half began with a succession of dangerous situations. Kashima created chance after chance, but Cerezo somehow managed to avoid conceding again. In the 60th minute, they made a double substitution, bringing on Solomon Sakuragawa and Satoki Uejo for Lucas and Komi. Cerezo switched to a 3-5-2 formation to add more attacking presence, with Shunta Tanaka as the holding midfielder, Uejo and Okazawa as attacking midfielders, and Sabbag and Sakuragawa up front. Even so, they could not turn the momentum around and went through another spell without managing a shot. In the 70th minute, with the team pushing forward, Kashima exploited the space behind the defense and allowed substitute Cavric to run through on goal unchallenged. He scored Kashima’s fourth, making an already difficult match even harder. In the 76th minute, Yumeki Yokoyama came on after his fitness had been in doubt following the ankle injury he sustained against Mito. Yokoyama had scored a dramatic equalizer in the 90+8th minute against JEF United Chiba in the previous match, but this time he was tightly marked and given no opportunity to turn and face goal. Cerezo did create a clear chance in stoppage time, but the shot went wide. Immediately afterward, Okazawa got in behind the defense to create another opportunity, but Cerezo could not convert, and his shot was saved by the goalkeeper. The match ended 1-4. It was a difficult 90 minutes from start to finish for Cerezo, who suffered a heavy defeat away to Kashima.





Cerezo have now gone eight league matches without a win, and their performances are showing little signs of improvement. “We conceded the opening goal, so that’s something we need to reflect on. We keep making the same mistakes, and unless we, as a team, learn from them, we’ll never win,” Tanaka said, looking grim as he reviewed the match. Inoue voiced an even stronger sense of urgency. “Quite simply, we have to fight harder. This turned into a match where that determination wasn’t visible. That’s why we lose the individual battles and concede at crucial moments. I really felt that today. If we keep putting in performances like this, we’ll genuinely be relegated. Unless everyone, myself included, approaches things with a much greater sense of urgency, the team won’t change.” Cerezo now face the biggest test of their season: the Osaka Derby against Gamba Osaka. “The derby is not just another match. We need to put all our pride and determination as footballers into the coming week, fight with everything we have, and get the three points. I want us to play in a way that will allow us to look back and say this was where we turned things around,” Tanaka said. It will be a week that tests the resolve of everyone at the club: the manager, coaches, staff, and players.