Football Japan Minutecast No. 2 – Early strikes pile pressure on Kashima
16 March 2009
Kashima
Antlers’ bid to achieve an unprecedented third consecutive J League title took
an early blow yesterday when they went down to a shock 2-1 defeat away to
unfancied Albirex Niigata. After goals in the opening 12 minutes from Kisho
Yano and Pedro Junior, a shell-shocked Kashima struggled to come to terms with
their hosts throughout the first half, and Daiki Iwamasa’s strike in second
half stoppage time came too late to serve as anything but mere consolation.
Having
comfortably beaten title rivals Gamba Osaka in the Fuji Xerox Super Cup and
Urawa Reds on the opening day in the league, the Antlers had looked the team to
beat this season, but a crushing 4-1 defeat to Suwon Bluewings in the AFC
Champions League last Wednesday seems to have destroyed their air of
invincibility. Albirex, meanwhile, go second in the embryonic J1 table after
two wins from their first two games.
Gamba are
the only other team with a 100% record so far after they dispatched Jubilo
Iwata 4-1 in a tale of three penalties at Banpaku. Yasuhito Endo kept his nerve
on two occasions, either side of a Gilsinho spot kick that had briefly given
Jubilo some hope, and further strikes from Park Dong-Hyuk and Leandro helped
Gamba record a three-goal winning margin for the third match in a row. Iwata
remain rooted at the bottom, having now conceded ten goals in just two games.
Elsewhere, Montedio
Yamagata kept up their fine start to their debut season in J1 with a 0-0 draw
at home to title contenders Nagoya Grampus, but there was less fortune for
fellow promoted side Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who lost 3-2 at home to Omiya Ardija.
Oita Trinita and Urawa Reds got off the mark with wins over Kyoto Sanga and FC
Tokyo, but defeat in Kobe for Kawasaki Frontale leaves last season’s runners-up
with just one point so far.
Shimizu
S-Pulse played out a 0-0 draw with Yokohama F Marinos, while honours were
shared as Kashiwa Reysol and JEF United drew 1-1 in the season’s first Chiba
derby.
J1
results (matchday 2)
Oita
Trinita 1-0 Kyoto Sanga
Urawa Reds
3-1 FC Tokyo
Vissel Kobe
2-1 Kawasaki Frontale
Kashiwa
Reysol 1-1 JEF United Chiba
Shimizu
S-Pulse 0-0 Yokohama F Marinos
Montedio
Yamagata 0-0 Nagoya Grampus
Gamba Osaka
4-1 Jubilo Iwata
Albirex
Niigata 2-1 Kashima Antlers
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-3 Omiya Ardija
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