East Asia Japan

J1 Matchweek 10 Recap: F. Marinos Triumph in “Thai Derby” as Sagan Snaps Nagoya’s Unbeaten Run

A frantic last 10 minutes saw Yokohama F. Marinos mounting a comeback away at Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo while Nagoya Grampus lose both their clean-sheet streak and their unbeaten record at the hands of Sagan Tosu. Those were the highlights of last weekend’s 2021 J.League 1 Matchweek 10 action, played across Friday to Sunday, which also saw league leaders Kawasaki Frontale being held to a draw by Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Avispa Fukuoka stunning FC Tokyo at the Best Denki Stadium, and Kashima Antlers starting life without sacked head coach Antonio Carlos Zago with a win away at Tokushima Vortis.

Matchweek 10 kicked-off on Friday with the “Thai Derby” between Chanathip Songkrasin’s Consadole and Theerathon Bunmathan’s Yokohama at the Sapporo Dome, although Theerathon did not make his bow in the match until the 81st minute. After a goalless first half, Consadole took the lead through Anderson Lopes in the 47th minute and the Northerners were set to defend their slender lead all the way into full-time. However, the last 10 minutes of the tie saw Ange Postecoglou’s Yokohama side mounting an incredible turnaround, which was started after Ado Onaiwu landed an 80th minute equalizer. Two minutes later Daizen Maeda gave Yokohama the lead, before Elber landed the killing blow to ensure a 3-1 win for Yokohama with the last kick of the match.

Saturday’s Matchweek 10 action saw FC Tokyo traveling down to Fukuoka to take on hosts Avispa, with the Gasmen determined to not let the disappointment of Matchweek 9’s Tamagawa Clasico defeat at the hands of Kawasaki linger on for too long. However, instead of three points, Kenta Hasegawa’s men were given their second consecutive defeat after Bruno Mendes rifled home in the 58th minute to earn Avispa the 1-0 win.

Othe results on Saturday saw Oita Trinita beaten 1-0 at home by Kashiwa Reysol, marking the latest chapter in the Turtles’ wretched run of form that saw them lose six consecutive times in the league with Oita failing to score a goal in their past four matches. Bottom two sides Yokohama FC and Vegalta Sendai played out an exciting 2-2 draw at the NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Stadium, with Vegalta stealing away a point thanks to Kyohei Yoshino’s equalizer one minute into injury time.

Shonan Bellmare and Vissel Kobe played out a goalless draw at the Shonan BMW Stadium Hiratsuka, while Kashima travel to Tokushima in their first match after sacking head coach Zago. The Brazilian bit the bullet last Wednesday after a barren run of form saw Kashima stranded in 15th place in the league table. Assistant coach Naoki Soma received a promotion to head coach and oversaw the Antlers at the Pocari Sweat Stadium, with the away side winning 1-0 thanks to Koki Machida’s 31st minute effort.

Nagoya came to Sunday’s showdown against Tosu at the Toyota Stadium with a 10-match unbeaten streak and goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak etching a relentless 9-match clean sheet run. However it took Daichi Hayashi only 6 minutes to throw Langerak’s impeccable record out of the window, taking advantage of a Noriyoshi Sakai cross to head home the opener for Tosu. The Kyushu-based side then doubled their lead just before half-time after Sakai turned from provider to scorer with a thunderous volley from outside the penalty area. Sho Inagaki pulled one back for the hosts in the 85th minute however it was too little too late as Tosu left Aichi Prefecture with a 2-1 victory to their name.

At the Todoroki Athletics Stadium, Akihiro Ienaga gave defending champions Kawasaki the lead in the 38th minute, however Tsukasa Morishima thwarted the hosts’ three points with the equalizer in the 65th minute, ensuring that Sanfrecce would leave the Todoroki with a single point thanks to the 1-1 draw.

Wrapping up Matchweek 10 were Cerezo Osaka’s 1-0 win over Urawa Red Diamonds at the Nagai Stadium and Gamba Osaka’s goalless draw with Shimizu S-Pulse at the Panasonic Stadium Suita.