Krishna Sadhana
Football Tribe SEA Editor
This week’s J.League 1 action went into full swing on Tuesday, October 29th as Urawa Red Diamonds played out their Matchweek 31 match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima at the Hiroshima Big Arch, which was played earlier due to Urawa’s qualification to the 2019 AFC Champions League final. Taking on the league’s 4th placed side, Urawa showed the same determination that they had in their continental matches and took the lead in the 75th minute thanks to Takuya Iwanami. However, all hopes for an Urawa victory were dashed in the 88th minute after Daiki Hashioka scored past his own keeper, with the own-goal equalizing the score. The match ended 1-1, and while the solitary point meant that Sanfrecce would remain 4th, the draw meant a lot for Urawa as it brought them up to 9th place, a relief in their battle to stave off relegation. They are now 5 points clear off Shonan Bellmare in the relegation play-off zone, and should they win their next match and other results elsewhere go their way, Urawa’s relegation woes are as good as over.
Except that it won’t be easy for Urawa as the Saitama-based side face the challenge of league leaders Kashima Antlers at the Kashima Soccer Stadium on the night of Friday, November 1st. The Urawa-Kashima match will kick-off proceedings in J1’s Matchweek 30, as Kashima are eager for all three points in order to distance themselves from 2nd placed FC Tokyo, having allowed their capital-based rivals to bridge the gap by drawing 1-1 against relegation-battling Matsumoto Yamaga on Matchweek 29 last week. Urawa head coach Tsuyoshi Otsuki will have to rotate his squad as his side will face a number of crunch ties that will decide both their domestic and continental fates – after the Kashima match, Urawa will take on another top-half side in defending champions Kawasaki Frontale on Tuesday, November 5th, before flying out to Riyadh to take on Saudi giants Al-Hilal in the 1st leg of the ACL final five days afterwards. Having played Sanfrecce only days earlier, fatigue is definitely going to affect Urawa, so Tsuyoshi will be expected to do some inevitable rotation to his team for the Kashima match.
On Saturday, November 2nd, Matchweek 30 continues with 7 matches, with a clash of titans between Kawasaki and Sanfrecce at the Todoroki Stadium, with hosts Kawasaki eager to build on their momentum from winning the 2019 J.League Cup title. FC Tokyo are also playing on Saturday, visiting the Showa Denko Dome to take on this season’s overachievers Oita Trinita. With only 5 points separating Oita on 7th and Kawasaki on 6th, the newly-promoted side are eager to cement themselves on the top half of the table, and would happily put a wrench in FC Tokyo’s title charge in doing so. Saturday’s other matches see star-studded Vissel Kobe taking on Vegalta Sendai at the Misaki Park Stadium, Sagan Tosu continuing their relegation battle by taking on the tough challenge of Yokohama F. Marinos at the Ekimae Real Estate Stadium, Cerezo Osaka facing-off against Matsumoto at the Kincho Stadium, a now Chanathip Songkrasin-enforced Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo out to shake off their J.League Cup final defeat blues by going up against Nagoya Grampus at the Sapporo Dome, and last but not least, the latest edition of the Shizuoka Derby as Shimizu S-Pulse takes on prefectural rivals Jubilo Iwata at the IAI Stadium Nihondaira. The last edition of the Shizuoka Derby saw Shimizu beating Jubilo on penalties in a classic Emperor’s Cup encounter last month, and Jubilo are eager to avenge that painful defeat in order to not only claim prefectural bragging rights, but also keep their slim hopes of J1 survival intact.
Sunday’s only Matchweek 30 match will have crisis club Shonan hosting Gamba Osaka at the Shonan BMW Stadium Hiratsuka, with the hosts looking to end their rot in form in order to escape the relegation play-off zone. Shonan had lost 4 of their last 5 matches with those 4 losses coming in 4 consecutive matches and with 10th placed Gamba looking to consolidate themselves in mid-table, things are not looking easy for the Hiratsuka-based club. Shonan’s defense had conceded an astonishing 17 goals in their last 5 matches and Gamba’s attackers should have a field day in this match should things go the Suita-based side’s way.