FCRs first match of 3 in 8 days was another tightly contested battle that required a late goal by Koji Suzuki to secure a point. On a day that saw FCR dominate the possession, as well as the shots on net, FCR were unable to come away with the full 3 points.
FCR came out in their typical 4-2-3-1 with one notable change up front. Uejo started in the CAM role and Tomidokoro started out wide as he did earlier this season. Unfortunately for FCR, Renfofa employed the same CB paring from their last match that limited the freedom of movement in the back that so many of Renofa’s earlier opponents enjoyed.
Once again, the first 15 minutes of this match saw FCR starting slowly and affording Renofa all the early opportunities to take the lead. FCRs best chance in the opening half happened in the 18th minute when Uejo was set loose from a pass by Tanaka but he couldn’t get it past the GK while getting closed down by the Renofa DF.
FCR started the second half quickly by creating multiple chances on net followed by the opening goal of the game in the 52nd minute. This was the 6th time this season, and 6th in a row, that FCR scored first. The play started with Uesato sending a cross field pass to Nishioka, who then did a very nice step over to get past the Renofa defense, and then sent a cross into the box. The cross landed near Tomidokoro, whose shot was deflected by the Renofa Defense but eventually ended up on the head of Suzuki. There have been multiple occasions this year when FCR was on the wrong end of deflected crosses/shots and it was nice to see us capitalize on the misfortunes of our opponent. This joyful feeling would be short lived as Renofa quickly equalized.
Just 4 minutes later Carvajal had a momentary lapse in judgement and casually turned the ball over to a Renofa FWD while attempting to fool the Renofa player,instead of clearing it. The Renofa player easily slotted it home in a wide-open net. In America, this would be called a “brain fart.” Renofa was able to add to their lead 2 minutes later when Nishioka made a horrible giveaway in the MF and then followed that up by failing to track the run of the Renofa FWD who was able to get past him and put a header past Carvajal. This would be the first time all season that FCR would be forced to play from a deficit.
Uejo nearly tied the match in the 66th minute when a fortuitous bounce landed at his feet with only the Renofa defender on the line to beat for an equalizer. However, his shot went right to a defender and FCR was still down 2-1 requiring the boys to press for a goal.
When your football team is forced to play from behind, you always hope that the team has the ability to score. This is hardly the case with several teams in the J2 this year, and is a massive strength for the FCR team. I know that no matter what, FCR has the firepower and skill, to press for goals when called upon. This will inevitably lead to some matches where FCR will over commit and get caught out but also allow FCR to grab a late equalizers and winners. This could be considered the “Razors Edge.”
Strangely enough the coach opted to sub out Tanaka (70’), Uejo (76’) and Tomidokoro (88’) prior to the equalizer. This indicates to me that the JEF United match may see these guys as short-lived starters or late subs so as to save their energy for Kashiwa. Either way, Koji Suzuki’s second goal of the match, and 8th on the season, was an absolute gem.
Kawai, who came on for Tanaka, sent a beautiful cross into the box that Suzuki was able to run under and then put a header past the Renofa GK. This was definitely considered a “strikers’ goal” and was so massive for the squad and the 3,800 people that showed up for the match. From them on, Carvajal was called upon to make several nice saves to keep the draw intact.
Match Takeaways: FCR came close to taking the lead on several occasions but couldn’t capitalize. FCR also had some serious lapses in judgement when it came to defending and passing. Carvajal was guilty of the first blunder but Nishioka was very culpable on the second goal. If FCR wishes to do anything, mental errors need to be squashed as we need every single point we can get.
Looking back to my match preview article I hinted at a few keys for this game: 1. Suzuki should feast, and did with 2 goals! 2. FCR should control the MF and they did with 60% possession. 3.) The Renofa GK has an injury that FCR should exploit. FCR did not exploit as much as I was anticipating. 4.) This could be a trap game for FCR and it was. No doubt we should’ve taken 3 points so we are only left to wonder what could have been.
Well I hope the boys are already on mainland Japan and getting some rest for the quickly approaching fixture vs JEF. I am very interested in the starting lineup next match and will put this out there for any followers. If you predict the starting lineup with greater accuracy than me, I’ll make a $100.00 donation in your name to a charity of your choice. There are 11 players you need to select correctly on a short week so choose wisely. I’ll provide mine on Monday with the JEF match preview so please DM me on Twitter or post to this blog.
See you in a few days.
ryukyuarmy.com 