FC Ryukyu were able to secure their 6th win of the 2019 J2 season with a 2-1 victory over Albirex Niigata in front of a crowd of 5,100 this past Saturday night. FCR have now won 2 out of their last 3 matches and ended the 55-day drought for not having scored more than one goal in any match. The win kept FCR at 9th in the table, but more importantly, it pushed them 11 points clear of the relegation zone.
As we have come to expect, FC Ryukyu came out in their 4-2-3-1 and started out fast in this match. Albirex also came out in a 4-2-3-1 formation and opted to leave Leaonardo on the bench.
FCR earned a free kick just outside the 18-yard box in the 11th minute and Yu Tomidokoro delivered a quality strike that this squad has been missing for a long time. One of my FCR keys to victory in the preview article was that FCR needed to be more creative on set pieces. Well, they were, and were rewarded with an early goal. The ball took a slight deflection but nonetheless it went into the top right corner past the diving Albirex goal keeper.
FCR followed that nice FK with another quality take, this time by Kazama in the 26th minute. FCR nearly doubled their lead as Kazama’s shot went over the wall, and had Kazama taken the shot from about 1-2 meters farther back, we would’ve score but instead it hit the crossbar.
Albirex had some really good chances to equalize in the first half but once again, Danny Carvajal stepped up to keep the score line 1-0. At the break, each side had taken 5 shots with 3 of them finding their way on net. Ryukyu’s third chance came from Keita Tanaka who made a nice run down the right side and surprised the Niigata keeper as I believe he was expecting a cross and not a shot from that angle and distance.
The second half saw Albirex applying some serious pressure on the FCR net for about 15 minutes. Albirex had a couple of chances early on but it wasn’t until the last 10 minutes of the match when they really turned up the heat. You could sense a goal was coming from Albirex, at least from where I was sitting in the stadium, and another key to FCR victory was to not lose focus during moments like these in the match. FCR deserves some credit here as they did maintain their focus and the Albirex equalizer in the 83rd minute was well deserved stemming from their hard work and determination. We have seen in the past when the set piece is initially defended, FCR can sometimes lose their defensive shape and positioning during the chaos and thus create gaps and opportunities for opponents to exploit. It was no different on the Albirex goal as an attempted clearing by FCR landed at the feet of an Albirex player who had the space to dribble past the outside of the FCR defense and put a low hard shot on net that Carvajal had to quickly drop down to the ground and parry away from danger. Unfortunately for FCR, this type of shot is not easily corralled by goal keepers and even though Danny did quite well to stop that hard shot from that distance, the resulting rebound found Albirex’s Leonardo, who was rushing the net and he slotted home the equalizer.
Two points about the goal. First, it was just one of the plays that happens in football from time to time and is not a reflection for how FCR were defending all game. Most of Albirex’s chances came from distances outside the 18-yard box and had the ball been deflected a meter to the left or right, an FCR defender would’ve been able to clear it away from danger. Second, I wish FCR would take more shots like this during matches as they are extremely effective. Low hard shots that force a goal keeper to drop down always have a good chance of seeing a rebound come back into the box for a player to get on the end of and score. I hope the FCR attacking forwards, primarily Tanaka and Tomidokoro, will try these types of shots in the future (similar to how Tanaka scored against Omiya in week 2).
FCR were lucky not to concede again after the first Albirex goal as they had another quality chance on net shortly after their first goal. Now, FCR could’ve packed it in and brought on an extra defender to see out the draw but instead they opted to take a chance and go for the win by bringing on Uehara in the 85th minute. Uehara was on the pitch for only about 60 seconds before a very nice long cross from Nishioka found the rising Uehara in the box, who then headed it home to put FCR in front 2-1 with only about 5 minutes and stoppage time to play.
It was a massive relief to see FCR finally score a second goal in a game as it has been so long since they’ve accomplished that feat. The stadium erupted and hope for an FCR victory was restored. FCR saw out the remainder of the match and earned a vital 3 points.
Match Takeaways:
1.) Finally allowing Yu to take some FKs. In one of my earliest blog entries I stated that Yu wouldn’t be the top goal scorer for FCR but he would score some of the most important goals for this team. Case in point this week from his FK. Tomidokoro’s confidence should start growing each week with each FK and I hope the staff continues to allow him these opportunities.
2.) This was the second time in as many matches that Higuchi brought on Uehara and his presence offers a lot of upside for the FCR attack. He could provide the hold up play later in games that Suzuki has been doing so well this season and allow Suzuki to push forward in the attack. Also, he can provide a large target to aim at from our full backs and Mid fielders who are sending crosses into the box. His height means crosses do not need to be pin-point accurate and only need not be floated near where the GK can come out and pluck it out of the air.
3.) Whatever was done on the training ground certainly paid off for FCR this week and even though FCR didn’t score from a corner kick, they were at least creative on set pieces.
4.) FCR didn’t lose their concentration in the match but were under some serious pressure in the second half. One of these days FCR will be able to hit a team on the quick counter while under this pressure and it will certainly tip the match in their favor, but in the meantime, FCR needs to find ways to slow the match down when the opponent is playing with their tails up and hunting for a goal.
FCR travels to Tokyo next week to take on a Yokohama FC side at the NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Stadium who are fresh off a 2-1 loss to Kofu. I’ve been to this stadium before for a F. Marinos game and it is an awesome stadium to watch football so enjoy it for those planning on attending.
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