Intro
The first round of the J1/J2 playoffs concluded this past Sunday with both Montedio Yamagata and Tokushima Vortis advancing to the second round. This was contrary to my predictions of Kofu and Omiya advancing, but anybody that regularly reads my blog knows that my match predictions are not that accurate.
For those relatively unfamiliar with the J1/J2 playoff system, it heavily favors the home side in any match. The home side merely has to earn a draw to advance, and as Jordy Buijs so accurately said in his postgame interview, it requires the away team to score at least 2 goals which is never an easy task. With that in mind, it is easy to see why the away team must come out on the front foot and try and score early and often. And why the home team never is out of the match despite a goal disadvantage. A draw is as good as a win in this format. With that, below is a brief summary of the matches and a look ahead to the second round.
#3 Omiya Ardija vs #6 Montedio Yamagata
Omiya entered the match having lost only 3 times at home all season while conceding only 2 goals to their opponents during their last 5 home games. Montedio on the other hand, lost 4 out of the final 10 road games and were conceding at nearly the same rate they were scoring as the visitors. However, there were some visible cracks to the Omiya side as they had only scored 1 goal from open play, the other being an own goal, over their final 3 matches. Meaning, the Omiya attack had dried up and was failing to fire at the worst possible time.
As noted in the introduction, Montedio came out strong and were generating a majority of the goal scoring chances. You wouldn’t know that from the limited highlights on DAZN but Montedio looked like they were going to crack the Omiya defense early. In fact, they should’ve received a dead ball kick from just outside the 18-yard box when the Omiya defender blocked a shot with his arm. However, the call wasn’t given and the half ended with a 0-0 scoreline. What seemed interesting about this half was that Simovic was creating all sorts of problems for the Monetedio defenders but he was not paired up top with Delgado. In fact, Delgado came on in place of Simovic after half time since Simovic had picked up a yellow card. Maybe that was a smart move on behalf of the Omiya manager, Takagi, as we’ll see later from the Kofu match.
Both sides traded some goal scoring chances for the first 25 minutes before the real fireworks took place. I couldn’t tell from the replay if it was #23 or #27 who sent the cross in from a CK but in any case, the cross ended up being sent to the back of the net by #18 of Omiya, Ippei Shinozuka, for an own goal. Now, Omiya, specifically Delgado, began to argue that it was a clear-cut case of off sides. However, the refereeing crew got the call correct in that the Montedio FW didn’t make contact with the ball as it was entering the net or interfere with play. In fact, he did really well to lay off it and let the ball roll past the keeper. Delgado was visibly upset that the offside call wasn’t given and then stupidly bumped into the referee. The ref was then forced to issue a yellow card and this was probably not what Takagi was hoping for when he made the early substitution for Simovic. However, Omiya still had 15 minutes plus stoppage time to level the match and advance.
Unfortunately for Omiya that goal would never come and instead they were shell-shocked from a second goal by Montedio 9 minutes later. A perfectly weighted and placed cross from Yanagi to the deep corner of the box found Yamada who then headed the cross back across the mouth of goal where Yamagishi had made a nice run between the Omiya defenders. Yamagishi slotted home the second goal for Yamagata and it was visible across the faces of most of the Omiya players that they had could offer no response to get back in the match.
Final Score Montedio Yamagata 2-0 Omiya Ardija.
Yamagata are marching on to face Tokushima while Omiya were left pondering where it all went so wrong. Omiya were earmarked by many to not only be promoted to J1 at the start of the season, but to advance through these playoffs and face the 16th placed J1 side in 2 weeks. Well that isn’t going to happen and after reading a lot of the Twitter posts from the Omiya supporters, it seems that it is time to clean house and start anew for 2020.
#4 Tokushima Vortis vs #5 Ventforet Kofu
This was billed as the most enticing match up of the opening playoff fixtures as it pitted two very strong sides against one another. Each had overwhelming strengths when it came to winning at home, or on the road in the case of Kofu, as well as scoring goals and preventing their opponent from scoring. In the match preview I had picked Kofu to advance because I am a strong proponent for those teams that have displayed the ability to win against tougher opponents on the road. Maybe that is my inner NFL fan emerging but it is a key factor come playoff time and I certainly thought Kofu could do the job this Sunday.
This was a feisty affair with both sides committing bookable, and hard, offenses early and often. However, it was Kofu that was picking up the yellow cards as none of the Vortis players were booked. As an outsider, it looked a bit harsh that the referee was only issuing the cards to Kofu as Vortis were certainly guilty of a yellow card on one occasion. Kofu had picked up an astounding 3 yellow cards in the first half while Vortis received none. The one booking that never came was when Allano was brought down by a high boot to his upper legs after rounding the Vortis player. I cannot recall what Allano was booked for earlier but his complaint to the referee seemed to indicate that he did the same, or less, to receive his yellow and why shouldn’t the Vortis player receive the same treatment. In any event Kofu were toeing a fine line when it came to fouls as 3 players are sitting on yellow cards before half time.
Much as one would expect, Kofu had to press early in order to overcome what seems to be the invisible, but very present, 1 goal deficit even before they kickoff. However, it was Vortis who struck first from a well taken shout by Jordy Buijs in the 37th minute. Jordy had found some space between the Kofu defense and turned a cross into the upper right corner of the goal just past Kawata. Kawata, who made a spectacular save just a few minutes earlier, could do absolutely nothing on the play. It was strange watching Tokushima celebrate the 1 goal advantage as if they had just scored deep into extra time, but this is what you get in the current construct of the playoff system. It now meant that Kofu are now required to score 2 goals in order to advance.
Kofu were able to respond, and respond rather quickly, from a Peter Utaka goal just 2 minutes later. He received the pass and as he did, the ball bounced up a little and he was able to strike it with his right foot and put some swerve and dip on the shot. Kajikawa was forced to rise to parry the shot over the net but he accidentally swatted the ball into the goal instead of out of danger as he initially intended. This type of response can motivate teams to go on a win but for Kofu, it was not meant to be.
Allano picked up his second yellow card, which obviously would lead to a red card and sending off, for a very poor challenge just after kickoff in the second half. I blame the Kofu manager, Ito, for not substituting Allano at half time. It was obvious to anyone watching the game on Sunday that Allano was angling for a second booking from his rash challenges all half. In fact, he committed a challenge in the first half after his booking and the calls from the home crowd for another card were loud and noticeable. I blame Ito as he should’ve seen that this particular referee was not averse to pulling out the yellow card for his side while keeping it in his pocket for Vortis. He should’ve also noticed that Allano was not making smart decisions at the point of challenges and he should have given his side a chance to advance instead of facing long odds to score when down to 10 men.
Kofu did all they could to go for the second goal but it was never going to happen. Tokushima are advancing and will now host Montedio while Kofu’s season ends in bitter disappointment.
Final score Tokushima Vortis 1-1 Ventforet Kofu
Tokushima Vortis vs Montedio Yamagata 12/08/2019
These sides drew 1 all at Tokushima in May with Yamagata getting a 3-1 win over Vortis in late July. Tokushima are entering this match with serous amounts of momentum on their side while Montedio have to be buoyed by their performance this past Sunday against Omiya. There was a strong showing by the Yamagata supporters this past match and I hope they can bring the same amount of people, and intensity, to Tokushima as their boys will certainly need all the support they can get against a very tough, very determined Vortis side.
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