Intro
It just goes to show you; that anything can happen on any given Sunday. FC Ryukyu pulled off the improbable this past Sunday afternoon when they defeated (3) V-Varen Nagasaki at the transcosmos Stadium in Nagasaki. The win, while not statistically important for FC Ryukyu, was a major boost to morale for a side that lost 2 out of their last 3 games to teams above them in the table. However, the loss has put a slight dent in the promotion hopes of V-Varen Nagasaki who now sit 5 points clear of Avispa Fukuoka in the promotion zone.
Match Day 34 Highlights
Man of the Match
FC Ryukyu MF Shuto Kawai: Shuto scored the lone goal of this match and he was doing his best in the first half to get in and around the Nagasaki defense. He had several chances to score in the first half, which we would like to see him convert in the future, so hopefully this sets him up for a nice run in to close the 2020 campaign.
Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
1. V-Varen Nagasaki must overlook FC Ryukyu: Likelihood 1. Well Nagasaki may have done just that on Sunday. They didn’t field a totally weakened lineup, but they also didn’t look like the free scoring side we’ve seen in the previous rounds.
Match Day Prediction
I said it should have been Nagasaki with the big win. Somewhere in the vicinity of 4-1, but happily it ended 0-1 in favor of FC Ryukyu.
Match Day 34 Takeaways
1. This game was filled with drama as there were some missed calls that could have drastically altered the final result. First, there is a chance that the ball rolled over the line before Ren Ikeda passed it to Kawai on the lone FC Ryukyu goal. Second, there was a chance that Fukui committed a foul in the box that would have given Nagasaki a PK and a chance at tying the game. Finally, there was the double kick to the face on Taguchi by Ibarbo that could have warranted a booking. Convincing arguments could be made for both sides on each play but until there is VAR in J2, we will have to live with these types of decisions on a weekly basis.
2. I said in the preview that if FC Ryukyu wished to net anything positive from this game, it would require Koizumi creating chances, Uesato possibly scoring from the FK spot, and Koya’s ability to finish if we were without Abe. Well, Koya did not score but Abe came dangerously close in the first half. Uesato had a nice FK saved that would have given us the lead, and his replacement Koki Kazama, nearly netted a free kick in stoppage time as well. But the biggest takeaway has to be the chances that Koizumi created.
He set Kawai free on an excellent long through ball in the first half; spotted Abe for the dangerous shot that nearly went in; and was the one who provided the pass to Ikeda in the box that ultimately led to the Kawai goal.
Match Day 34 in J2
Tokushima Vortis and Avispa Fukuoka both won on Sunday, thus widening the gap at the top to 5 points over V-Varen Nagasaki.
Conclusion
ryukyuarmy.com 