Intro
FC Ryukyu pulled off an improbable 3-2 win over V-Varen Nagasaki on Saturday night in which they erased Nagasaki’s two (2) goal lead and even stopped a Nagasaki PK at the end of the match. In the preview article for this game I mentioned how Nagasaki seemed like a side that starts fast and fades throughout the match. That was the exact case this game as Nagasaki stormed out to a 2-0 lead before halftime despite not having their top man, Edigar Junio, in the lineup.
Ryukyu leveled the match at the 68′ minute mark of the second half thanks to two (2) goals by Takuya Hitomi inside a span of ten (10) minutes. Hitomi’s first was a redirection of a shot in which he was sitting almost on the goal line with two (2) Nagasaki defenders inside the goal keeping Hitomi on side. His second was a thing of beauty where he put a pass from Abe directly into the top right corner. Then Sadam Sulley added his third goal in as many games with another header in the 89th minute. But Ryukyu were not able to just walk away from this one without committing a costly foul near the end. But once again, Dany Carvajal rose to the occasion to help Ryukyu see out the win.
Match Highlights
Review of the Keys to Victory for FC Ryukyu
The Scale: 5- An almost certainty it will occur 4-Fairly-Certain it will happen 3-Somewhat Certain it could happen 2-Very Unlikely that it happens 1- Requires a Miracle for it to happen
1. Play hard to the whistle. Likelihood 4. Not sure I need to say anything more as the actions of the entire team speak for themselves on this particular key to victory.
Match Day 31 Takeaways
1. Lineup and Roster selection for FC Ryukyu. I wondered what Nacho would do with both Kelvin and Makito this week following the Kofu game. Both players ended up getting the start and I think Makito’s early removal last week provided some motivation for him this week as he looked much better. Kelvin was his usual self and now we need to get that man on the score sheet more often, especially next week with Sulley suspended and it still being unknown when Kusano and Kiyotake will return to the lineup following their injury rehabilitations.
Abe and Sulley seem to have formed the perfect strike partnership for this league. Abe is so good at finding outlets to open Ryukyu players and just keeping plays alive for Ryukyu in the attack. The second Hitomi goal is a perfect example of what I am talking about and more goals for Abe should come soon. Sulley is really good at finding space behind, in, or around the oppositions’ defense to put him in goal scoring opportunities. Three (3) goals in three (3) consecutive weeks, four (4) points from four (4) matches. Though he’ll have to take a breather this week while on suspension from his red card last week.
2. A tale of two halves. My worst fears came to fruition after Nagasaki scored the opener and with Ryukyu again falling behind by multiple goals for the second straight week. Ryukyu seemed a bit flat in the first half with the opening Nagasaki goal traveling all the way through the box and past several Ryukyu defenders. To be fair, Sawada’s take was excellent as it had to be inch perfect from that angle.
Ryukyu had a crack at leveling the match early on but Kelvin’s take was just narrowly wide of the mark. You kind of felt that since we didn’t score from that take that another Nagasaki goal was likely in the offering. And true to form, Ryukyu surrendered the second goal that stemmed from a failed defensive clearance, followed by some really nice one-touch passing, before Cristiano buried the goal. Maybe Dany was blinded by Okazaki running in front of him but there were several Ryukyu defenders in the area that had a shot at getting something on the Cristiano shot.
You wouldn’t be wrong in assuming a goal scored just before halftime would completely let the wind out of the Ryukyu sails. But not under the current manager. Ryukyu came out firing in the second half when Hitomi scored on a redirected shot from Omoto. His first ever goal for Ryukyu. The play started with a Makito cross that Sulley won, though didn’t get on net, followed by Abe getting it back to Omoto whose shot looked to be headed for the far post to which Hitomi calmly slotted past the two Nagasaki defenders on the line.
Abe and Hitomi were not finished though as Hitomi’s second came after Abe’s initial shot was blocked, and instead of just trying to recycle the rebound back on net, Abe picked out the on-rushing Hitomi who sent a really nice ball into the top right corner. Of course the winner came from another Sulley header in a little give and go action from a quick counter attack. I truly believe Nacho and the rest of Ryukyu have figured out the J2: Pick out your taller strikers in the box with accurate crosses and let them feast.
The game wasn’t done and dusted at that point as Dany Carvajal was called into action a couple of times to make some key saves before the all important PK stop. His second stop of a PK this year that has directly accounted for four (4) Ryukyu points. I do have to say it wasn’t one of the better defensive performances from this team as it was more reminiscent of what we saw out of our defending at Kofu last week. We may have just got a bit lucky that Nagasaki couldn’t put anymore sustained pressure on our backline without their talisman Junio, but Ryukyu did enough to get the job done and that is all that matters.
Round 31 in J2
It wasn’t CV-19 rearing its ugly head to wipe out matches across the J-League this week, instead it was a tropical storm that dumped large amounts of rain across the mainland forcing matches to be called off and rescheduled for a later date.
Up Top: (2) Yokohama FC and (21) Thespakusatsu Gunma was rescheduled to this Tuesday evening leaving Ryukyu fans to wait and see if they have finally stayed level on points with Gunma. (1) Albirex Niigata took advantage of the YFC delay in fixtures to move into the top slot following their 2-0 road win at (16) Tochigi SC. And then there was (20) Omiya Ardija scoring another three (3) goals in a match to defeat a top seeded team in (3) Vegalta Sendai. Two (2) goals just a minute apart followed by a third in the first half put that one out of reach early.
Promotion Playoff Zone: (4) Fagiano Okayama was able to restore the 2-0 lead they lost to (18) Renofa Yamaguchi thanks to a 65th minute goal. (5) Roasso Kumamoto leap frogged V-Varen Nagasaki thanks to their 2-2 draw on the road at (13) Ventforet Kofu. Kumamoto missed out on all three (3) points this match having lost their 2-1 advantage in the 77th minute as well as having a PK stopped earlier in the game.
Down Below: The only team in the bottom five (5) of the table that wasn’t mentioned in the other two sections was (20) Iwate Grulla Morioka who lost 0-1 at home to (15) Blaublitz Akita. I think it was just around the time I released the first drop zone report that I intimated that Akita could easily, and quickly, remove themselves from the relegation discussion and since then they’ve won two (2), drawn two (2), only allowed a single (1) goal in four games with three (3) consecutive shutouts while playing as the visitors. Well done!
Conclusion
What an absolute roller-coaster ride of emotions on Saturday night for all the fans watching this game. From my vantage point there was the absolute shock, and subsequent outburst of emotion following that Sulley goal. It felt so good to see us score so late in a game instead of conceding. The emotional high was briefly muted when Nagasaki lined up for the PK where we all thought, “please not again,” before yet another outpouring of raw emotions by all in attendance at my house. We have waited a long time to see Ryukyu play like this as well for us to feel this good following any game. Let’s keep the good times rolling.
ryukyuarmy.com 