Intro
FC Ryukyu nearly pulled off a stunning win against Montedio Yamagata at home this past Saturday but came up just short as Yamagata erased Ryukyu’s leads twice to end the match in a 2-2 draw. There were plenty of fireworks both during the match, and afterwards (literally fireworks), that also included another Dany Carvajal PK save to secure some points. I wouldn’t argue against you if you felt that Ryukyu didn’t really earn a point so much as they lost out on two (2) points, but they are still earning points to put them into a position to quickly escape the relegation zone when others falter later this season.
Match Highlights
Takeaways from Match Day 32
1. The Ryukyu Lineup. We all knew Sulley was going to sit this one out following his red card in the match against Nagasaki but it came as a bit of a shock to see Kelvin completely removed from the squad on Saturday with Yu Tomidokoro filling that role. Perhaps Kelvin is dealing with an injury or was the player who tested positive for CV-19 earlier in the week. Hopefully it is nothing serious and he gets back out there sooner rather than later. Returning to the bench was both Lee Yong Jick and Junto Taguchi while Kohei Kato was dropped for Kazuto Takezawa. Not sure if there is anything going on with our recent signing, or it was a case of rest and maintenance after featuring in both the top team and reserve fixtures at Nagasaki last week.
2. Old man yelling at the clouds, again. This game was completely disjointed by all the starts and stops, and not just from the goals and substitutions. There were nearly thirty (30) fouls committed in this game, though it was completely lopsided in favor of Ryukyu who picked up twenty-one (21) of those fouls on Saturday. Peter Cklamovski, Yamagata’s manager, said it best in his post game presser where he stated that the amount of restarts made this a very difficult game to play since it was hard to build any momentum. You could tell he was visibly frustrated that his side didn’t win (even said as much) but Ryukyu have been frustrating many teams in recent weeks. From the Ryukyu supporter section point of view, we thought there were some very soft fouls (maybe outright wrong) called on Ryukyu but we’ve seen this before so nothing new.
3. Ryukyu jumped out to an early lead from a typical, as cool as you like, sending the shot back across the keeper, goal from Takuma Abe. Ryukyu maintained that lead for roughly 45′ minutes before conceding the equalizer after Dealltorre found space in the central Ryukyu defense when Makito was dusted by a run down the left hand side by an attacking Yamagata player who then sent in the cross to Dellatorre. What came as a bit of a shock was the Yamagata goal wasn’t even posted to the scoreboard when Ryukyu responded with their second (2) of the match, a tremendous low and hard header, from Takuya Hitomi, his third (3) goal in two games, only one (1) minute after the restart. For a moment I though the Yamagata goal had been called off as the scoreboard read 2-0 Ryukyu but that wasn’t the case. The lead was lost for good in the 81st minute following a repeat of events leading up to Yamagata’s first goal. Makito got turned around, couldn’t mark the run, a cross was sent in, and Dellatorre was able to get past Okazaki for the tap in equalizer.
4. Ryukyu are struggling to defend and clear their lines lately. Makito had another up and down game where he, along with Okazaki, were involved in both of Yamagata’s goals. There were several occasions where Ryukyu failed to clear their lines that led to quick strikes requiring Dany to be called into action to bail out the defense. I said in the preview that Ryukyu needed to stop conceding so many PKs in matches but they somehow found a way to conceded their fourth (4) PK in three (3) consecutive games. The very epitome of, ” shooting yourself in the foot.”
One thing that hasn’t really changed at all in the nine (9) years that I’ve watched this club is the fact that Ryukyu seem to rely (hope) on trying to outscore your opponents with multiple goals in order to paper over the cracks in defense. That can work at times but is not a sound strategy and it is not realistic to think Ryukyu can score 3 or 4 goals each week to see out victories. Ryukyu will need to win some of those “squeaky bum” games they were doing just a few weeks ago, but against tougher opponents. Though Sulley, Hitomi and Abe might make it possible to blow away our competition the way they are playing right now. It is what it is for the remainder of the season but Ryukyu needs to strengthen that back line in the offseason.
5. Dany Carvajal. Perhaps I do not need to say anything more than his name as it should garner a certain thought in your heads if I am putting his name in his own section in any match day report. Great reactionary save in the first half to keep the score level. Great save in the second half to maintain a fragile one (1) goal lead for Ryukyu. Nearly got to the Yamagata equalizer, and of course, saved another stoppage time PK to allow Ryukyu to walk away with any points on the night. He is now the best PK stopper in J2, and while you love to see him in action on all these PK stops (9 games played and has faced 5 PKs), let’s give the man a break! And our collective blood pressure too.
Round 32 in J2
Up Top: The two top of the table clashes this round saw (1) Yokohama FC maintain their one (1) point lead over (2) Albirex Niigata as both teams each won 1-0 at home over (4) Fagiano Okayama and (6) Roasso Kumamoto.
Promotion Zone: In yet another shocking upset from a team facing relegation against one of the top three (3) sides, (20) Thespakusatsu Gunma defeated (3) Vegalta Sendai at home 1-0. (5) FC Machida Zelvia moved into the fifth (5) spot thanks to their 2-0 road win at (19) Omiya Ardija in addition to (7) V-Varen Nagasaki and (18) Zweigen Kanazawa having their match postponed.
Down Below: (21) Iwate Grulla Morioka lost 0-3 on the road at (9) Oita Trinita with (17) Renofa Yamaguchi moving five (5) points clear of the drop zone, maybe more importantly, moving four (4) points ahead of the bottom four teams, with a 1-0 victory at home over (13) FC Mito Hollyhock. Strange that Ryukyu’s match was the only one not to end in a shutout for someone this round.
Conclusion
Ten games left and there is still plenty to play for in all three areas of the table. Though I am not overly concerned with what is going on at the top, except when they cede points to teams around Ryukyu in the standings. Ryukyu just need a little bit of luck to grab a victory when all the others lose to springboard out of the relegation zone and possibly send three teams that are just above them to just below them for a brief period. For now it is on to FC Mito Hollyhock.
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