NEWS
Round 16 vs Kashima "Aim for victory until the end and get points"
On the 4th, Urawa Reds went to Saitama Stadium to face Kashima Antlers [MATCH PARTNER Tanita] in the 16th round of the Meiji Yasuda Seimei J1 League.
Reds saw their opportunity in the first half as they held off Kashima's attacks, and in the second half they continued to dominate the ball in their pursuit of victory, but came up short in a 0-0 draw.
The Reds had come into the match against Kashima on a winning streak in the J1 League. The Reds players were greeted with visual support in the form of a 3D floating emblem with the word "urawa" painted across the entire surface behind the north goal and a big flag with the words "PRIDE OF URAWA" above it.
In the first half, the entire team continued to fight, although there were times when they had to withstand Kashima's attacks.
In the 15th minute, Kaito Yasui picked up a ball spilled by Atsuki Ito 's strong defense in midfield, dribbled forward and passed to the left side. After moving from the center to the left side, Takahiro Sekine took one touch and crossed the ball to Bryan Linssen, who came from the left side into the center and headed the ball in front of the goal. The ball did not find the target, but the attack was flowing and created chances.
In the 22nd minute, a long shot by an opponent toward the goal was firmly deflected away by Shusaku Nishikawa, and after two consecutive CKs, a blocked ball went to Yuma Suzuki, who was free in the penalty area, but Nishikawa saved Suzuki's shot. The defender did his best to keep the game scoreless.
Toward the end of the first half, Reds players tried to attack hard from Sekine's breakthrough and set pieces, but failed to score. In the second half, Ken Iwao replaced Linssen on the pitch, and the attack was built with more ball possession than in the first half, keeping the opponent pressed.
In the 66th minute, Jose Kante and David Moberg Karlsson replaced Shinzo Koroki and Sekine on the pitch. Two minutes later, Kante stole an opponent's back pass and sent a pass to the left side, where Kante dove for a Moberg cross, and the entire team controlled the ball with both players involved in the attack. The team was able to connect with grounders and move forward to score a goal.
With more than 10 minutes left in the 78th minute, Maciej Skorza manager made his final substitutions, replacing Tomoaki Okubo and Kaito Yasui with Takuya Ogiwara and Jumpei Hayakawa. The Reds players took advantage of the aggressive leadership to further increase their attacking momentum.
The second half added time began with Hiroki Sakai winning the ball in enemy territory, and when Ogihara received a pass from Takahiro Akimoto who kept the second ball in the enemy penalty area, he crossed it and Kante headed it in. From a CK, Marius Hoibraten also headed in a shot, but neither of them could get a goal.
In front of 45,575 fans and supporters, the largest Urawa Reds home crowd for a J1 League game this season, the Reds players kept up their fighting spirit and desire to win until the end to earn a point. Although it was not the best result, Reds had not lost in five J1 League games and six official matches.
The next game will be the Emperor's Cup JFA 103rd All Japan Soccer Championship second round match against Kansai University at Urawa Komaba Stadium on Wednesday, June 7 at 7:00 p.m.
[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]
Reds saw their opportunity in the first half as they held off Kashima's attacks, and in the second half they continued to dominate the ball in their pursuit of victory, but came up short in a 0-0 draw.
The Reds had come into the match against Kashima on a winning streak in the J1 League. The Reds players were greeted with visual support in the form of a 3D floating emblem with the word "urawa" painted across the entire surface behind the north goal and a big flag with the words "PRIDE OF URAWA" above it.
In the first half, the entire team continued to fight, although there were times when they had to withstand Kashima's attacks.
In the 15th minute, Kaito Yasui picked up a ball spilled by Atsuki Ito 's strong defense in midfield, dribbled forward and passed to the left side. After moving from the center to the left side, Takahiro Sekine took one touch and crossed the ball to Bryan Linssen, who came from the left side into the center and headed the ball in front of the goal. The ball did not find the target, but the attack was flowing and created chances.
In the 22nd minute, a long shot by an opponent toward the goal was firmly deflected away by Shusaku Nishikawa, and after two consecutive CKs, a blocked ball went to Yuma Suzuki, who was free in the penalty area, but Nishikawa saved Suzuki's shot. The defender did his best to keep the game scoreless.
Toward the end of the first half, Reds players tried to attack hard from Sekine's breakthrough and set pieces, but failed to score. In the second half, Ken Iwao replaced Linssen on the pitch, and the attack was built with more ball possession than in the first half, keeping the opponent pressed.
In the 66th minute, Jose Kante and David Moberg Karlsson replaced Shinzo Koroki and Sekine on the pitch. Two minutes later, Kante stole an opponent's back pass and sent a pass to the left side, where Kante dove for a Moberg cross, and the entire team controlled the ball with both players involved in the attack. The team was able to connect with grounders and move forward to score a goal.
With more than 10 minutes left in the 78th minute, Maciej Skorza manager made his final substitutions, replacing Tomoaki Okubo and Kaito Yasui with Takuya Ogiwara and Jumpei Hayakawa. The Reds players took advantage of the aggressive leadership to further increase their attacking momentum.
The second half added time began with Hiroki Sakai winning the ball in enemy territory, and when Ogihara received a pass from Takahiro Akimoto who kept the second ball in the enemy penalty area, he crossed it and Kante headed it in. From a CK, Marius Hoibraten also headed in a shot, but neither of them could get a goal.
In front of 45,575 fans and supporters, the largest Urawa Reds home crowd for a J1 League game this season, the Reds players kept up their fighting spirit and desire to win until the end to earn a point. Although it was not the best result, Reds had not lost in five J1 League games and six official matches.
The next game will be the Emperor's Cup JFA 103rd All Japan Soccer Championship second round match against Kansai University at Urawa Komaba Stadium on Wednesday, June 7 at 7:00 p.m.
[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]
