Late Collapse Gifts Trinita Three Points

Our new Aussie hero, 'Jesus' bagged his third league goal in a row, a neat shot on the turn in the six-yard box. However, Nagoya should already have been one goal to the good at that point; an unmarked Masukawa heading wide from three meters out. Tamada was also guilty of shooting wide form the edge of the box when he should have at least tested Nishikawa.

Grampus eventually took a deserved lead after 26 minutes, when Nakamura fired a ball into the box from the edge of the area. Kennedy neatly controlled the deflected shot and fired a low shot into the corner on the turn.

The rest of the match was fairly even, with neither team looking particularly like scoring. However, Trinita earn an unlikely three points with two last-gasp goals to steal the points. The first, a free header by Takamatsu three minutes into the four minutes of injury-time, was soon followed by a neat flick over the advancing Narazaki as Nagoya's concentration fell apart.

The loss is the first since Kennedy joined the team, and highlights the need for Burzanovic in midfield. The teams needs more threat from midfield, where only Ogawa and Magnum look like doing so. The game also highlighted the weakness in defense, which relies heavily on Maya Yoshida for leadership. He is a class player, and looks a potential national team candidate, but is still a few weeks short of his 21st birthday. He can be forgiven the occasional mistake and lapse of concentration. Unfortunately, Masukawa cannot blame lack of experience for his lapses in concentration. This is down to a simple lack of composure. It is hard to see why Stojkovic persists in starting him now that Bajalica is back with the team.

Oita Trinita
Shusaku Nishikawa
Yuki Fukuya (Keigo Higashi 86), Masato Morishiga, Taikai Uemoto, Edmilson
Mu Kanazaki, Taiki Takahasi, Yuki Kotegawa, Fernandinho
Akihiro Ienga (Daiki Takamatsu HT), Ueslei (Shusuke Tsubouchi 78)
Scorers: Takamatsu 90+3, Higashi 90+4

Grampus
Seigo Narazaki
Hayuma Tanaka, Maya Yoshida, Takahiro Masukawa, Shohei Abe
Yoshizumi Ogawa, Naoshi Nakamura, Kei Yamaguchi, Magnum (Keita Sugimoto 82)
Keiji Tamada (Keiji Yoshimura 73), Joshua Kennedy (Bajalica 87)
Scorer: Kennedy 26