Frontale Edge 5-Goal Thriller :-(

Kawasaki demonstrated their resilience and class against a Grampus team still struggling to gel, taking an 2-1 half time lead and surviving sustained pressure in the second to eventually emerge 3-2 winners. This came courtesy of a late Chong Tese blast, as the North Korean international hit a fierce drive on the turn to clinch the victory for the visitors.

Grampus		2		3	Frontale
Starters				Starters
P.	No.	Name		Name	No.	P.
GK	1	Seigo Narazaki		Eiji Kawashima	1	GK
DF	32	Hayuma Tanaka		Yusuke Mori	19	DF
DF	4	Tulio		Kosuke Kikuchi	17	DF
DF	5	Takahiro Masukawa		Hiroki Ito	2	DF
DF	6	Shohei Abe		Takanobu Komiyama	8	DF
MF	14	Keiji Yoshimura		Junichi Inamoto	20	MF
MF	10	Yoshizumi Ogawa		Hiroyuki Taniguchi	29	MF
MF	8	Magnum		Yusuke Tasaka	6	MF
FW	25	Mu Kanazaki		Masaru Kurotsu	7	FW
FW	11	Keiji Tamada		Renatinho	34	FW
FW	16	Josh Kennedy		Chong Tese	9	FW
Subs Bench				Subs Bench
GK	50	Yoshinaari Takagi		Rikihiro Sugiyama	28	GK
DF	3	Mitsuru Chiyotanda		Jun Sonoda	5	DF
MF	7	Naoshi Nakamura		Yusuke Igawa	4	DF
MF	9	Igor Burzanovic		Tomonobu Yokoyama	18	DF
MF	20	Danilson		Yuji Kimura	22	MF
MF	38	Alex Santos		Junpei Kusukami	16	MF
FW	17	Yuki Maki		Kyohei Noborizato	23	MF

Kanazaki 6' Magnum 78'	Scorers	Renatinho 3' Tese 16' Tese 90'
Grampus	Timeline	Frontale
	Goal	Renatinho 3'
Mu Kanazaki 6'	GOAL
	Goal	Chong Tese 16'
	Card	Renatinho 20'
	Card	Kosuke Kikuchi 25'
	Substitution	Kikuchi > Sonoda 29'
	Card	Chong Tese 42'
Yoshimura > Danilson HT	Substitution	Inamoto > Yokoyama HT
	Card	Takanobu Komiyama 49'
Mu Kanazaki 61'	Card
Tanaka > Burzanovic 68'	Substitution
	Substitution	Renatinho > Kimura 77'
Magnum 78'	GOAL
Tamada > Maki 84'	Substitution
	Goal	Chong Tese 90'

This game got off to a fast start, Kwasaki taking the lead from a well-taken FK by Renatinho after only three minutes. The Brazilian curling the ball over the wall and past the unsighted Narazaki. However, the lead did not last long as Mu Kanazaki opened his account for us, flicking in the rebound after Kawashima had made a good save to keep out Magunum's header from a deep Tamada corner. Six minutes gone and we had already seen two excellent goals.

The teams continued to probe each other's defenses, Taniguchi trying his luck after 10 minutes with a shot that flew wide and Magnum trying a spectacular overhead kick that was well-saved by the Frontale custodian. Kawasaki regained the lead 10 minutes later, this time from a more fortuitous free kick. CHong Tese's effort cannoned of the wall and was deflected past the wrong-footed Narazaki. This free kick was one of many 'won' for visitors by Renatinho, who having score so early from one, spent most of the rest of the half flopping to the turf at the first opportunity.

The home team then mounted a determined effort to get back in the game, with Tamada, Yoshimura, Kanazaki and Kennedy all having cracks at goal. Tamada in particular was unlucky to see his free kick tipped over by Kawasahima as the clock ran down on the half.

The second half began with both teams making substitutions. Danilson replaced Yoshimura for us, and Yokohama coming on for Inamoto. This seemed to disrupt the flow of the game slightly, as the second half failed to live up to the high quality of the first. It was still an absorbing contest between two evenly matched teams, but lacked the energy of the first.

Kawasaki almost got off to another fast start. Taniguchi clanging Nara's right post after only a minute. Nagoya pressed forward in search of the equaliser, but were not able to assume the level of control they had managed to exert at Banpaku last weekend. Their somewhat disjointed play saw several half chances, and Masukawa had a typically robust blast well parried by Kawashima before Magnum eventually restored parity turning in a Burzanovic cross with a mistimed header. However, Tamada should already have pulled us level by that point. He had a glorious opportunity a few minutes earlier, where his was in space in front of goal, but seemed to give up on his effort to get the ball. I can only assume that he felt was in an offside position, but his failure to make a serious effort to score was very disappointing.

This failure of our forwards to make the most of their half chances eventually hurt the team, as Tese showed them how it should be done as the game was about to enter added time. The burly forward, showing some nimble footwork and excellent balance to fire in the winner as he turned on a sixpence after cushioning the ball into space.

Like last week's game, this was an excellent game and we showed that we are now capable of giving the best teams in the league a good game. As our understanding improves, we should be able to mount a challenge for the title. However, to do so we will need to tighten up at the back. Both games were highlighted by opponents exploiting generous amounts of space on our flanks. Tanaka and Abe are both fast and like to get forward. Their speed means they can often react quickly enough to avert danger, but against the better teams it is generosity we cannot afford. Now we have to see if the team can play at this level against less fancied opposition. This will be the true test of their title aspirations.