Cerezo Osaka vs Gamba Osaka
J1 2020 Round 26
Nagai Stadium
Tuesday 3 November 14:00 (JST)
Last Time Out
Gamba extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches, but were made to ride their luck at times by a game Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo side who may very well feel aggrieved at leaving Panasonic Stadium empty handed. Tsuneyasu Miyamoto made just a solitary change to his starting lineup from the previous encounter against Kashiwa with Kazuma Watanabe rotating in for Patric who dropped down to the bench. Among the reserves there was a welcome return from concussion for Hiroki Fujiharu and Shoji Toyama was in the top-team squad for the third time this season in place of Ademilson, who, of course, is currently suspended by the club.
Despite the continuity in selection Gamba made a sluggish start and visitors Sapporo were well worthy of their early goal. In just the 9th minute Yoshiaki Komai centred for Brazilian Douglas Oliveira who scuffed his shot from the edge of the area, but saw it bobble and squirm past Masaaki Higashiguchi in off his left-hand post. This seemed to be the wake up call Gamba needed and they were level just 7 minutes later. Usami was instrumental in the build up, feeding Watanabe from the left, the veteran then took two touches, the second of which prodded the ball beyond Akito Fukumori into the path of the onrushing Yosuke Ideguchi and the former Leeds man brought it onto his right foot and slotted past Takanori Sugeno low to his left. After that Consadole enjoyed the better of the half, they posed different questions to Gamba’s defence than they have been facing recently with their concerted attack down the wings, the often maligned Douglas Oliveira had a pretty decent game and bullied the Nerazzurri backline at times. A low Tomoki Takamine drive and a Komai header on the bounce both found the welcoming arms of Higashiguchi, who, in truth, didn’t have his greatest half, but although Sapporo enjoyed the bulk of the chances and at times played like the home side, it was Gamba whose attacks carried a bit more menace about them as the first 45 drew to a close.
As they often do when attacking towards their own support Gamba came out firing and my half-time notes questioned whether Consadole could produce a second-half as good as their first (spoiler alert: they couldn’t). Yuya Fukuda won a free-kick in a dangerous area soon after the re-start as a result of being brought down by Lucas Fernandes, who in fact was subbed off 15 minutes later with his coach fearing he was on his way to an early bath. Gamba made a triple change of their own at the same time with Patric, Kawasaki and Yajima coming on for Usami, Kurata and Onose and it didn’t take long for this move to pay dividends. Play had been stopped for the changes ahead of a Gamba free-kick on the edge of the box and with no Usami on the field, Yuki Yamamoto took over the set-piece mantle. His beautifully weighted cross was flicked over the head of Sugeno by Patric as the Brazilian netted his 5th of the campaign with his first touch, it also marked the 14th Gamba goal from a dead ball situation this year.
The home side were content to sit back and invite Sapporo pressure after going ahead and were almost made to pay for that strategy. Takuro Kaneko came on down the right-flank for Consadole and was a constant menace, delivering a number of good quality crosses into the box. The real let-off for Gamba came in the 88th minute when Higashiguchi made a brilliant save from a header resulting from Fukumori’s corner and then Kim Min-tae’s rebound hit off both the right-hand post, the bar and Consadole captain Hiroki Miyazawa before somehow being scrambled to safety by Patric. Sapporo kantoku Mischa Petrovic berated the officials for not giving it, I can understand why he thought it was a goal, I don’t know how it didn’t go in, but tv replays did show that miraculously the ball didn’t cross the line meaning Gamba could breathe an almighty sigh of relief. There was more holding of breath a couple of minutes later when Higashiguchi took a routine cross, but then accidentally collided with the sliding Yoshiaki Komai. Following a couple of minutes of treatment the stopper was back on his feet and Komai was rather harshly, in my opinion, given a yellow card for his troubles. Full-time 2-1 Gamba and boy do I wish they would win games more comfortably.
Cerezo vs Gamba Match Preview
Tuesday 3rd November is Culture Day in Japan which gives us the rare opportunity to enjoy the Osaka Derby on a Tuesday afternoon. Gamba sit 2nd with Cerezo in 4th, 3 points adrift, both teams have identical goalscoring records with 37 strikes in 25 matches while Gamba have surprisingly let in one fewer than the much vaunted Cherry Blossoms backline. With league leaders Kawasaki 17 points clear, these 2 sides plus Nagoya Grampus in 3rd (level on points with Cerezo, but with a game more played) find themselves in a mini-league to see who will join Frontale in the latter stages of the Emperor’s Cup.
Gamba will come into this match more battle worn having played on Saturday night while Cerezo had the chance to put their feet up, but crucially the Nerazzurri are in much better form than their hosts. The 2-1 win at home to Sapporo was their 10th match unbeaten, a run that has included 9 wins and a draw. Interestingly, Gamba have only been ahead at half-time on 3 occasions during this streak, they’ve been drawing 6 times and behind just once. As alluded to in my match review above, tight games have been the story of Gamba’s season with 13 of their 16 league victories coming by a solitary goal (nine 2-1 wins and four 1-0s), only Sendai (4-1), Kobe and Kashima (2-0) have been seen off more comfortably. The triumph over Sapporo was the third time Gamba have come from behind to win in 2020 and all those games have been at home (Oita and Nagoya, both 2-1, were the others), when they’ve led at any point in a match they are 16-2-0.
Although Gamba’s overall defensive record has been good, keeping clean sheets has been an issue, and one which could sting them against an extremely miserly side like Cerezo. The Nerazzurri have only blanked their opposition 6 times this year, though it should be noted that 4 of these games were away from home. Speaking of their road record, Gamba once again lie behind Kawasaki in that particular league table, however, in this instance the gap between 1st and 2nd is a mere 2 points with both teams having played 12 matches. Kashiwa Reysol are the only side to defeat the men from Suita on their travels, a comprehensive 3-0 victory in September, while Nagoya and Kashima have each earned a share of the spoils.
Now to Cerezo, a team known for their defensive nous under the tutelage of wily Spanish kantoku Migel Angel Lotina. The Cherry Blossoms were owners of the best overall defensive record in 2019, letting in just 0.74 goals per game while keeping a joint league best 15 clean sheets. On the surface things have gone a little south in that department this year with 1.12 goals being let in on average, however, when you strip out the 8 they shipped in 2 games against the Kawasaki behemoth, it takes the figure down to 0.8 per game, nearly identical to last year’s performance. They’ve kept 9 clean sheets to date, of which 7 have been at Nagai Stadium, however, only one of those 9 has come in their past 8 matches (at home to struggling Shonan). Their total figure of 9 home goals conceded in 12 games is the best home defensive record in J1.
Cerezo’s previous match came on October 24th, a 3-1 reversal at Urawa. This meant that Reds became the first team not called Kawasaki Frontale to score more than twice in a league game against Cerezo this season, indeed they only let in more than 2 on one occasion in the whole of 2019 (0-3 away to FC Tokyo). The Cherry Blossoms have lost 7 times in the league this campaign (1 more than Gamba), but worryingly for their supporters, 5 of those defeats have been in their past 8 outings. Interestingly, they average 1.92 points per game both home and away having taken 23 points from 12 home fixtures and 25 from 13 road games. Just under half of their league defeats have been on their own turf although all were against top 6 opponents, Nagoya (0-2), Kashima (1-2) and Kawasaki (1-3)
Cerezo’s two wide midfielders, captain Hiroshi Kiyotake (7 assists) and off-season capture from Montedio Yamagata, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto (6) will need to be watched closely by Gamba on Tuesday and it will be interesting to see if Miyamoto brings in Hiroki Fujiharu to the left-back spot in an effort to combat Sakamoto’s threat. In terms of goals, Cerezo, like Gamba, tend to share things around pretty evenly. Hiroaki Okuno tops the charts with 7 strikes, followed by burly Brazilian Bruno Mendes (6) and Kiyotake (5). Yuta Toyokawa has 3 in his past 2 outings which has brought a welcome boost to his side’s attacking fortunes.
Head to Head
Cerezo were victorious at an empty Panasonic Stadium in the first game after the league’s resumption in July. Left-back Yusuke Maruhashi set up Hiroaki Okuno for the opener right on half-time before delivering the knockout blow with a fine strike from outside the area in the second period, Ademilson’s penalty was merely a consolation for Gamba. That was a rare win in this fixture for Cerezo, as was their 3-1 triumph in 2019’s corresponding encounter. Prior to those games, Cerezo’s last victory in a league derby was way back in round 2 of the 2012 campaign.
Team News
Gamba Osaka
Yuji Ono (knee – season) and Ademilson (club suspension) are definitely missing while centre-backs Genta Miura (thigh) and Gen Shoji (ankle) are unlikely to make it after sitting out the past several games. Hiroki Fujiharu is now back in contention for a starting spot while Shoji Toyama is poised for a J1 debut in this clash.
Cerezo Osaka
Right-back Riku Matsuda injured his calf in the loss at Nagoya Grampus on October 10th and is unlikely to take any part in this game. Likewise, aggressive forward Ken Tokura, who tormented the Gamba backline in the match in Suita in July has a leg muscle injury, though it should be noted that he hasn’t played since his sending off for an ill-advised kick at a prone Daiya Maekawa in their match away to Vissel Kobe on September 16th. Club legend Yoichiro Kakitani, like Matsuda, was taken off in the game at Nagoya and hasn’t been used in the 3 matches since, I have yet to see any clarification as to why he’s been absent. Utility player Eiichi Katayama will make his 50th J1 appearance in this clash.
Predicted Line Ups
With Gamba’s form as it is, most of the players in the formation below are pretty much certainties to start. Depending on fitness, Fujiharu could get the nod ahead of Fukuda and it’s always possible that Watanabe may again partner Usami in attack, but other than that, assuming Miura and Shoji both miss out then this is definitely the most likely starting lineup.
Cerezo’s Spanish coach Miguel Angel Lotina is an avid fan of the 4-4-2 system and has rotated as little as possible this year which makes my job of predicting his starting eleven much easier. Centre-back Yasuki Kimoto can also play in central midfield, so it’s possible he could partner Desabato while Ayumu Seko slots in alongside Matej Jonjic. In attack, Bruno Mendes is generally the main man, but the recent form of Toyokawa could earn him a starting berth here. Otherwise, unless there are injuries, I’m confident that the lineup below is the one you’ll see on Tuesday afternoon.
Match Prediction
I’m going for it with this prediction, Gamba are on a roll and will walk out of Nagai Stadium at Tuesday dinner time with a 6-point lead over our neighbours following an extremely closely fought 2-1 win.
Gamba Osaka blog in English 