[J.League (J2) results]Round 40 of the Meiji Yasuda J2 League will be held on October 9th. Ventforet Kofu and Fagiano Okayama played once morest each other at JIT Recycled Inc Stadium.
On the 9th, the 40th round of the Meiji Yasuda J2 League, Ventforet Kofu vs Fagiano Okayama, was held.
18th place Kofu, who have advanced to the finals of the Emperor’s Cup, will be staying on the day before the match due to the results of other venues. On the other hand, 3rd place Okayama had a point difference of 8 with 3 games left over 2nd place Yokohama FC, and with a draw or less this match, their rivals would be automatically promoted into the match once morest Kofu.
From the beginning of the game, Kofu kept their offense a little while the situation continued like a match-up. At the end of the first half, the number of shots increased.
Then, in the 43rd minute, Shunpei Naruse, who slipped deep into the left flank, delivered a grounder’s cross. A highly accurate ball was met by Ryu Nagai with his right foot and into the right corner of the goal. For Nagai, who joined from Sanfrecce Hiroshima this summer with a time-limited transfer, it was his first score in Okayama and his first league match in two years.
In the second half of the turn, Kofu, who were behind, increased their intensity even more than in the first half. Okayama made two changes in the 59th minute, bringing in Yosuke Kawai and Kodai Sano in place of Naruse and Stephan Mook. On the other hand, Kofu sent Nao Matsumoto and Yoshiki Toriumi in place of Junma Miyazaki and Toshiki Ishikawa in the 66th minute.
Then, in the 73rd minute, a short corner was selected by a left CK from a Kofu ball. From deep on the left side, Hasegawa raised a cross with his right foot and Hidehiro Sugai in the center of the box headed it in to tie the score.
In the 80th minute, when the players continued to switch players, Okayama sent a long throw from the left flank and Sano fired a mid-range shot. Han Yi Kwon, who participated in the middle of the game, pushed in the spilled ball that was blocked by GK Kohei Kawata and made it a winning shot.
After that, the match progressed at Kofu’s pace, but Okayama responded with tenacious defense. In the end, Okayama defended the lead and the match ended.
As a result, Okayama wins for the first time in two games, leaving only a slight hope of automatic promotion to J1, but the points difference with 4th place Roasso Kumamoto is “5” with 2 games remaining, and 3rd place, which will give them an advantage in the J1 entry playoffs. Great progress has been made in securing 2nd place Yokohama FC, who will face the Oita Trinita match in Section 40, which kicks off at 18:00 on the same day, will be automatically promoted to J1 on their own if they win, although they did not have the power of others.
■ Match result
Ventforet Kofu 1-2 Fagiano Okayama
■ Scorer
Kofu: Eidai Sugai (73 minutes)
Okayama: Ryu Nagai (43 minutes), Han Yi Kwon (80 minutes)
