Kashima Antlers 0 - 2 Cerezo Osaka

We finish top of our Nabisco Cup group! Cerezo 2 - 1 Kashima Antlers 1

A very unexpected goal, he showed composure and a stunning finish in the 2^nd minute. Who am I talking about? Edno! Congratulations on his first goal and actually looking like a footballer. Culpi dropping him for a few games seems to have done wonders although I would still like to see Sugimoto start for the time being. Edno was subbed before the end of the match as his reverted to his usual anonymous footballer role. Antlers, who started the day at the top of the standings, then equalised but that man Kakitani popped up again to ensure our passage to the league cup quarter finals in pole position. To be fair he did more than just pop up, he ran with the ball from our half and as the Antler's players closed in smacked in the winner from just outside the box.

Kashima Antlers 1 - 0 Cerezo Osaka

It's been a while since Jin-Hyeon made this kind of blunder and unfortunately it cost us today as we suffered our first defeat in the league when it allowed Yasushi Endo to score the winner in the 58^th minute. Some of our early season performances haven't warranted the points we've been getting so it's no surprise about the result although the manner of the loss is frustrating. FC Tokyo visit Osaka for a Nabisco Cup match on Wednesday night.

Out in the Nabisco Cup quarter final 0-3 Kashima Antlers

We could have gone through with one goal and a clean sheet but after letting their star player Dutra glide through our midfield and allow him enough time for his shot we would have been fortunate to get anything. Antlers finished off the game with a penalty and finally a third as we played poorly against decent opposition as usual. Soares threw on Nagai and Bando to try and salvage something but the damage was done. After that things don't look too good for the Osaka derby but seeing how poorly Gamba are doing this season we may have a chance. The only good point on Wednesday was a chance to see Brazilian legend Jorghino on the touchline for Antlers.

Kashima Antlers 3 - 2 Cerezo Osaka: Kashima comeback Cerezo capitulate

2 up at half time but we left the Kashima Soccer Stadium with no points

Kim Bo-Kyung continued his stunning form this season by adding his fourth and fifth league goals this campaign with two first half strikes. The first coming from a Kiyotake pass and the second from a Kempes miss Bo-Kyung himself helped set up. We didn't look too solid at the back as both teams had a number of decent chances in the first half. The game continued to be open and Dutra pulled one back after a poor punch from Jin-Hyeon in the second half. Cerezo then entered a phase of forgetting how to do the basics such as defending and passing which so often leads to plenty of goals. Kuroki levelled for the home team in the 62^nd minute. A few minutes later Bo-Kyung's reaction to Dutra kicking out earned him a yellow and incensed many of the Antlers players as they rushed to confront him in scenes rarely seen in the J-League. Endo finally secured Kashima 3 points for their manager, Brazlian legend Jorginho (world cup winning right-back), in the 85^th minute after both teams spurned a few more chances. Great comeback and the Kashima fans should have been delighted...

This incident led to some unsavoury scenes and actions from players and supporters

...however at some point two Antlers fans threw plastic bottles from the stands. One was caught and the other escaped for now. The club will decide on the punishment later. After the game some Kashima fans were hitting the Cerezo team bus as it left the stadium, they may have been provoked by something Bo-Kyung did from on the bus but that can't be confirmed yet. These incidents are very unusual in Japan so we can expect some severe punishments for those involved and even some who weren't but are seen as responsible. There could also be some repercussions for Bo-Kyung too following his actions.

The team bus leaving



Nabisco Cup vs Urawa

Worth taking a closer look at the team that beat the Reds 4-1. Soares may have just been resting the regulars but the players that came in did enough to suggest the manager might try something different for the game against Kashima Antlers today (No Kempes please!). Bando was a vast improvement on Kempes as Kurogi filled in for Ogihara. Kakitani also showed some glimpses of why he's held in high regard by staff and fans at Cerezo. As Kiyotake will be off to Nuremberg this summer we'll be looking to Kakitani for attacking inspiration.

Click to enlarge

Enjoy the goals!

Kashima Antlers 2 - 1 Cerezo Osaka

On Wednesday in Kashima Soccer Stadium (named to let people now there is no running track here, it's just for football!) the Antlers completed their league double over us. Cerezo captain Teruyuki Moniwa got himself sent off. He got caught out for pace badly (but unusually) and decided to sacrifice himself when it would have been better to let Jin-Hyeon at least attempt a save in the 38^th minute. After that we managed to score first through Jin-Kyung after some lucky set up play Komatsu. As happens too often this season we conceded within 5 minutes of scoring at which point heads started to drop. Yuya Osako got that goal. It was just a matter of time before Kashima scored their winner through Chikashi Masuda in the 74^th minute. Culpi threw on Fabio Lopes and youngster Kenyu Sugimoto who both would have fared better having a full compliment of outfield players to help them get an equaliser. With or without ten men Kashima were the better team overall, some of their attacking play was class. Jin-Hyeon again made some good saves but his distribution was poor. Next up is Shimizu S-Pulse away.

Moniwa gets his marching orders

No protests from anyone

Kashima fans behind the goal

Bo-Kyung thanks Komatsu for his lucky assist

The stadium was affected by the earthquake
hence the position of the floodlights

Applause and bows but no boos after the final whistle

Oh dear, Kim Jin-Hyeon goes viral

I don't want to post this but it shows how Jin-Hyeon's error has made it around the world thanks mostly to YouTube.

Inui's last game: Cerezo 1 - 3 Kashima Antlers

A battle between Brazilian managers and finally my prediction comes true. Today was Inui's last home game and he scored one of his best goals. He picked up the ball near the halfway line before jinking between a few Kashima players and netting our only goal of the game. By this time Kim Jin-Hyeon had already made a couple of decent saves so it wasn't looking easy but then Jin-Hyeon completely lost it. Two goals from Yuzo Tashiro followed before the break. For the first he caught Jin-Hyeon trying to pass the ball out from the back and I guess nobody warned him so Tashiro simply nicked the ball and slotted into an empty net. For Antlers' second Jin-Hyeon went to collect a cross he had no chance of getting and Tashiro nodded home another easy chance. In the second half we won a penalty from a push during a corner. Inui wanted to take it but Bo-Kyung stepped up and had his awful effort easily saved. The final embarressment for Jin-Hyeon was getting lobbed from the halfway line by Mitsuo Ogasawara just before the final whistle. Great goal but suspect postitioning from our young Korean keeper. Jin-Hyeon is his own harshest critic so it'll be interesting to see how he recovers from this. Inui said his farewell and will fly to Germany tomorrow to join Vfl Bochum 1848. In other transfer news Stoke and other teams in England are sniffing around Kim Bo-Kyung who has been described as the next Park Ji-Sung by...Park Ji-Sung. We had a crowd of just over 28,000 last night thanks in part to lots of free ticket offers, the effect of the Japan ladies team winning the World Cup and possibly for people to say goodbye to Inui. The atmosphere was one of the best in a long time. Credit to the Antlers fans for adding to a great night. They came, they sang, they won.

Kashima fans were well rewarded for their sterling effort

A heaving I4

The rare sight of a packed stadium

Jin-Hyeon distraught after he conceded the second

Inui tries his best for his last game, from the resulting corner we win a penalty...

...taken poorly by Kim Bo-Kyung.