Congratulations to Hiroshima! We are in a spot of bother now

Well done to Hiroshima. A great championship winning last home game at the Big Arch for them. Now we have a small chance of being relegated on the last day of the season. Don't want to write or think about it any more. Bad memories of 2005. Something horrible could happen at the reverse end of the table this time.

Cerezo Osaka 1 - 2 Omiya Ardija

The squirrels showed more urgency in their fight to stay in J1 and deservedly came away with 3 points. Jin-Hyeon's positioning invited the first goal from a free kick as our players seemed happy enough to know that although mathematically we could still go down it's pretty unlikely. The good thing is the result leaves Gamba in the relegation zone. Today we are away to league leaders Hiroshima Sanfrecce so I'm not expecting us to come back with anything from the game but it's the J-League and Cerezo so anything is possible.

Novakovic takes advatage of Jin-Hyeon's positioning

Our recent form has earned Levir Culpi  a contract extension for next season, who will look after his Japanese restaurant in Brazil?

It wasn't raining

Emperor's Cup 2nd Round vs Montedio Yamagata

Branquinho looked up for it last night with a point to prove as he's currently on loan from us. His corner was nodded in by Montedio's Maeda as our 2^nd choice keeper Matsui came of his line and achieved nothing but helping to give away a soft goal. After a dreadfully flat first half where if you didn't know beforehand you would be hard pressed to figure out which team was in J1 or J2 Culpi threw on Sugimoto and Edamura for Kempes who was awful today and the lively but ineffectual Heberty. I was expecting these two to start today as it would've given them a chance to prove themselves. As it is despite Sugimoto's goal sadly I don't expect he will get a decent run in the team while Kempes is about. It's a shameful waste of talent especially seens as in the league we have nothing much to play for, start with them Culpi! Captain Kota Fujimoto's belter sees us in the hat for the next round, a goal from an unexpected source and likely to be the best he'll ever score, fabulous winning goal but overall a poor performance. 

 

Cerezo Osaka 3 - 2 Sagan Tosu

Another action packed game finishing 3-2, thanks to a truly woeful penalty by Tosu's Toyoda. Both the penalty decisions were dubious. Ours was given for an accidental handball which Kakitani remained cool enough to score. Tosu's was for an accidental collision which earned Jin-Hyeon a booking. So a pretty fortunate three points keeps us out of the relegation zone for now and it was nice to see the Sagan Tosu fans after they gave us such a great reception in Saga on the opening day of the season. Sagan Tosu are enjoying a solid first season in J1 managed by former Cerezo and South Korea midfielder Yoon Jong-Hwan. Kodama came in at left-back for the suspended Maruhashi but did little to suggest he could keep that spot. On Wednesday we face Montedio Yamagata in the Emperor's Cup which will see the return of Branquinho who they have on loan from us at the moment.

Crazy Kansai Derby! Vissel Kobe 2-3 Cerezo Osaka

Dodgy defending from both sides contributed to another exciting Kansai derby at the beautiful Home's Stadium in Kobe with 12,868 in attendance. We were two down after 17 minutes thanks to goals from Ogawa and Soma for Vissel. Fabio Simplicio pulled one back after some clumsy gaolkeeping in the first half as both sides spurned some good chances. The turning point for us came in the 2^nd half and oddly enough it was thanks to our left-back Maruhashi receiving his marching orders in the 60^th minute after a dangerous looking but probably unintentional lunge. Culpi took off the profligate Kempes for Sugimoto who promptly headed against the bar from a set piece. Simplicio scored his second from a well delivered Kakitani cross in the 73^rd minute. Culpi then threw on S-Pulse loanee Edamura who scored a cracking goal to give us the 3 points and leapfrog over Vissel up to 12^th and looking pretty safe. Enjoy the highlights!

Cerezo Osaka 3 - 2 Shimizo S-Pulse

An entertaining game, bad defending meant we had lots of chances. Kempes missed after a defensive error in the first minute and hit the post twice but did get on the score sheet using his head which was his seventh goal in the league. Kakitani continues to add to his goal tally this season with his eighth in the J-League. Star signing Simplicio made up for giving away a penalty with his first goal since his move from Serie A, he had an almost identical effort ruled out for offside minutes earlier. A great result against a S-Pulse team in transition. We're not out of danger yet but it's nice to write about a match and not say "we were poor" for once. Kansai derby up next and it's a big one with Vissel Kobe needing points to avoid being dragged into the relegation dogfight. Genki Omae with a penalty and Alex Brosque form a free kick scored for S-Pulse. Brosque has just signed for Al Ain FC in the UAE where he joins Asamoah Gyan. Shinji Ono also left S-Pulse to join the Western Sydney Wanderers as their marquee signing.

Fans behind the goal did a great job of trying to put Omae off his penalty

Culpi a lot less animated than usual after his return from retirement

Scary stuff, weather and Cerezo's Performance

Cerezo Osaka 0-2 Nagoya Grampus

The kick off was delayed as once again Nagai park was hit by a thunderstorm. We were poor despite the return of fan favourite and supposedly retired manager Levir Culpi. Ryo Nagai who I though could do well for us coming off the bench is on trial with Perth Glory in Australia with a view to a possible loan move. Nagoya showed why they feel they have a shot at the title this year while we showed our usual inconsistency. Highlights don't show the second goal by Kennedy but clearly show our terrible set piece defending for Nagoya's first. Some fans booed the team off at the final whistle which is not a good sign at this stage of the season. 


The light show before the game, the video below shows the Grampus fans
at the peak of the storm keeping dry and preparing for some happy
times for their team on the pitch later.