Kashiwa Reysol cruised to a comfortable 4-2 victory over ten-man Aspire Academy in the first game on Day 8 of Al Kass International Cup 2016.
The match got underway amid blustery winds, making it a necessity to keep the ball on the ground wherever possible. In the early stages, chances were few and far between as both sides struggled to come to terms with the conditions, and the game was 10 minutes old before the first chance was created.
Kashiwa captain Riku Tanaka cut in from the right, only for his surge into the area to be curtailed by a superbly timed challenge from Aspire’s Yousif Din. The classy left back was soon in action at the other end, attacking down the wing and finding Khalid Mansour, whose header sailed just wide.
Kashiwa had a decent penalty claim midway through the first half, when Yuto Yamada went down under a challenge from Nasir Baksh, but referee Sayed Sharif was unimpressed and allowed the game to continue.
However, within minutes, Reysol had taken the lead. A high ball over the top held up in the wind, allowing full back Toshiaki Myamoto, advancing down the left, to control and cut the ball back to Yamada. His floated cross into the area was met first time by Tanaka, who side-footed a sublime volley across the keeper into the left-hand corner.
The Japanese side held their lead for only five minutes, however, as Aspire forced a derived equaliser. Andri Syahpurta won the ball in the centre circle and fed the advancing Abdulaziz al-Hasia, who beat the keeper with ease from eight yards out.
After a tepid opening, the game had developed into a marvellously open contest, as both sides attacked with brio, and Reysol regained the advantage just two minutes after parity had been restored. Daisuki Sadahiro rushed down the right and cut the ball back for Yamada, whose mishit shot was bundled home by centre forward Shunta Nakamura.
Two minutes of added time were allotted at the end of the half, and Reysol used it to extend their lead in dramatic fashion.
As the Japanese attacked down the right, Din caught Tanaka with a high kick to the head. Miyamoto floated the resulting free kick in, and it was met at the far post by Soma Okamoto, who headed back across goal to Norihiro Syoda two yards out. His shot was handled on the line by Nasser al-Harrbi, preventing a certain goal. The defender was shown a straight red card for deliberate handball, and referee Sharif pointed to the spot.
Kashiwa had gained plenty of penalty practice in their previous game against Real Madrid, which ended in an extended shootout, and Syoda duly dispatched the spot kick to make the score 3-1 on the stroke of half time.
Aspire coach Ibrahim Shafie sacrificed forward al-Hasia during the break, bringing on Khalid al-Mulla to galvanise the defence following the loss of al-Harrbi.
Aspire’s early promise was beginning to fade in the face of continual pressure from the Japanese and, with 20 minutes remaining, Reysol added a fourth after Nakamura latched on to Yamada’s chipped pass down the inside right channel to fire low across the despairing Marwan El Din and into the left-hand corner.
In the 90th minute the Academy scored the goal that their tenacity had merited, when Abdulrasheed Ibrahim broke down the inside right channel before squaring for the recently introduced Yusuf Yusuf, who forced the ball home to make the final score 4-2.
Kashiwa will now face Saudi Arabian outfit Al Ahli for the fifth spot tomorrow.
Ahli beat Estudiantes de La Plata 5-3 on penalties after the two teams were locked in at 1-1 after regulation time yesterday.
Santiago Ricciardi scored for the Argentines in the 11th minute, while Badar Ghanam al-Johani equalised in the 88th minute.
Estudiantes will now face Aspire Academy for the seventh spot.