In this week 38 match, on Saturday Dec 4th, Shimizu S-Pulse will play host to Cerezo Osaka in a meeting of these two closely matched J-League teams. Shimizu S-Pulse is fresh off their 1-0 shutout win against Urawa Reds. Keita Nakamura struck first for Shimizu S-Pulse in the %Minute minute of the %HalfNumber half’s stoppage time, and that single goal was all that was necessary as neither team could manage any more scoring In the end, Urawa Reds was frustrated by Shimizu S-Pulse’s defence and couldn’t put any tallies on the board. Shimizu S-Pulse ended the match with the shutout victory. Shimizu S-Pulse is looking for direction having 4 win and 5 losses in their last 10 matches, while in their last match, 11th placed Cerezo Osaka, recorded a 2-1 win against Nagoya Grampus. Yoichiro Kakitani struck first for Nagoya Grampus in the 67th minute on a feed from Shinnosuke Nakatani, but Naoyuki Fujita got the equalizer for Cerezo Osaka in the 80th minute Finally they completed the comback in the 87th minute on a goal by Nishio to cap off a wild match. Cerezo Osaka is looking for direction having earned 12 points in their last 10 matches.
On Wed Mar 10th, Cerezo Osaka hosted Shimizu S-Pulse at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai in their last match together. Cerezo Osaka won by a score of 2 to 1. Katsuhiro Nakayama struck first for Shimizu S-Pulse in the 5th minute, then Ryuya Nishio tied it up for Cerezo Osaka in the 22nd minute on a feed from Yuta Toyokawa But fortunately they were able to complete the comaback in the 84th minute on a goal by Kiyotake.
Cerezo Osaka’s most prolific scorer has been M. Kato. He has netted two goals over the last five matches. Shimizu S-Pulse’s top weapon lately has been Thiago Santana, who has two goals in the last 5 matches.