In this week 4 match, on Saturday Mar 12th, Shonan Bellmare hosts Kyoto Sanga in a meeting of these two mismatched J-League teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 14 degrees, which is great football weather. 18th placed Shonan Bellmare is fresh off their 0-2 loss against Urawa Reds. Ataru Esaka struck first for Urawa Reds in the 16th minute, then Kazuaki Mawatari added another in the 87th minute on a feed from T. Akimoto At the end of 90 a dissapointed Shonan Bellmare couldn’t manage to score, and Urawa Reds took the shutout win. Shonan Bellmare looks to improve on their recent performance, having earned only 8 points in their last 10 matches, while kyoto Sanga is fresh off their 1-4 loss against Júbilo Iwata. Yuki Otsu scored the first goal for Júbilo Iwata in the 35th minute, then Yuto Suzuki added another in the 62nd minute. Kyoto Sanga is looking for direction having earned 11 points in their last 10 matches.
This will be the first match for these two teams against eachother this season.
Kyoto Sanga’s most prolific scorer has been Peter Utaka. The Nigerian attacker has netted 2 goals over the last 5 matches.