FC Gifu hosted Kyoto Sanga F.C. on a very cold & rainy Saturday afternoon, but had to be content with a share of the points. By Stuart Smith.

From the start, it was apparent that Kyoto,with ex-FC Gifu captain Yoshihiro Shoji as their hub, were happy to play the possession game, knocking the ball about across the increasingly wet surface. Gifu, though, were the ones who created the more clear cut chances. Yushi Nagashima, playing against his former side, forced Sanga goalkeeper Keisuke Shimizu into two smart saves after he had made his way into dangerous positions, but the truth was that there weren’t many goalscoring opportunities in the first 45 minutes and it wasn’t a surprise when the teams went into half-time at 0-0.

In the second half, as the rain increased in severity, the game became slightly more open and tough with some players making a few heavy sliding challenges on the slick surface. Despite Gifu’s high tempo and high pressing game, it was the visiting Kyoto Sanga side that went ahead, and it was very out of keeping with their hitherto passing style. A long ball from defender Tulio found substitute Sergio Escudero, and the big veteran striker managed to hold the ball up before playing a through pass to Brazilian attacker Juninho, and he fired in from just inside the area. Up until that point, Kyoto had passed the ball well, but that goal was of the direct variety. 

Kyoto had their tails up at this point, and almost made it 2-0 when Escudero found himself some space in Gifu’s area, but Henry made a very important intervention which just took the ball away from Escudero as he was shaping to shoot. 


Gifu’s heads could easily have gone down at that point, but to their credit the players doubled down on their effort, Oki brought on debutants Frederic Bulot and Shohei Aihara and went all out to score. The deserved equalizer finally came in the 83rd minute, and it was a goal that Shohei Aihara won’t forget in a hurry. Kota Miyamoto picked up the ball on the right and his ball was cleverly left by Yamagishi, allowing the ball to make its way through to Aihara. The substitute moved the ball on to his left foot, and he planted a brilliant shot into the far corner for his first professional goal. 

There was still time for both teams to go and chase the win, and Aihara came close again, but his cross/shot was deflected and just missed the incoming Yamagishi. In the end, both teams had to settle for the draw, although neither team looked particularly happy with the outcome upon the full-time whistle. 

After the game, manager Takeshi Oki said: “I set us the goal of getting ten points in the first six games, so to not reach that mark is disappointing. As for this game, we didn’t play that well in the first half, but we had chances to score, just we couldn’t take them. I brought Aihara on, and told him to shoot when he got the chance - I think he did well. When we conceded the goal, we didn’t drop our heads and I think we did well to get back into the game.”

Goalkeeper Victor said “The conditions were difficult, but I didn’t have a lot to do. I was happy with the way that we fought after the goal, and I think we were good for our point. Two away games are coming up, but we have to think positively about them.”

Goalscorer Shohei Aihara told reporters after the game: “The coach said to me me to go on and shoot when you get the chance. For the goal, it was good that I could move it on to my left foot. I think we have to take more shots and improve our quality in the final third of the pitch. Once we do that, I think we will be able to get more positive results.”

So good for Shohei Aihara to get his first professional goal, but an ultimately frustrating result. Very little rest for FC Gifu this week as we travel to high-flying Ventforet Kofu on Wednesday evening.