J-League, Let's Go!

[Furtho]

It has been a very disappointing start to the season for Omiya, preseason favourites to win J2 and go straight back up, but they’ve won the last couple of games without conceding a goal and so fingers crossed have turned a corner.

You’ll be able to buy a ticket at the stadium on matchday, no problem at all.

In fact I won’t be attending a game this month because, not to put too fine a point on it, Mrs F and I are breaking up.

[Anton Gramscescu]

That's awful, F. Very sorry to hear that.

[ursus arctos]

What Gramsci said. So sorry.

[matt j]

Ditto. Take care of yourself.

[Gangster Octopus]

And from me.

[Furtho]

Guys, did you not read what I wrote? That "they've won the last couple of games without conceding a goal and so fingers crossed have turned a corner"?

Cheers anyway, it's really appreciated.

[Furtho]

Just to record that yesterday evening what I imagine to have been the very first, and certainly the very modestly-sized, Milton Keynes OTF-athon took place. I can report that everything I'd heard about the magnificent HORN is wrong and I thank him for listening to me droning on and on.

[Furtho]

Looks like Iniesta is set to join Lukas Podolski at Vissel Kobe, currently 7th in J1 with a not-especially-impressive 19 points from 14 games.

Noting that AG is scheduled to be attending the Omiya v FC Gifu game on Saturday 19th. Hope you enjoy the experience, AG, and may the Squirrels thrash their straw-chewing bumpkin visitors into the ground (not to be inhospitable, obviously).

[Furtho]

Lovely team goal by Tokyo Verdy against Albirex Niigata today.

https://twitter.com/J_League/status/1005784374309109760

[Satchmo Distel]

This was Iniesta's first goal in the league

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nkqkecTOBFc

He has just scored again today after 17 minutes

[Haddock]

Very dramatic events around the J1-J2 relegation and promotion play-offs. These two reports tell why:

Jubilo face relegation playoff after loss to Frontale on own goal in 94th minute
KYODO

DEC 1, 2018

KAWASAKI – Jubilo Iwata will face a playoff to remain in the first division after a 94th-minute own goal by captain Kentaro Oi gave Kawasaki Frontale a 2-1 victory and sent the visitors plummeting to the bottom three in the J. League final round on Saturday.

At the other end of the table, Asian Champions League winner Kashima Antlers will have a chance to defend their continental title next year after holding onto third place with a scoreless draw against visiting Sagan Tosu.

Starting the day 13th, Jubilo held a one-point buffer over a trio of clubs — Shonan Bellmare, Sagan and Nagoya Grampus — who were also looking to avoid a 16th-place finish and subsequent relegation playoff against a second-division side.

But with Sagan holding Antlers to a stalemate, and Shonan drawing 2-2 away to Grampus, all three leapfrogged Jubilo on goal difference.

Veteran forward Yoshito Okubo gave Jubilo the lead with a well-taken 78th-minute header at Todoroki Stadium, but Tatsuki Nara headed an equalizer from a corner just five minutes later.

Frontale, who clinched their second straight J. League title with two rounds to spare, continued pressing for a late winner. When Akihiro Ienaga sent a cross to Kei Chinen in the dying moments of injury time, the 23-year-old striker looked to have scored with a lunging effort.

But replays showed center back Oi deflecting the ball into his own net in a desperate effort to stop it reaching Chinen.

Jubilo will meet the winner of Sunday’s playoff between J2 sides Yokohama FC and Tokyo Verdy in a one-match decider.

That was Saturday. This was yesterday:

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) -- Tokyo Verdy will face Jubilo Iwata for a place in the J-League first division after beating J2 playoff opponents Yokohama FC 1-0 with a dramatic injury-time goal on Sunday.

Brazilian forward Douglas Vieira struck the 96th-minute winner, but it was Verdy keeper Naoto Kamifukumoto who provided the crucial touch in the opposing area at Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium.

With higher-ranked Yokohama FC needing only a draw to advance, the visitors threw everyone, including Kamifukumoto, forward for a corner kick in a last-ditch effort.

As the kick came sailing in, the 29-year-old Kamifukumoto was first to the ball with a header that opposing keeper Yuta Minami could only deflect into the path of Vieira, who tapped home from directly in front.

"It was a really tough game. We got the result by continuing to fight right until the end," Vieira said.

"From the start of the season, getting to J1 has been our big goal. It's been a difficult season but we've kept fighting as one. We wouldn't have gotten this far otherwise."

Referee Hajime Matsuo added just over nine minutes of additional time to the second half of the match, which included 43 free kicks and seven yellow cards.

Yokohama FC almost broke the deadlock in the 94th minute when Yuji Senuma ran onto a ball over the top and beat Kamifukumoto inside the box, but defender Naoya Tamura was just in time to clear off the line.

Under a new format introduced this season, the teams finishing third to sixth in J2 were to meet in a playoff series culminating in a match against the 16th-ranked J1 side for a place in the first division.

But fourth-place Machida Zelvia lacked the J1 license needed for promotion and did not enter the playoffs, leaving third-place Yokohama FC with a first-round bye.

Sixth-place Verdy advanced to the second round by beating fifth-place Omiya Ardija 1-0 last Sunday.

Verdy will play Jubilo on Saturday at Yamaha Stadium, where the hosts need only a draw to retain their place in the first division

Also on Saturday, Consadole Sapporo missed out an Asian Champion's League slot by letting slip a two-goal lead at home to Sanfrecce Hiroshima, with the draw putting Sanfrecce into the ACL instead. The second Consadole goal was an excellent long-range shot by Jay Bothroyd: https://streamable.com/g2fc4
Consadole can actually still qualify for the ACL if Kashima Antlers, who already have a place, go on to win the Emperor's Cup. They play Urawa Reds in a semi on Weds. Seems likely Urawa will be more determined, though.

Finally, FC Tokyo are fucking shite. They threw away a seemingly certain ACL spot over the last weeks of the season, mainly by managing not to score at home from August onwards.

[Kevin S]

Good news for followers in the UK:

https://twitter.com/FreeSports_TV/status/1225426075444011011?s=19