This was Gifu’s second match since changing managers, after a run of bad form, and they began the first half with a defensive approach. As Verdy moved the ball at the back line and built with patience, their opponents chose not to press and instead sat their forwards at the halfway line to maintain a compact shape, eliminating space in their area. When Verdy did move into the attacking third, Sato and Hanato were unable to turn with the ball and the two holding midfielders were unable to make effective passes through the lines of the defense. Verdy were being truly frustrated. Even though they were able to press high and win the ball back quickly when it was lost in the opposition half, there were no avenues for an effective move as their opponents remained set. Before long, Verdy found themselves under threat from the counter attack and in the 29^th minute, loose defending inside the penalty area allowed the opposition to find the net. Giving up an early advantage to the team at the bottom of the league table was not necessarily a cause for despair. As if hoping to push back quickly, Verdy began trying to work the ball forward with greater pace and the precision of their pass work dropped noticeably. It was the holding midfield duo who then stepped forward to calm things down. By maintaining possession between the two of them, they were able to buy time for the team to move without rushing and once again begin probing the defense for gaps. The match finally moved again in the 44^th minute, just before the end of the half. From the left side, Sato played a forward ball into space for Tatsuya Nagata to run onto. Instead of a cross, Nagata elected to lay the ball off to the feet of Hanato. The Verdy attacker received the pass with his back to goal and then made a sharp turn. As he did so, he was brought down by the outstretched leg of a defender for a penalty. It was Inoue who grabbed the ball first and carried it to the spot. Though not usually the type to step into the spotlight, he chose to be the kicker at a very important time for the team. The end of the first half was only moments away. With the pressure on, Inoue took the kick and found the top right corner of the net.

Hoping to break the deadlock in attack, the team emerged in the second half once again moving the ball, but still unable to create chances. In the wide areas, Junki Koike and Nagata could not find space for runs and in the middle, players tried to run at the defense and play one-twos as their markers followed them, only to run into a thick wall of defenders inside the penalty box. In the 53^rd minute, Nagata broke through on the left side and played a lateral pass into the area for Sato. However, he had little angle for a shot and his effort repelled off the post. Looking for a change in their approach, the manager brought on Leandro in the 56^th minute and Kanya Fujimoto in the 85^th, both with the intent of helping the team break down the defense. Time after time, initial balls into the box were repelled, until the 90^th minute, when the cloud of frustration would finally lift. Sato passed the ball to Fujimoto in the right corner of the penalty area and the latter then played a one-two with Hanato, creating space to move into. With the eyes of the opposition all on him, Fujimoto hit an in-swinging cross to the far post. Leandro lunged forward and reached the ball just ahead of his marker with a first-time volley that found the back of the net. The move had traveled to both posts and then to the middle, but it was Leandro anticipating the cross and shifting his run to the far side when Fujimoto took the ball that led to the goal. It was a dramatic winner, but considering the constant pressure that Verdy had put on the opposition goal, it was also somewhat inevitable.

Verdy are now approaching one of the season’s major milestones as they play their final matches of the first leg. As expected, given Gifu’s table position, this ended up being a difficult encounter against an opponent with an extremely defensive approach. Despite being made to suffer, the way the team were able to break through at the very end is sure to give them confidence. Next week, Verdy return home hoping to close out the first leg with consecutive wins. There is still a long road ahead before the team reach their goals. However, the players must keep their eyes on the match at hand. Every match is now a must win as Verdy seek to begin the second leg with positive momentum.

Your thoughts on the match?
It was a difficult game. We had control for the majority of the match, but we just couldn’t find a goal and that made things even harder. Against an opponent who park themselves in defense, the more you try to break them down, the more vulnerable you are on the counter, so I think that fear was always there, as well. However, I think we also learned that we need more variation in attack against that kind of opponent. To achieve that, I believe that we still have more and more areas where we must grow as a team.

Did you give the order for Shion Inoue to take the penalty?
As you all know, the last two times I ordered someone to take the penalty, they were both missed. This time, as everyone saw, Shion Inoue grabbed the ball right away and my job was to evaluate, in terms of how the match had progressed, who was the most confident, so I signaled for him to go ahead. It was a bit of a gamble, because he’d never scored a goal as a pro, but he already had the ball in his hands and I could see his determination, so I figured that a player like that was never going to miss. I had a lot to consider, but ultimately, because the players I had named had missed twice in a row, I decided to let him have a go.

Were you surprised that they played with a back line of six defenders?
I knew that their current manager had played with 4-4-2, 3-4-3, and 3-5-2 in the past, so I formulated our strategy expecting that they might try something different. With that said, playing against a team with that many players in defense, it’s always going to be difficult to attack. In the first half, especially, their number 5 dropped back a lot and they were defending Junki Koike on the right of our attack with two markers. In the second half, their number 5 was substituted and given that anything could have happened at that point, I’m happy that our attack grew more energized as a result. In addition, our staff did an excellent job and we were well informed of everything that Gifu had done in previous matches, as well as what their new manager Kitano was likely to throw at us. I think we owe the result to their preparation.