Football Masterclass: J-League powerhouse Kawasaki Frontale takes United City FC to School
It's Matchday 3 for the Philippines Football League defending champions, United City FC, as they bid to make history in the AFC Champions League.
Coming back from a massive loss against South Korea's Daegu FC and recently splitting the points with Chinese Super League team, Beijing Guoan FC, UCFC will certainly want to make amends and put a strong showing against overwhelming odds against the group's strongest team in Kawasaki Frontale FC.
The hunt for Asian glory continues as we witness Group I football at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The early moments saw UCFC trying to control the rhythm from the get go, keenly utilizing space on the left wing. But they haven’t found that key pass that would break through the final third.
The team has been trying to keep the defense compact in the early game, but the J-League front runners have already broken through a few times without creating a clear chance.
By the 15th minute, the Philippine champions are already feeling the pressure as the opposition has started pressing higher up the pitch. And the fact that Kawasaki has been playing possession game in UCFC’s half isn’t helping their cause at all.
Tempers flare in the 25th minute as Kawasaki’s Oshima pulled shirts against UCFC’s Kane, leading to a foul. Some extra action following the foul from Kawasaki #6 Schmidt led to a booking. A yellow card for Schmidt kept the tempers in check.
As we near the half hour mark, the was still level pegging. The Kawasaki team in blue has kept the ball well on the advance, only to fall short in finding that pass that would pick UCFC’s defense apart.
To UCFC’s credit, they have made it really difficult for the opposition to find that final pass by putting a foot in at the right time and pressuring the opposing players enough to make mistakes.
It didn't last for long though as it was the 33rd minute that a clean chance came to Kawasaki. A corner, delivered by Oshima, bounced against UCFC’s Nazari. This put the ball in the face of the net where Mitoma would only need to tap it in with a good header. This puts Kawasaki ahead 1-0.
Kawasaki doubled up on the 41st minute as a nicely placed shot by Oshima was put above UCFC Keeper Pinthus, finding its way to the far left side of the net. 2-0 Kawasaki.
Shortly after the celebrations, a yellow card was issued in the 42nd minute as the UCFC skipper Stephan Schrock argued with the line official for a called foul that he disagrees with. The referee will not have it, though, and booked the Philippines international.
Kawasaki was starting to show the gulf in class in between them as the corners, chances, and possession started to pile up in the dying minutes of the first half. The game stayed 2-nil at the break.
The second half seemed to be more of the same in the early minutes as blue shirts crowd the UCFC's third. But this didn't stop United City from playing the ball from the back.
It only took five minutes from the break for Kawasaki to wreak havoc in front of goal again, with Damiao putting the ball past the keeper in the 50th minute, hitting the woodwork before making it's way in.
The UCFC's defensive composure may have been broken too early as it only took six minutes after the last goal for Kawasaki to put another one in as Wakizaka threaded a pass towards a lurking Tachibanada who slotted it home from 6 yards.
Jason Withe, UCFC's manager, wanted to change their playing dynamic in by swapping Schrock and Ott for Ingham and Dizon.
Further lapses in UCFC's defenses were exposed when UCFC's Pinthus poorly collected a lobbed pass near edge of the box that bounced towards Tachibanada, shooting from range towards an empty net. UCFC trails 5-nil in the 65th minute.
Nazari was also swapped out for Adam as we approach the 70th minute. This was immediately followed by UCFC's failure to clear a blocked shot that fell conveniently in front of Tachibanada, nicking his hat trick in the 70th minute and raising Kawasaki's advantage 6-0.
The scoreline was definitely taking its toll on UCFC's players as frustration can be visibly seen from them as we approach the final 15 minutes. Frontale didn't look like they were going to back off as they continue to find gaps within the defense, defending aggressively from the edge of UCFC's third.
United City's lone corner kick almost worked against them as a poor play led to a counter attack. They were almost made to pay more than what they could afford.
It did eventually come, though, as Kozuka found Mitoma with a long diagonal pass from midfield into space up front, leading to a brace for the Japanese forward. Kawasaki dominates 7-0 by the 82nd minute.
The Philippine champions still want to play for pride as they fight in the dying minutes, winning only their second corner. It was for naught though as no chance was created.
And just when we all thought it was done, Kawasaki had to put the icing on the cake by scoring their 8th goal in stoppage time, completing the rout.
This puts United City at a very disadvantageous position entering the second half of the group stages. They now sit at the bottom of Group I with a -15 goal difference.
The spectacle is certainly a good gauge to find out where Philippine Football stands. But the second half of the group stages is just about to begin, so more football action is yet to be seen.
See you on the touchline.
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