R38 A Well Fought Draw

FC Gifu 1 - 1 Avispa Fukuoka (ht 1-1)

FC Gifu finally found a bit of form and showed shades of the form which saw them regularly terrorize teams in the earlier stages of the competition.

Gifu though should not be content with just a draw here. The game was theirs after FW Aikawa knocked in a nice ball after 26 minutes. But a bogus referee penalty virtually handed a point back to Fukuoka in the 43rd minute when Hafner-Mike headed in.

In the second half both teams played on a similar level but with time slowly slipping away the referee continued to make bogus decisions against Gifu that resulted in minimal attacking chances for Gifu and thus a lack of any more goals.

For Gifu their defense was the tightest it's been in a while, while attack showed potential with Aikawa and Kojima the starting Forwards. Still though, this was three points that got away from Gifu... but I guess it's nice to even be able to say that after the last month especially!

Next game October 5th (away) vs Mito Hollyhock

These guys are on form, Gifu better watch out!

Winless Streak: 13 games

The Emperor's Cup New English Site

For lack of a English site I decided to make up a new site on my favorite competition - The Emperor's Cup. For all interested please follow this link.

R37 ...and back up to four!

Ventforet Kofu 4 - 0 FC Gifu (ht 1-0)

Try as they could, Gifu were once again outmuscled by a ressurgent Kofu and once again were left on the recieving end of a big scoreline.

There worst fears were realised when Kumamoto beat Yokohama leaving Roasso just one point behing Gifu in the table.

Next game September 27th (home) vs Avispa Fukuoka

Winless Streak: 12 games
Losing Streak: 5 games

Time for a win boys!

R36 Back to one...

Vegalta Sendai 1 - 0 FC Gifu (ht 1-0)

One point loss that is. FC Gifu played much better in this game and although they had Sendai on the back foot for alot of the game it was a fourth minute goal by Vegalta Captain Ryan Yon Gi that seperated the two teams at the end.

Next game September 23rd (away) vs Ventforet Kofu

Winless Streak: 11 games
Losing Streak: 5 games

R35 Oh wait... it does get worse!

FC Gifu 0 - 6 Cereso Osaka (ht 0-2)

For ten minutes Gifu played the best football I've seen them play in a couple of months. Unfortunately after two defensive lapses they were down 2-0 after just fifteen minutes.
They held on for the rest of the half and the fans were still quietly confident that Gifu could fight their way back.How wrong we all were.Osaka hit two more goals in regular time and to rub salt into the wound then pounded in two more in injury time.

It really is crisis time for Gifu now. The defense is in a shambles, the midfield lack the confidence to pass the ball forward, the forwards when they get the ball can't make the most of the opportunities that they get. To top things off Manager Matsunaga seems to be making some poor player selection and substitution choices.

The last time Gifu played Osaka they lost 5-0, but unlike that game when the ref handed the win to Osaka, this time it was all Gifu's fault. Osaka, didn't play anything special. They just scored when the chances came and played with confidence. Sendai and Kofu, who Gifu play next won't be shaking in their boots thats for sure. Might as well make it a competition, who can score the most against Gifu?

Winless Streak: 10 games
Losing Streak: 4 games

Next slaughter September 20th (away) vs Vegalta Sendai

R34 It don't come much worse than this!

Sanfreece Hiroshima 7 - 1 FC Gifu (ht 2-0)

Hiroshima gave Gifu a sacrificial slaughtering in Hiroshima last night, one that has left Gifu winless in their last nine games, and one that has finally seen Gifu drop down to twelth on the table below Mito.
The fact that Gifu rested their best forward Katagiri, arguably best defender Fukatsu, and their keeper Hino for this game showed that they probably went into the game thinking that a loss was inevitable.
But a 7-1 hiding was probably not in their predictions....
Like the last game in Hiroshima between the two Gifu started pretty strongly and defended stoutly only to see all their hard work undone by an own-goal to DF Komine in the 31st minute. Then just when it looked like they would hold on to a one goal deficit going into the second half, Hiroshima MF Morisaki scored a beautiful goal to with one minute to go beforte half time. This was effectively the killer blow for Gifu.
In the second half any slight splinters of hope were dashed when Hiroshima MF Takahagi scored after the first minute after a lucky deflection. This was followed by yet another own goal by Gifu DF Kikuchi Kan and a goal to Hiroshima MF Ri.
Gifu had a brief moment of glory when FW "Gacha" Katayama headed in a nice goal from a Kojima cross kick, but immediately they were put under the hammer again conceding two further goals to MF Takahagi and MF Aoyama.
It's funny, Gifu played alot more positive than in their 4-0 loss to Hiroshima in round 26, and in general their play was better, but the luck was definitely not on their side with two own goals and a cruel deflection... still, they were never going to win anyway!

In the end the best team in the league were playing the worst team in the league (in terms of recent performances) and I guess the result was a fare indication of how good Hiroshima are and how far Gifu have fallen....

Next Game September 15th (home) vs Cerezo Osaka

Should be a good crowd but Gifu are really going to have to pull something out of the bag if they want to end this run of poor form...