Vissel Kobe Vs. Johor Darul Takzim: The Iniesta & Ogawa Show
Credit: Johor Southern Tigers
Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) were handed a brutal lesson by Andres Iniesta & Keijiro Ogawa as they helped Vissel Kobe to an emphatic 5-1 victory at the Misaki Park Stadium.
JDT spurned a golden chance though on eight minutes. Winning a free-kick on the left. Safawi Rasid finds Diogo Luis Santo, only for him of all people to sky his free header over the bar.On the 13-minute mark, Kobe made them pay and has the lead. And it was no surprise that it was Iniesta who provided the assist. Superb vision by the 2010 World Cup winner finds Keijiro Ogawa’s run with a brilliant lofted 30m pass from inside his own half. Ogawa, finding himself with so much free space, then beautifully chipped the ball into the far post just barely past Farizal Marlias’ full-stretched hand for an early lead.
JDT however then earned a lifeline on 27 minutes. Quick thinking by La’vere Corbin-Ong played a throw-in to Diogo, whose cross was then blocked by Vermaelen’s hand, making referee Alireza Faghani immediately pointing to the spot. Despite Kobe keeper, Hiroki Iikura guessing the right way, Safawi put enough power and placement to score the equalizer.
However, Kobe struck back immediately after that. Daigo Nishi from the right played a pass to the left. Kunanlan crucially slipped and it resulted in Kyogo Furuhashi reacting quickly by taking the shot first time. The ball looped over Farizal, whose positioning came into question, and into the net.
JDT did well to weather the pressure in the first half. But everything fell apart in the second half as Kobe slowly but surely amped up the tempo and on 58 minutes, they got the third goal they wanted.
Iniesta was the architect again. From the right, Iniesta played a sublime reverse pass for Gotoku Sakai to receive. Then from the byline, Sakai cuts it back for Ogawa to score his second despite Mauricio’s best efforts to block the shot.
Seven minutes later, they scored the fourth. Douglas easily outmuscled Aidil Zafuan and he coolly shoots past Farizal. Ogawa could’ve got his hat-trick had he not skewed his shot wide of the far post on 69 minutes.
Eventually, Ogawa did get his hat-trick. Once again, it was Iniesta who played a part as he delivered an excellent weighted cross into the far post and Ogawa could not have an easier chance to complete his treble on the night. Kobe could’ve had six had substitute Noriaki Fujimoto not see his one-on-one effort saved by Farizal’s leg on 86 minutes.
JDT could’ve had a second goal seconds before full-time. But the shot from Corbin-Ong just wouldn’t go in after it took a few deflections off a few Kobe players as the hosts wrapped up an excellent victory.
Vissel Kobe XI:
18 Hiroki Iikura
22 Daigo Nishi
25 Leo Osaki
4 Thomas Vermaelen
24 Gotoku Sakai
14 Takuya Yasui
27 Yuta Goke
8 Andres Iniesta (19 Ryo Hatsuse, ’87)
13 Keijiro Ogawa
11 Kyogo Furuhashi (21 Junya Tanaka, ’76)
49 Douglas (9 Noriaki Fujimoto, ’73)
Subs:1 Daiya Maekawa
3 Hirofumi Watanabe
17 Ryucho Kikuchi
19 Ryo Hatsuse
44 So Fujitani
Booked: Kyogo Furuhashi (’45)
JDT XI:1 Farizal Marlias
33 Mauricio
7 Aidil Zafuan
12 S. Kunanlan (3 Adam Nor Azlin ’61)
22 La’vere Corbin-Ong
14 Hariss Harun
4 Afiq Fazail
21 Nazmi Faiz (30 Natxo Insa, ’66)
29 Safawi Rasid
11 Gonzalo Cabrera (28 Syafiq Ahmad, ’81)
8 Diogo Luis Santo
Subs:24 Izham Tarmizi
5 Syamer Kutty Abba
19 Akhyar Rashid
27 Fadhli Shas
Booked: S. Kunanlan (’14), Afiq Fazail (’31), Safawi Rasid (’45)