15 Nov 2004(Mon)

That was a big win, and a welcome three points, for Kashiwa Reysol in midweek, wasn't it?

They really needed to beat Albirex Niigata in their "away" game at National Stadium, and did so 3-1 to move five points clear of Cerezo Osaka in the scramble to avoid 16th place in J1.

With Cerezo on 19 points and Reysol on 24 with only three games remaining, it is going to be extremely difficult for the Osaka club to overhaul the Chiba team. It means Cerezo must win at least two of their remaining games, preferably all three, and two of them are away from home.

Talking about home grounds, I have built up an impression over the years as Hitachi Stadium being a "fortress" for Reysol.

It's a small, compact ground, and there's a really good atmosphere with the fans so close to the pitch.

It can also be intimidating for the away team, due to the presence of the excitable Yellow Monkeys throwing themselves into the pitch-side netting behind the goal.

But for all this, Reysol have won only one league match at Hitachi Stadium all season...and that was on the opening day, 2-1 against Oita Trinita.

That is surely the root of all Reysol's problems, as you must win your home games to build up any consistency.

Their most recent defeat was at home to Verdy, who won 2-0 with two very nicely taken goals from the young striker Morimoto.

The Verdy forward took them both with a great deal of maturity and composure, suggesting he could be a key figure in Japan's age-group teams for the next six years. Surely he will get the chance to play in Japan's next under-23 team when they try to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

The day after that Verdy win at Kashiwa, Cerezo drew 2-2 at Iwata and were only three minutes away from victory.

What I couldn't understand about the Cerezo defence is how they left Fukunishi--one of the best headers of a ball in Japan--unmarked in the penalty box to head home Jubilo's late equaliser.

Fukunishi had already scored a header in the first half, but amazingly the Cerezo defence failed to pick him up at Nanami's corner from the left, and the national team midfielder does not miss from so close to goal.

Little mistakes like this prove costly over a season, and on that day at Iwata it cost Cerezo two points, as they went home with one instead of three.

Despite their awful home form, it looks like Reysol will escape this season.

ends