18 Jun 2009(Thu)

June 16, 2009: It's hard to know where to start when writing about the Saitama derby on Saturday, as there were so many positives for Reds and so many negatives for Ardija in the 6-2 scoreline.

What impressed me about Urawa even before the kick-off was that no fewer than eight of the 18 players on the team sheet (four in the starting line-up and four on the bench) came directly from the club's youth team.

On top of this, Tsuzuki, Tulio and Abe were with the national squad, and Ponte and Tatsuya Tanaka headed a list of injured senior pros.

So for Reds to run away with this one, when derby matches are traditionally tight, left German boss Volker Finke purring at the progress of his team.

There were some very well-taken goals among the six, too, my favourite being Haraguchi's to make it 5-1. Haraguchi has been overshadowed recently by the rapid rise of fellow teen Naoki Yamada, but on this afternoon he scored a beauty to underline his rich potential, checking inside a defender before curling the ball into the top corner with his right foot, beyond the keeper and over a defender.

Haraguchi can often over-elaborate, doing too much on the ball when he has already worked an opening, but on this occasion he got it just right -- some fancy footwork to open up the angle and then the sumptuous finish. Quick and clinical.

With Edmilson and Takahara linking well with the two young wide men, and Hosogai and Suzuki locking up the centre of the park, Omiya could not stop the red flow of attacks, especially with 10 men.

I couldn't understand why Fujimoto felt it necessary to shove Takahara in the back as they followed the flight of Hosogai's cross to the back post. You could see the push clearly from halfway up the main stand, and it didn't look like "Taka" would reach the ball anyway. A second yellow card for Fujimoto, followed by red, a penalty for Edmilson, 2-0 against 10 men and game over.

Omiya, with Croatian centre back Mato Neretljak given a break from Nabisco Cup duty to prepare for J1, capitalised on some sloppy Reds defending to grab two consolation goals, but they couldn't wait for the final whistle to end the torment and get out of there. Of course they felt hard done to by Urawa's opening goal on 38 minutes, when Naoki Yamada looked well offisde, but that was no excuse for the second-half collapse.

Having started the Nabisco Cup group with seven points from three games, conceding only one goal, Omiya shipped 16 in their next three, losing 7-0 at Hiroshima, 3-1 at home to Marinos and now 6-2 against Reds.

Saitama derby? More like a demolition derby -- and problems galore for Omiya as the league prepares to resume.

ends