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Kitakyushu 3 - 3 Grosso (340424260)
League Rain 09-10-2011 04.15
It had rained all day, but 36891 hardy fans still made it out to 36 Chambers of Death. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Kitakyushu. The following players took the field: Pacovský - Ciullo, Dékány, Hernandez - Tancău, Van Wilderode, Jiménez, Borbeck, 井上 (Inoue) - Hernández, Capatonda.

Grosso tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Starters: Iordănescu - Cangea, 大久保 (Okubo), Caiová, Olkkonen - Groenhof, Sasada, Carcova, Gudvangen - Ochimiya, Taniguchi.

Kitakyushu clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. The wings were the focus of most of Grosso's attacks on this day. Laurence Ciullo had a grin on his face as he raced down the field, almost oblivious to the rain. Kitakyushu made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in on the right hand side left Martín Jiménez completely alone with keeper Raul Iordănescu, who made a spectacular block. Korbinian Borbeck, who often relies on his speed, had a rotten day on the drenched grass. Kitakyushu mounted an inspired counterattack down the right wing after 22 minutes, but Olivér Dékány was unable to convert from short range. 0 - 1 was the score with 26 minutes played, after Grosso's Claudiu Cangea cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal. Almost all the way down to the corner flag, Grosso's Birger Gudvangen somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for Yutaku Taniguchi, who struck for 0 - 2. With the scoreboard showing that 32 minutes had been played, Grosso nearly put themselves up another goal after Tsuneari Sasada came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. 36 minutes into the game, 由宇 (Yu) 井上 (Inoue) finished off a Kitakyushu left wing counterattack, making the score 1 - 2. Kitakyushu's Remo Capatonda was shown a yellow card after 37 minutes for slicing down an opponent. 1 - 2 was the halftime score. This half belonged to Grosso, who controlled the ball 58 percent of the time.

After 68 minutes of play, Remo Capatonda evened things up for Kitakyushu with an impressive goal coming up the middle. 2 - 2. Tsuneari Sasada had a difficult time on the field; the muddy surface was clearly affecting his technique. The referee signaled a penalty for the home side after 79 minutes, amid vocal protests from the visitors. Kitakyushu fans erupted in celebration as Martín Jiménez rifled the go-ahead goal into the the top corner. 3 - 2! Llamil Erza Hernández should probably have put his team up another goal after 83 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by Raul Iordănescu kept the visitors in the game. After 88 minutes Kitakyushu's Olivér Dékány had to be carried off on a stretcher in agony. Cem Ergün came in to replace him. Grosso levelled the score after 89 minutes to make it 3 - 3, as Taiyoh Ochimiya struck home after a fine midfield combination through the middle, leaving him completely unmarked. The forty-five minutes were dominated by Grosso, with an impressive 58 percent possession of the ball.

Kitakyushu's top performer was clearly 由宇 (Yu) 井上 (Inoue). However, Martín Jiménez made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Grosso player was without a doubt César Carcova. On the other hand, Raul Iordănescu's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 3.