Suita City Football Stadium‚ Osaka‚ Japan - Mamelodi Sundowns were awakened from their Fifa Club World Cup dream by Kashima Antlers’ pragmatic and brutally effective 2-0 quarterfinal victory at Suita City Football Stadium in Osaka on Sunday night.
Sundowns’ intricate passing moves dominating a first half where they could have been 3-0 up and were pleasing to the eye.
Antlers appeared completely outclassed in the opening 45 minutes‚ and to have very little to offer going forward.
Perhaps‚ though‚ they had just been sizing their opponents up.
Coming back from the break their frontline was devastatingly quick and picked Downs’ defence apart with a frantic pace‚ leading to Yasushi Endo’s 62nd-minute opener.
Defender Naomichi Ueda swept in an 88th-minute second.
As has been the case for South African football on the world stage on so many occasions‚ it was not just poor finishing that let Sundowns down but also a naivety in being streetwise at this level.
If Sunday night’s game was a beauty contest Downs would have walked it.
But for pure effective cleverness Antlers deserved their victory.
Sundowns would not have known how they went to the break with the game at 0-0.
They had six clear scoring opportunities‚ and more half-chances‚ with none in reply‚ but could not get the ball in the net.
Downs initially did not freeze on the stage or in the 8 degrees Celsius cold‚ and played their brand of beautiful passing football‚ at times toying with Antlers‚ but somehow without an end product.
They had their first chance in the third minute when Percy Tau was dispossessed on a run in from the right and Tiyani Mabunda shot a few feet high.
And the opportunities kept coming.
Khama Billiat dispossessed centreback Gen Shoji but could not find Leonardo Castro.
Billiat played Mabunda in on the right whose cross-cum-shot was palmed by goalkeeper Hitoshi Soyahata from in front of the lurking Castro.
Shoji’s slip allowed Tau free on goal and with Ueda closing the Downs forward shot and forced a diving save from Soyahata.
In Downs’ best chance of the half Tau put Tebogo Langerman down the left to cross‚ with Billiat stretching to volley over from six metres.
A stunning build-up ended with Mabunda’s shot that again had Soyahata at full stretch.
Having been let off in the first half the home team got their mobile‚ electrically quick attack functioning in a devastating 15 minutes from the break.
There was suddenly a sting in Antlers passing as Shoma Doi’s shot had to be cleared in front of the line by Mabunda.
Antlers got their dangerous full-backs going forward and should have scored when left-back Shuto Yamamoto crossed and right-back Daigo Nishi’s shot was palmed by Denis Onyango and onto Wayne Arendse’s head on the goal-line.
The Japanese club’s pace and precision in attack was overwhelming for Sundowns.
They duly scored when Antlers opened the South Africans‚ Gaku Shibasaki laid off and Endo had space and time to get his finish in off the legs of Onyango.
A shellshocked Sundowns seemed not to know how to recover from the Antlers’ blitz.
They earned a corner‚ where Nascimento headed Dolly’s delivery just over.
Watching the replays Sundowns might feel they have cause to complain about the near-side assistant referee’s offside calls in the second half.
Substitute Yuma Suzuki’s run down that opened the Pretoria team again appeared offside but the cross allowed Ueda a simple finish for Antlers’ second.
Sundowns now only have fifth place left to play for in Wednesday's playoff match against South Korea's Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. - TMG Digital
* Marc Strydom is in Japan as a guest of Mamelodi Sundowns
Clinical Kashima Antlers give Sundowns a rude awakening and punish the Brazilians
Suita City Football Stadium‚ Osaka‚ Japan - Mamelodi Sundowns were awakened from their Fifa Club World Cup dream by Kashima Antlers’ pragmatic and brutally effective 2-0 quarterfinal victory at Suita City Football Stadium in Osaka on Sunday night.
Sundowns’ intricate passing moves dominating a first half where they could have been 3-0 up and were pleasing to the eye.
Antlers appeared completely outclassed in the opening 45 minutes‚ and to have very little to offer going forward.
Perhaps‚ though‚ they had just been sizing their opponents up.
Coming back from the break their frontline was devastatingly quick and picked Downs’ defence apart with a frantic pace‚ leading to Yasushi Endo’s 62nd-minute opener.
Defender Naomichi Ueda swept in an 88th-minute second.
As has been the case for South African football on the world stage on so many occasions‚ it was not just poor finishing that let Sundowns down but also a naivety in being streetwise at this level.
If Sunday night’s game was a beauty contest Downs would have walked it.
But for pure effective cleverness Antlers deserved their victory.
Sundowns would not have known how they went to the break with the game at 0-0.
They had six clear scoring opportunities‚ and more half-chances‚ with none in reply‚ but could not get the ball in the net.
Downs initially did not freeze on the stage or in the 8 degrees Celsius cold‚ and played their brand of beautiful passing football‚ at times toying with Antlers‚ but somehow without an end product.
They had their first chance in the third minute when Percy Tau was dispossessed on a run in from the right and Tiyani Mabunda shot a few feet high.
And the opportunities kept coming.
Khama Billiat dispossessed centreback Gen Shoji but could not find Leonardo Castro.
Billiat played Mabunda in on the right whose cross-cum-shot was palmed by goalkeeper Hitoshi Soyahata from in front of the lurking Castro.
Shoji’s slip allowed Tau free on goal and with Ueda closing the Downs forward shot and forced a diving save from Soyahata.
In Downs’ best chance of the half Tau put Tebogo Langerman down the left to cross‚ with Billiat stretching to volley over from six metres.
A stunning build-up ended with Mabunda’s shot that again had Soyahata at full stretch.
Having been let off in the first half the home team got their mobile‚ electrically quick attack functioning in a devastating 15 minutes from the break.
There was suddenly a sting in Antlers passing as Shoma Doi’s shot had to be cleared in front of the line by Mabunda.
Antlers got their dangerous full-backs going forward and should have scored when left-back Shuto Yamamoto crossed and right-back Daigo Nishi’s shot was palmed by Denis Onyango and onto Wayne Arendse’s head on the goal-line.
The Japanese club’s pace and precision in attack was overwhelming for Sundowns.
They duly scored when Antlers opened the South Africans‚ Gaku Shibasaki laid off and Endo had space and time to get his finish in off the legs of Onyango.
A shellshocked Sundowns seemed not to know how to recover from the Antlers’ blitz.
They earned a corner‚ where Nascimento headed Dolly’s delivery just over.
Watching the replays Sundowns might feel they have cause to complain about the near-side assistant referee’s offside calls in the second half.
Substitute Yuma Suzuki’s run down that opened the Pretoria team again appeared offside but the cross allowed Ueda a simple finish for Antlers’ second.
Sundowns now only have fifth place left to play for in Wednesday's playoff match against South Korea's Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. - TMG Digital
* Marc Strydom is in Japan as a guest of Mamelodi Sundowns
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