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Yokohama F. Marinos Are the Official J1-League Champs For 2022
This past weekend was an emotional rollercoaster for the J1-League fans because of what was at stake. It was a title race between Yokohama F. Marinos with their fixture, as well as Kawasaki Frontale with theirs. Kawasaki did their absolute best to try and salvage their season, and to possibly keep their hopes alive of clinching a 3-peat. They went up against FC Tokyo, who weren't prepared to give them an easy game at all! The game started off with Kawasaki showing intent and brought the intensity from the kick-off. It wasn't surprising when they scored first from a powerful strike of the ball, just outside the eighteen area. As much as they tried to bully and enforce their authority on their opponents, FC Tokyo were prepared to put up a fight and ruin it for them. They equalized a few moments later and this created a momentum shift for the remainder of the first half. Things heated up and emotions ran high during the second half with Kawasaki receiving a red card because of dangerous play. The goalkeeper made a foul play on the FC Tokyo center-forward- Silva. He had to be sent off!
With Kawasaki being one player short, Tokyo was prepared to capitalize by applying more pressure. They were able to score their second goal, which made it 2-1. To a certain extent, the team from Tokyo may have become somewhat complacent during the match. They believed that the job was done and started making unforced errors. Unfortunately for them, these kind of mistakes allowed Frontale to creep back into the game and were able to equalize via an own goal by FC Tokyo. An unforced error that would haunt them for the remainder of the match. Frontale started to believe again, and just before full-time, they scored a third goal because of another unforced error made by the defense, which caused an interception. Brazilian mid-field player- Marcinho, scored an amazing goal from the cross pass, by his teammate, as a result of that interception. Kawasaki celebrated with jubilation as they won the match 3-2. Now they had to wait to find out how Yokohama F. Marinos would fare against Vissel Kobe.
F. Marinos found themselves in a very fortunate position by facing an under performing- Vissel Kobe team, for their chance to win the league. Vissel Kobe have improved a lot since the summer transfer period, and have won a few games to show for it. But even with that, they would be no match for a team that is on the brink of championship success. F. Marinos were a little bit unlucky in the beginning of the game when they had a goal disallowed. It seemed like it was going to be a long day for the men from Yokohama. Fortunately, this was a team that was prepared to maintain their high-tempo football.
A second opportunity presented itself, and this time around, they weren't prepared to butcher it. Yokohama F. Marinos was 1-0 up and it didn't take long for them to score goal number two. Regardless of Yokohama's full game dominance, Vissel Kobe weren't willing to be embarrassed on their home turf. They were able to a few glimpses of greatness and scored to keep their aspirations alive. However, that was short-lived as F.Marinos scored a third goal to seal the deal! They definitely deserve to be the champions of 2022. This is one team that has shown unwavering consistency and were fortunate to have the least injuries. Their player management was second to none.
What a season!!!!!
By: Zila Mbekela
Football Agent- Japan
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