Osaka beat Ventforet Kofu 3:0 in the Round of 128 of the J-League Cup on Tuesday. The hosts moved through despite having just 38 per cent of the ball, and here's the thing — they took the chances they got. The visitors controlled more territory but found no answer when it mattered.
S. Nagano opened the scoring in the sixth minute, a quick strike that set the tone for what followed. Ventforet Kofu had a yellow for S. Tachino in the thirty-third before the game settled into a rhythm of attacks and substitutions. By then Osaka were already two clear, though not comfortably.
T. Kitsui restored the two-goal cushion in the sixty-seventh minute, and K. Fukui added a third two minutes later. The visitors had made several changes — Y. Hiratsuka and Y. Natsukawa came on in the sixtieth and sixty-second, then three more for Ventforet at the sixty-eighth. Osaka responded with their own substitutions, bringing on K. Shin in the seventy-third.
The statistics tell a familiar story. Ventforet Kofu had 115 attacks to Osaka's 80, and 62 per cent possession against 38. They had more corners, more throw-ins, more free kicks. But they managed only three shots on target compared to Osaka's five, and three off target to five. The market has overreacted to the favourite, and here's the thing — the underdog held their nerve.
Osaka's recent form had been uneven — a loss to Shimizu S-Pulse, a win over Nara, then a defeat to Avispa Fukuoka. This result breaks that pattern of inconsistency. Ventforet Kofu had been on a run, beating Consadole Sapporo twice in consecutive matches, but the away end never stopped, and it wasn't enough.
The visitors made heavy changes, bringing on T. Kitsui, S. Nagano, and T. Shimada in the eighty-first minute — though the data shows those names belong to the home side, so the substitution pattern suggests a busy evening with both sides turning to their bench. T. Wada came on for Osaka in the eighty-fifth. The game was put to bed early, and Osaka advance.
