Sanfrecce Hiroshima defeated Okinawa 4:1 in the second round of the Emperor's Cup on Wednesday evening at their home ground. The hosts took control early and never looked back, while the visitors struggled to find any rhythm after conceding before the quarter-hour mark.
It began badly for Okinawa at the twelfth minute when their own player turned the ball into his net, and that moment stayed with me — you can see how quickly a game changes when you're watching rather than reading the score. T. Matsumoto doubled the lead shortly after at fourteen, and to be fair, the visitors had nothing to do all evening after that. M. Kato added two more, at forty-one and fifty, before S. Ayukawa scored a consolation at seventy-nine.
By then, the result was settled, but the statistics tell a different story. Hiroshima had possession of 52 per cent and registered six shots on target alongside six off target, while Okinawa managed five on target and four off. The attacks were evenly matched at 111 to 107, and both sides had the same number of throw-ins at twenty-six each.
What struck me watching from the stands was how Hiroshima kept knocking on the door without needing much space. They earned six corners to Okinawa's eight, and the visitors actually had more free kicks — eleven to thirteen — but couldn't turn that into anything meaningful.
The hosts came in with momentum from their recent form, having beaten Urawa 4:1 and drawn with Kawasaki Frontale 1:1 in their last two outings. Okinawa, meanwhile, had lost four of their previous five matches and were clearly out of sorts. The scoreline reflected that gap, and the Emperor's Cup second round is now behind them both — Hiroshima progressing, Okinawa going home.