マシカ選手、ヴィッセル
It was Yamaguchi who gave Kobe the lead with only two minutes played after exchanging passes with Timbe, before beating Tokushima goalkeeper will a low effort.
The goal gave Kobe a spring in their step, and they continued to raid Tokushima’s danger zone and Timbe could have scored the second in the 12th minute but his ferocious left-footed strike was punched out a fruitless corner by the Tokushima goalkeeper.
The game went into the half-time break with Kobe leading 1-0 and in the second half, Atsuhiro Miura introduced former Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta, who came in for Tatsunori Sakurai, and the move added some punch to Kobe’s attacking line.
“Both [Lincoln] Correa dos Santos and [Andres] Iniesta are great players and playing with them is not that difficult. I think that the combination will get better as we play more games.”
On his impressions of participating in the full game for 90 minutes, Timbe said: I’m really happy to be able to play for 90 minutes. I think I was able to gradually improve my understanding of the conditions and the tactics of the team and join the team.
“I found the condition gradually improved and the feeling improved during the match, so I think it was a good 90 minutes in that sense as well.”
Caitlin Buckley / Black and Red United
Good morning! I have an unhealthy breakfast, I’m a little late getting to this, and without further adieu, let’s talk about D.C. United, the Washington Spirit, and other soccer teams who were written about on the internet yesterday.
Hernán Losada says #DCU will have to win a lot of physical duels because of San Jose s approach, but he adds that from watching MLS games so far since he arrived, being ready for a physical game will be an every-week thing. Jason Anderson (@JasonDCsoccer) April 29, 2021
Hernán Losada and Felipe Martins talked about tomorrow’s game, which is really tomorrow and Sunday’s game because it will start at 11pm Eastern. The San Jose Earthquakes pose a unique test for United, in that they’ll be the first team that is arguably trying to be even more abrasive to play against than the Black-and-Red.
Against Antlers, Timbe was handed a start by coach Atsuhiro Miura and he did not disappoint as in the 28th minute, he weaved past Antlers defenders before laying a neat pass to Furuhashi, who made no mistake with his first time shot for the deserved lead.
The former Beijing Renhe winger was also involved as Kobe almost went 2-0 up in the 34th minute: after dribbling past two defenders, his cross to Sergi Samper was cleared out of the danger zone by Antlers defender Kim Machida.
On signing for the team, Timbe, who also played for EFL Championship side Reading on loan from Renhe, revealed how Harambee Stars striker Michael Olunga played a hand in his transfer to Kobe.