Nagoya Grampus became the eighth and final club to book their place in the Emperor's Cup JFA 105th Japan Football Championship quarter-finals on Wednesday, as they came from a goal down to win 2-1 away at Tokyo Verdy in the Round of 16.
Tokyo-V took the lead early on in the all-MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE clash at Ajinomoto Stadium, when Yuta Arai was played in behind on the left flank and did superbly to cut into the box and then tuck the ball into the net from an incredibly tight angle in the 12th minute.
Issei Kumatoriya almost doubled Tokyo-V’s lead with a low shot from the edge of the area nine minutes later, but Nagoya goalkeeper Daniel Schmidt got down well to make the save.
The visitors then equalised in the 26th minute, when Takuya Uchida reacted quickest to a loose ball in the area. Tokyo-V goalkeeper Matheus had done well to save a header from Yudai Kimura, but Uchida was on hand to nudge home the rebound from close range.
Nagoya’s Schmidt was called into action again in the 34th minute, getting both hands to Rei Hirakawa’s powerful drive from distance, and Tetsuyuki Inami headed just over from inside the penalty area five minutes later as Tokyo-V looked to re-establish their lead before half-time.
The score remained tied at the break though, and the hosts were also the first to threaten in the second half when Soma Meshino blazed an attempt over the bar from 20 yards after some neat build-up play in the 50th minute.
The decisive moment then fell Nagoya’s way in the 81st minute, when a foul in the area saw them awarded a penalty. Sho Inagaki made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Matheus the wrong way as he slotted coolly into the bottom left-hand corner of the net to complete his side’s turnaround and book Nagoya’s place in the quarter-finals, where they will take on Sanfrecce Hiroshima on August 27th.
