History was made in the Emperor's Cup JFA 105th Japan Football Championship Round of 16 on Wednesday, as MEIJI YASUDA J3 LEAGUE side S.C. Sagamihara progressed to the quarter-finals for the first time ever with a 2-1 extra-time win over Blaublitz Akita.
Akito Takagi put Sagamihara ahead in the 34th minute when he converted from close to the penalty spot, but Daiki Sato equalised for Akita of the MEIJI YASUDA J2 LEAGUE with five minutes of regular time remaining.
It looked as though the game would then be heading for penalties after a tense 30 minutes of extra-time, but Takumi Kato made himself the hero for Sagamihara in the very last minute - bravely challenging Akita goalkeeper Soki Yatagai for a loose ball after a long throw into the area, and doing just enough to send it over the line and spark joyous celebrations.
Reigning champions Vissel Kobe also needed a goal right at the end of extra-time to ensure they kept their title defence alive, after being pushed all the way by TOYO University.
Haruya Ide opened the scoring for Kobe in the 13th minute, after Ren Komatsu used his strength to win possession in the TOYO penalty area and squared for him to slot home. Mahiro Yunomae levelled for TOYO 23 minutes later though, converting with a fierce drive across goal after Yusei Yamanouchi had done superbly to get in behind on the left flank and then kept his composure to find Yunomae just inside the area.
There was to be heartbreak for TOYO and delight for Kobe in the 121st minute though, as Taisei Miyashiro capitalised upon a loose ball and headed home from close range to seal his side’s passage to the last eight.
Kashima Antlers joined them there in similarly dramatic fashion, courtesy of a 3-2 extra-time win over fellow MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE side Avispa Fukuoka.
Cavric and Kei Chinen had twice given Kashima the lead, only for Fukuoka to level things up through Yota Maejima and Shahab Zahedi - the latter in the third minute of injury time - but Yuma Suzuki decided things in Kashima’s favour four minutes before the end of extra-time when he headed home a Ryoya Ogawa corner.
In the day’s other games, goals from Takuro Kaneko and Hiiro Komori steered Urawa Reds to a 2-1 comeback win over Montedio Yamagata after Shintaro Kokubu had put Yamagata in front, FC TOKYO beat Cerezo Osaka by the same score - Teruhito Nakagawa and Motoki Nagakura finding the net for FC TOKYO and Shinji Kagawa registering for C-Osaka - Naoki Maeda, Sota Nakamura, and Kosuke Kinoshita earned Sanfrecce Hiroshima a 3-0 win against Shimizu S-Pulse, and Shota Fujio’s solitary strike was enough for FC Machida Zelvia to edge a tight contest with Kyoto Sanga F.C. 1-0.
