Urawa Reds and Avispa Fukuoka couldn’t be separated in the 2025 MEIJI YASUDA J1 LEAGUE on Sunday evening, as the pair played out a 0-0 draw in front of 33,850 fans at Saitama Stadium 2002.
The game may have finished scoreless but it wasn’t for the want of trying, and both goalkeepers put in excellent shifts to ensure their sides were able to take a point apiece from the game.
Urawa’s Kaito Yasui was the first to call Fukuoka’s Yuma Obata into action after a quarter of an hour, seizing upon a loose pass and driving an effort towards goal from almost 35 yards. Obata was equal to it though, keeping the ball out after diving at full stretch to his left.
Yusuke Matsuo then tested Obata’s reflexes with a stinging low drive from the corner of the penalty area in the 29th minute, but Fukuoka’s custodian did enough to repel the powerful strike before gathering it into his arms at the second time of asking.
Matsuo had another attempt eight minutes later, but this time his left-foot shot from 25 yards took a deflection and flew narrowly past Obata’s left-hand upright.
Fukuoka also went close on a couple of occasions as the first half drew to a close, with Kazuya Konno and Masato Yuzawa both having decent sights of goal.
First up, in the 42nd minute, Konno robbed Urawa’s Samuel Gustafson just inside the area and bore down on goal, but his stinging strike was repelled by Urawa’s veteran goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa.
Konno then almost turned provider one minute before half-time as he sent a teasing cross into the area towards Yuzawa, but while the right wing-back managed to get to the ball first ahead of a couple of Urawa defenders he saw it squirt agonisingly wide of the far post.
Chances were at more of a premium in the second period as both teams sought to strike a balance between defence and attack, but each did have opportunities to snatch the win.
Urawa’s best chance came in the 53rd minute when Danilo Boza rose highest at the back post to meet Matsuo’s dinked cross, but Obata was once again positioned perfectly and made the stop.
Meanwhile, Masato Shigemi was presented with Fukuoka’s clearest sight of goal, but after Konno laid into his path in the 65th minute the midfielder dragged his shot from the edge of the area just wide of Nishikawa’s right-hand post.
The point leaves Urawa in eighth place on 38 points - eight behind league leaders Vissel Kobe - while Fukuoka are six points further back in 11th place, 11 points above the relegation zone.
Urawa Reds vs. Avispa Fukuoka - Game Highlights | 2025 J1 LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS | MW 23
