Vissel Kobe pulled off a dramatic late comeback to beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-1 in their make-up fixture from REGIONAL ROUND Match Week 5 in the MEIJI YASUDA J1 100 YEAR VISION LEAGUE on Friday, in the process moving to the top of the West table on 16 points.
The first half was something of a battle of attrition at NOEVIR Stadium Kobe, and the closest either side came to opening the scoring was when Kobe's Mitsuki Hidaka fired an effort just wide of Issei Ouchi’s right-hand post in the 32nd minute.
The second half saw much more goalmouth action, however, and visitors Hiroshima broke the deadlock just four minutes after the break.
Akito Suzuki saw his first attempt well saved by Daiya Maekawa, but the ball broke kindly for Kosuke Kinoshita, who tapped into the vacant net from close range.
Kinoshita then thought he had doubled Hiroshima’s lead in the 61st minute, but after a VAR check his finish was ruled out for offside
Three minutes later Yosuke Ideguchi had a shot from the edge of the area deflected behind for Kobe, and in the 71st minute Hiroshima’s Mutsuki Kato glanced a header from a corner goalwards, only for Kobe defender Katsuya Nagato to superbly to clear the ball off the line and keep the score at 1-0.
The hosts then drew level with six minutes remaining, Takahiro Ohgihara guiding a sensational penalty into the top corner after Diego had been fouled by Hiroshima goalkeeper Ouchi.
The turnaround was completed in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Yuya Osako tucking in from just in front of goal after a Rikuto Hirose header had struck the foot of the post and fallen perfectly for him.
Vissel Kobe vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima - Game Highlights | MW5
