wf116: WE League 26/27 Week03 & Young Nadeshiko

(Excerpt) The temperature has dropped somehow, leading no longer to game conditions exceeding 30°C, but matches themselves are heated up. Urawa won against Beleza keeping the top spot on their home pitch, while Omiya and Chiba both secured wins at home against higher standing opponents. The highly anticipated match between Saitama and Nagano ended in a scoreless draw. It appears that two 17-year-old players have revitalized the Kobe squad. （抜粋和約）気温が下がったことで、試合中に30℃を超えるような過酷な状況はなくなりましたが、試合そのものは熱を帯びた展開となりました。浦和はホームでベレーザを下して首位の座をキープし、大宮と千葉もそれぞれホームで上位チームから勝利を収めました。注目された埼玉対長野の一戦は、スコアレスドローに終わっています。神戸のチームには、17歳の2選手が新たな活気をもたらしたようです。

[[[[Foreword]]]]
The temperature has dropped somehow, leading to no longer game conditions exceeding 30°C, but matches themselves are heated up.
The U-20 World Cup in Poland has kicked off. Japan, the Young Nadeshiko, won their opening group stage match against New Zealand 2–1. Despite dominating the shot count, the match remained deadlocked at 1–1 until stoppage time in the second half, highlighting the need for adjustments ahead of the upcoming match against the United States.

[ [ [ .WE League 26/27 Week 03 ] ] ]
[ Blogger’s Preview on September 3rd ]
All eyes are on the top-of-the-table clash between Urawa and Beleza. The match between Saitama and Nagano—teams said to be “different this year”—is also intriguing. How will the showdown between in-form Osaka and Hiroshima play out? And can Kobe bounce back?

[Overall Review]
Urawa won against Beleza keeping the top spot on their home pitch, while Omiya and Chiba both secured wins at home against higher standing opponents. The highly anticipated match between Saitama and Nagano ended in a scoreless draw. It appears that two 17-year-old players have revitalized the Kobe squad. Overall, perhaps due to improved shooting technique, several excellent mid-range shots found the back of the net.

[ Results of Matches ]
The numbers in the parentheses indicate their standing before the matches of this week. The attendance in total for week 03 was 10,623 with Match of week 07 excluded.

Match1 of Week 07 (9/2 19:00): Kobe (7) 2-2 Nagano (12)
at Noevir Stadium Kobe (29.0C) with attendance of 1,312.
Kobe’s goals: R. Yoshida (34′), M. Takase (82′)
Nagano’s goals: M. Tsuneda (27′), A. Osaijma (39′)
Shots: 17:10 (7:7)
(A match of shifted date due to AWCL)

Match1 (9/5 18:00): Urawa (1) 3-1 Beleza (2)
at Urawa Komaba Stadium (24.4C) with attendance of 2,770.
Urawa’s goals: K. Sakakibara (4′), W. Onishi (28′), M. Ito (37 ‘)
Beleza’s goal: R. Ujihara (39 ‘)
Shots: 12:8 (7:4)

Match2 (9/5 18:00): Omiya (11) 2-1 Niigata (4)
at NACK5 Stadium Omiya (24.3C) with attendance of 2,154.
Omiya’s goals: H. Nishio (55′), M. Hamada (65′)
Niigata’s goal: K. Shimbori (12′)
Shots: 6:4 (2:2)

Match3 (9/5 18:00): Saitama (8) 0-0 Nagano (12)
at Kumagaya Sports and Culture Park Athletics Stadium (25.0C) with attendance of 789.
Shots: 8:6 (4:2)

Match4 (9/5 18:00): Chiba (10) 2-0 Sendai (6)
at Fukuda Denshi Arena (24.2C) with attendance of 1,104.
Chiba’s goals: A. Inoue (26′), Y. Ogawa (77′)
Shots: 12:9 (9:2)

Match5 (9/5 18:00): Osaka (3) 0-1 Hiroshima (5)
at Yanmar Hanasaka Stadium (28.0C) with attendance of 3,401.
Hiroshima’s goal: M. Matsumoto (82′)
Shots: 3:5 (1:3)

Match6 (9/6 17:00): Sagamihara (9) 1-4 Kobe (7)
at Sagamihara Gion Stadium (20.1C) with attendance of 405.
Sagamihara’s goal: J. Ito (31′)
Kobe’s goals: K. Matsuura (54′), A. Ota (74′), Y. Kishida (78′), R. Yoshida (85′)
Shots: 10:10 (6:2)

Standings at the end of this week’s matches (points, goal difference)
(1) Urawa (9, +7)
(2) Kobe* (7, +3)
(3) Beleza (6, +2)
(4) Hiroshima (6, +2)
(5) Osaka (4, +1)
(6) Niigata (4, 0)
(7) Saitama (4, 0)
(8) Chiba (3, -1)
(9) Sendai (3, -2)
(10) Omiya (3, -2)
(11) Sagamihara (3, -6)
(12) Nagano* (2, -4)
* There is one extra match due to the Week 7 game being rescheduled to accommodate the AWCL schedule.