NAGASAKI (Interstat) — V-Varen Nagasaki scored four unanswered goals and shut out Sanfrecce Hiroshima at PEACE STADIUM Connected by SoftBank in Nagasaki. The home side opened the scoring in the 36th minute through Hijiri Onaga, who had been booked in the 27th. Matheus Jesus made it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time with a goal in the 45th minute. V-Varen Nagasaki controlled the match from that point and kept Sanfrecce Hiroshima from scoring.

Matheus Jesus was the top star for V-Varen Nagasaki. He played 90 minutes and finished with one goal and two assists. He had also played 90 minutes in each of his previous two appearances, at Kashima Antlers and at Chiba. Kenshin Yasuda scored twice in 36 minutes, finding the net in the 73rd minute and again in the 90+7th minute. Hijiri Onaga played 76 minutes and had one goal and one yellow card. Takashi Sawada played 54 minutes and recorded one assist. Jonathan Junior played 76 minutes, had one assist and received a yellow card in the 60th minute.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima played the final 24 minutes plus stoppage time with 10 men after Haller S. was sent off in the 66th minute. V-Varen Nagasaki capitalized. Yasuda’s goal at 73 minutes came after the red card and gave the home side a three-goal cushion. His second at 90+7 completed the scoring. V-Varen Nagasaki made substitutions at 23, 54 and 76 minutes, with Ominami T. entering early and Sawada T., Yoneda S., Jonathan Junior and Onaga H. coming on later. Sanfrecce Hiroshima made changes at 46, 62, 71 and 76 minutes, including Suga D., Asano T., Nakajima Y., Arai N. and Suzuki A.

The result moved V-Varen Nagasaki to 1 win, 1 loss and 1 draw in the competition and 1 win, 3 losses and 1 draw across all competitions. Sanfrecce Hiroshima dropped to 2 wins and 1 loss in the competition and 5 wins and 1 loss across all competitions. V-Varen Nagasaki had entered after a 0-2 loss at Kashima Antlers, a 1-1 draw at Chiba, a 1-2 loss at Shimizu S-Pulse and a 0-2 loss at Gainare Tottori. Sanfrecce Hiroshima had won each of its previous five matches listed, including a 3-0 home win over Kyoto, a 1-0 win at Yamaga, a 2-0 win at Verdy, a 4-0 home win over Iwaki and a 2-0 win at Tochigi City.

V-Varen Nagasaki held a 2-0 lead at halftime and added two more goals after the restart. Onaga’s opener came in the 36th minute, and Matheus Jesus scored in the 45th. After Haller’s red card, Yasuda scored in the 73rd and 90+7th minutes. V-Varen Nagasaki finished with four goals total, while Sanfrecce Hiroshima finished with none. The yellow cards went to Onaga in the 27th minute and Jonathan Junior in the 60th. Haller’s red card in the 66th minute left Sanfrecce Hiroshima short for the closing stretch.

V-Varen Nagasaki’s first substitution came in the 23rd minute when Ominami T. entered. Sawada T. followed in the 54th minute. In the 76th minute, Yoneda S., Jonathan Junior and Onaga H. were all introduced. Sanfrecce Hiroshima made a double change at 46 minutes with Suga D. and Asano T. entering. Nakajima Y. came on at 62, Arai N. at 71 and Suzuki A. at 76. Sanfrecce Hiroshima is next scheduled to host Shimizu S-Pulse in J1 League play.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of V-Varen Nagasaki 1, Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1. Interstat’s ELO system gave Sanfrecce Hiroshima a 68.5 percent probability to win before the match. Sanfrecce Hiroshima had been installed as the pregame favorite with a spread of -1.25, and the total score of 4 went under the over/under line of 2.5.