2022 J.League Cup final

The 2022 J.League Cup final was an association football match between Cerezo Osaka and Sanfrecce Hiroshima on 22 October 2022 at Japan National Stadium. It was the 30th edition J.League Cup, organised by the J.League. Cerezo Osaka were making their third J.League Cup final appearance after winning the competition in 2017 and finishing runners-up in 2021. Sanfrecce Hiroshima had previously appeared in two J.League cup finals but were beaten on both occasions in 2010 and 2014.^[1]

2022 J.League Cup final

2022JリーグYBCルヴァンカップ 決勝
The match took place at Japan National Stadium
Event	2022 J.League Cup
Cerezo Osaka Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1 2
Date	22 October 2022
Venue	National Stadium, Tokyo
Man of the Match	Pieros Sotiriou
Referee	Yudai Yamamoto
Attendance	39,608
Weather	Sunny 21.4 °C (71 °F)
← 2021 2023 →

Prior to the game, a moment of silence was held to honor the death of former Sanfrecce Hiroshima player Masato Kudo, who had died a day before from complications of brain surgery.

Yudai Yamamoto was the referee for the match, which was played in front of 39,608 spectators. After a goalless first half, Cerezo Osaka scored after half time thanks to Mutsuki Kato and held their lead, until a red card was given to Matej Jonjić after striking Sanfrecce player Nassim Ben Khalifa, which put in Pieros Sotiriou. Sotiriou then scored on a spot kick with three minutes left in stoppage time, then scored again with barely any time left in stoppage in the 101st minute on a corner kick by Makoto Mitsuta, stealing the win from Cerezo Osaka.^[2]

As winners, Sanfrecce Hiroshima earned the right to play against the winners of the 2022 Copa Sudamericana in the J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship.

Teams

Team	League	Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Cerezo Osaka	J1 League	2 (2017, 2021)
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	J1 League	2 (2010, 2014)

Route to the final

The tournament consisted of all 18 J1 League teams as well as the top two relegated teams from the 2021 league, beginning with a home-and-away round-robin group stage consisting of four groups of four teams. The top two teams of each group would then advance to a two-legged play-off stage. The winners of the play-offs would then be entered into a final knockout stage, alongside four teams that received byes due to their commitments in the 2022 AFC Champions League group stage.^[3]

Further information: 2022 J.League Cup

Cerezo Osaka				Round	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Opponent	Result			Group stage	Opponent	Result
Gamba Osaka	2–3 (A)			Matchday 1	Tokushima Vortis	0–3 (A)
Kashima Antlers	0–1 (A)			Matchday 2	Nagoya Grampus	2–0 (H)
Oita Trinita	6–1 (H)			Matchday 3	Shimizu S-Pulse	1–2 (H)
Kashima Antlers	1–3 (H)			Matchday 4	Nagoya Grampus	1–2 (A)
Gamba Osaka	0–0 (H)			Matchday 5	Tokushima Vortis	4–0 (H)
Oita Trinita	3–3 (A)			Matchday 6	Shimizu S-Pulse	2–1 (A)
Group A runners-up Pos Team Pld Pts 1 Kashima Antlers 6 13 2 Cerezo Osaka 6 11 3 Gamba Osaka 6 5 4 Oita Trinita 6 3 Source: League table, Match results				Final standings	Group B winners Pos Team Pld Pts 1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 6 12 2 Nagoya Grampus 6 10 3 Shimizu S-Pulse 6 8 4 Tokushima Vortis 6 4 Source: League table, Match results
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Knockout phase	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Shonan Bellmare	5–1	1–0 (H)	1–4 (A)	Play-off stage	Consadole Sapporo	4–1	0–3 (A)	1–1 (H)
Kawasaki Frontale	3–3 (a)	1–1 (H)	2–2 (A)	Quarter-finals	Yokohama F. Marinos	5–2	3–1 (H)	1–2 (A)
Urawa Reds	5–1	1–1 (H)	0–4 (A)	Semi-finals	Avispa Fukuoka	3–2	2–3 (A)	0–0 (H)

Match

Details

Cerezo Osaka	1–2	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Kato 53'	JLeague.co (EN) JLeague.jp (JA)	Sotiriou 90+6' (pen.), 90+11'

22 October 2022 (2022-10-22)

13:11 JST

Japan National Stadium, Tokyo

Attendance: 39,608

Referee: Yudai Yamamoto

GK 21 Kim Jin-hyeon DF 2 Riku Matsuda DF 22 Matej Jonjić  79' DF 24 Koji Toriumi DF 6 Ryosuke Yamanaka MF 16 Seiya Maikuma MF 25 Hiroaki Okuno (c) MF 17 Tokuma Suzuki MF 19 Hirotaka Tameda  80' FW 20 Mutsuki Kato  70' FW 7 Satoki Uejo  70' Substitutes: GK 31 Keisuke Shimizu DF 29 Kakeru Funaki DF 33 Ryuya Nishio  80' MF 10 Hiroshi Kiyotake  70' MF 41 Hikaru Nakahara FW 26 Jean Patric FW 38 Sota Kitano  85'  70' Manager: Akio Kogiku

GK 38 Keisuke Osako (c) DF 3 Tsukasa Shiotani  90' DF 4 Hayato Araki DF 19 Sho Sasaki MF 2 Yuki Nogami  81'  90' MF 7 Gakuto Notsuda  80' MF 19 Taishi Matsumoto  63' MF 27 Takumu Kawamura MF 39 Makoto Mitsuta MF 10 Tsukasa Morishima FW 13 Nassim Ben Khalifa  74' Substitutes: GK 22 Goro Kawanami DF 21 Jelani Reshaun Sumiyoshi MF 6 Toshihiro Aoyama MF 18 Yoshifumi Kashiwa  80' MF 25 Yusuke Chajima  90' MF 30 Kosei Shibasaki  90' FW 20 Pieros Sotiriou  90+12'  63' Manager: Michael Skibbe

Assistant referees: Hiroshi Yamauchi Toshiyuki Tanaka Fourth official: Ryo Tanimoto

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.

Statistics

Statistic[4]	Cerezo Osaka	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Goals scored	1	2
Total shots	9	16
Corner kicks	5	5
Freekicks	12	11
Yellow cards	1	3
Red cards	1	0

References

1. "Japan - List of League Cup Winners". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
2. "Sanfrecce shock Cerezo in stoppage time to lift first J.League YBC Levain Cup". JLeague.co. Japan Professional Football League. 23 October 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
3. "大会概要：2022JリーグYBCルヴァンカップ：Jリーグ.jp" [Tournament Summary: 2022 J.League YBC Levain Cup: JLeague.jp] (in Japanese). Japan Professional Football League. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
4. "Cerezo Osaka vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Final, J.League YBC Levain Cup 2022". JLeague.co. Japan Professional Football League. 22 October 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2023.

External links

• 2022JリーグYBCルヴァンカップ (in Japanese)