A serious accident that left two players in the hospital may have cast a pall over Monday's match between Omiya Ardija and Sanfrecce Hiroshima, but the reaction of both sets of fans and players was a credit to the Japanese game.
With the clash between league-leaders Omiya and defending champions Sanfrecce tied at 1-1 in the 84th minute, Hiroshima defender Hiroki Mizumoto sent an errant backward header toward his own goal. Omiya substitute Takamitsu Tomiyama reached the ball just in time to head it past Sanfrecce goalkeeper Takuya Masuda, but in doing so the two collided and both lay motionless on the turf for several minutes.
The reactions of the first players on the scene, Omiya's Milivoje Novakovic and Daigo Watanabe, betrayed the seriousness of the situation. Both players immediately waved for the doctor, and although Tomiyama was eventually carried off on a stretcher, the game was suspended for 22 minutes before an ambulance was able to enter the pitch and take Masuda to the hospital.
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