Kuroda Changed Eight Starters. Then Trusted Ten Again.

Keiya Sento had been on the pitch when Shanghai Shenhua drew level. Nineteen minutes later, he was the player who put FC Machida Zelvia back in front.

It was the 78th minute at Machida’s home ground on 5 November. Yuki Soma crossed from the left, Koki Ogawa reached the ball inside the penalty area, and his shot struck the woodwork.

The rebound fell to Sento. He reacted with a header and scored.

Machida won 2–1, securing their fourth consecutive AFC Champions League Two group victory and a place in the round of 16 with two matches remaining.

For manager Go Kuroda, it was another important result. But the starting lineup revealed something just as interesting.

A week earlier, Machida had beaten the same opponents 1–0 in Shanghai after making eight changes from their previous league lineup.

For the return match, Kuroda brought back ten of those eleven starters.

What happened between the two games explains why that decision matters.

Eight changes, and Shirasaki took his chance

On 24 October, Machida had drawn 0–0 with Vissel Kobe in the J1 League.

Five days later, Kuroda travelled to Shanghai with a substantially different team.

Goalkeeper Kosei Tani, Henry Heroki Mochizuki and Takuma Nishimura kept their places. Eight other starters came from the group that had been on the bench against Kobe.

One was Ryohei Shirasaki.

In the 28th minute, Hokuto Shimoda delivered a corner. Shenhua defender Wilson Manafá cleared the ball, but it reached Shirasaki outside the penalty area.

He struck it first time and scored.

Machida spent the rest of the evening protecting their lead. Shenhua had chances, and Tani was called upon to make saves, but the visitors held on for a 1–0 victory.

It was Machida’s seventh consecutive clean sheet during October.

Shirasaki had turned a starting opportunity into the winning goal. Shimoda, another player brought into the lineup, had delivered the corner that created it.

The result gave Kuroda something useful: evidence that players outside his usual league selection could contribute to an important continental win.

Yet the manager’s next team sheet showed that he was not simply replacing one permanent starting eleven with another.

The Gamba match changed the picture

On 1 November, Machida faced Gamba Osaka in the J1 League.

Kuroda changed seven starters from the Shanghai match.

Gen Shoji, Neta Lavi, Takahiro Akimoto, Yuki Soma and Koki Ogawa were among those selected. Only four players from the previous starting lineup remained.

The match ended 0–0.

Machida created opportunities without finding a goal, while Kuroda’s defenders had to deal with Gamba’s counterattacks. It was another clean sheet, extending the run to eight matches.

Four days later, Shanghai Shenhua arrived for the return fixture.

Kuroda changed seven starters again.

This time, the lineup was almost identical to the one that had won in Shanghai.

Tani was back behind a defence that included Ebrahim Drešević, Hotaka Nakamura and Mochizuki. Further forward, Shimoda, Sento, Shirasaki, Futa Tokumura, Duke and Nishimura were all starting again.

Ten players had started both matches against Shenhua.

Only one position had changed: Shoji replaced Kim Min-tae.

That sequence is revealing.

Kuroda had used a different combination for the domestic league match, then returned to a group that had already performed together in Asia.

The first win was no longer just a successful night for eight rotated players. The manager had given almost the same team responsibility for the return fixture.

This time, Shimoda scored

The first meeting had been decided by Shirasaki, with Shimoda supplying the corner.

In the second, their roles in Machida’s attacking story changed.

In the 29th minute, the ball broke loose outside Shenhua’s penalty area. Shimoda met it with his left foot and sent it into the upper-right corner.

Machida led 1–0.

For Shimoda, the goal followed his contribution to the first victory. Kuroda had selected him twice against Shenhua, and on both occasions he had played a direct part in a goal.

Sento would make his contribution later.

He had started in Shanghai, been left out of the starting lineup against Gamba, then returned against Shenhua.

These were not appearances handed out after a result had already been settled. Shimoda helped Machida take the lead. Sento would eventually be asked to help decide a match that had become much less comfortable.

Their involvement shows what the selection offered Kuroda: players who could be trusted with meaningful competitive responsibilities, not merely extra names on the substitutes’ list.

Shenhua refused to follow the same script

Machida had kept a clean sheet in Shanghai. They could not repeat that defensive performance at home.

Shenhua were creating opportunities even while trailing.

According to Machida’s official match record, the visitors had ten shots in the first half. The hosts had only two.

Shimoda’s goal gave Machida the lead at the interval, but it had not given them complete control.

Then, in the 59th minute, Rafael Ratão equalised.

The score was 1–1, and Machida’s run of eight consecutive clean sheets had ended.

Kuroda later acknowledged that the goal resulted from his team’s own mistake. The written reports do not establish enough about the full defensive sequence to assign that mistake to one particular player.

The final shooting numbers were also revealing: 11 attempts for Machida, 15 for Shenhua.

These figures do not erase the value of Machida’s victory. They show the difference between having a squad capable of winning and having a defensive combination that prevents opponents from creating danger.

The team Kuroda trusted again was being tested more severely this time.

The substitutes helped settle it

Kuroda had already begun making changes before the winner arrived.

In the 63rd minute, he introduced Ogawa and Akimoto, replacing Mitchell Duke and Nishimura.

In the 74th, Soma came on for Tokumura, while Kim replaced Shoji.

Four minutes later, Soma delivered the cross. Ogawa hit the woodwork. Sento finished the rebound.

Two substitutes had helped create the chance, and a player retained from the starting lineup had scored the decisive goal.

There was a footballing reason for the changes beyond simply introducing fresh legs.

After the match, Kuroda said Machida had not made enough use of the space behind Shenhua’s defensive line during the first half. His team found more opportunities to attack those areas after the interval.

The winning move showed what a combination of different attacking options could provide.

It would be too simple to claim the substitutions alone won the match. Sento still had to recognise the rebound and finish it. But Kuroda’s adjustments had brought players into the contest who were directly involved in the goal.

This was another form of squad depth: not just eleven players capable of starting together, but a bench that could change how a difficult match developed.

What ten returning starters really mean

When MATCHIQ examined Machida’s first win over Shenhua on 30 October, the conclusion was that Kuroda had genuine options beyond his established league starters.

Shirasaki’s winner and the team’s seventh straight clean sheet supported that assessment. The important unanswered question was whether those players could keep delivering.

The return fixture has strengthened the answer.

Kuroda selected ten of them again. Shimoda scored the opener, Sento scored the winner, and substitutes contributed to the decisive move.

They had now helped Machida win twice against the same continental opponent.

Still, the match against Gamba Osaka sits between those two results for a reason.

Kuroda did not use one unchanged team throughout the week. He moved between different groups of players according to the fixture.

That is evidence of practical squad management, not proof that the Asian lineup has replaced his preferred J1 team.

To establish a genuine change in the club’s overall selection hierarchy, we would need to see how these players are chosen in future league matches when their direct competitors are available.

For now, Kuroda has achieved something valuable.

He can change much of his lineup for a different competition, then bring back a familiar group and ask them to deliver another important result.

In Shanghai, Shirasaki made the most of his opportunity. Back in Machida, Shimoda and Sento did the same.

The eight changes showed Kuroda had alternatives. The ten returning starters showed those alternatives were worth trusting again.