Former FIFA Women's World Cup winners Japan got their 2019 campaign back on track with a 2-1 win over Scotland, who came on strong in the second half of this Roazhon Park encounter, watched by 13,201 fans in Rennes. "Nadeshiko" made the majority of the early running in this encounter, especially after Emi Nakajima and Hayley Lauder had exchanged shots inside the first ten minutes, with the Japanese player's effort flashing narrowly past the near post after Aya Sameshima and Yuika Sugasawa had combined to good effect. Mana Iwabuchi's cheeky attempt to catch out Lee Alexander at her near post in the fourteenth minute met with predictable results, but the goalkeeper was left beaten all ends up when the genial striker next intervened, in the 23rd minute. Rachel Corsie's headed clearance fell to the feet of Jun Endo, who slipped a pass inside to Iwabuchi, some twenty-five yards out from goal. She had one thing in mind, and duly lashed a twenty yard drive into the roof of the net, the ball soaring over Alexander to give Japan the lead. It was a blow from which Scotland didn't recover during the first spell, and Japan came desperately close to doubling their advantage on a couple of occasions before finally doing so. In the 27th minute, Endo's cross was flicked on by Iwabuchi to Sugasawa, who played the ball back to Japan's talisman. Iwabuchi's shot was blocked by Jenny Beattie, with the rebound falling to Narumi Miura, whose effort was blocked to safety. Four minutes later, Sameshima delivered a ball in from deep which allowed Sugasawa to beat Alexander in the air. Saki Kumagai's looping header was headed off the line by Kim Little, as Scotland hung on. Seconds later, Nakajima's corner to the near post found Sugasawa darting in to meet it with a back-heeled flick - terrific improvisation, albeit inaccurate. But the striker was rewarded in the 37th minute when she put "Nadeshiko" 2-0 up from the penalty spot. Sugasawa was pursuing Risa Shimizu's cross when she was hauled back by Corsie in the area, with Scotland's captain fortunate not to be sent off - she was the last defender. That goal left Scotland with a mountain to climb, and while Erin Cuthbert looked to give them a boost with a twenty-yarder which landed on the roof of the net, Japan could have killed off the contest in first half stoppage time. Iwabuchi's no-look pass played in Endo, whose pull-back from the by-line found Hina Sugita arriving on the scene. She hit the crossbar from six yards while falling backwards, with Shimizu blazing the rebound over the top to bring the half to a

close. Scotland looked livelier after the interval, with Caroline Weir testing Ayaka Namashita from distance before Nana Ichise's timely tackle denied Lisa Evans in the area, as she looked to latch onto Cuthbert's pass. But Japan were always able to counter-attack, an attribute of the game for which their passing-based style of play is greatly suited. Sugita sent Nakashima scooting down the right, from where she cut inside past two opponents before unleashing a shot which was arrowing toward the bottom far corner before Alexander made a fine save low to her right to push the ball to safety. The introduction of Claire Emslie on the hour - sixty minutes too late, from this writer's perspective - certainly put fresh wind in Scotland's sails, and for the final half-hour of the match they enjoyed the upper hand in the exchanges. Evans thrashed a shot from distance over the bar in the 66th minute, while after Alexander had dashed off her line to thwart on-rushing substitute Rikako Kobayashi following Iwabuchi's break down the left. It was virtually all Scotland during the final fifteen minutes of the match, during which Cuthbert saw a shot blocked by Ichise, then rattled the post twelve minutes from time following a Weir free-kick to the far post which wasn't cleared. Cuthbert then went down in the area under the challenge of Sugita, but penalty claims for both this and an 84th minute incident where the ball struck Shimizu on the arm fell on deaf ears. In between times, Namashita flew to her left to turn an Evans shot to safety. But Japan's 'keeper was finally beaten in the 88th minute, substitute Lana Clelland thundering the ball home into the top corner from twenty yards after pouncing on Ichise's under-hit pass. That made it 2-1, but that was as good as it got for Scotland, who would have conceded a further goal in stoppage time but for Alexander's fine save from Sugita, after Sameshima and substitute Rikako Kobayashi had combined on the left. "Nadeshiko" had long since done enough to win the game, however, and now take on England in their final round-robin clash with top place in the group up for grabs. Scotland, meanwhile, face a must-win encounter with Argentina in five days' time. Japan:          Yamashita; Shimizu, Kumagai, Ichise, Sameshima (booked, 19); Nakajima, Miura, Sugita, Endo (Kobayashi, 66); Sugasawa, Iwabuchi (Hasegawa, 82) Scotland:     Alexander; Smith, Corsie (booked, 34), Beattie, Lauder; Evans (Brown, 85), Little, Weir, Arnot (Emslie, 60); Cuthbert, Ross (Clelland, 76) Referee:     Lidya Tafesse Abebe (Ethiopia)