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The story
In Matchday 4 of the Premier League on September 14, Leeds beat Newcastle 4-1 to move up to provisional 3rd place. The opening goal came in the first half off Ao Tanaka’s right-footed shot, but since it deflected off an opposing player on its way in, it was recorded as an own goal, denying Tanaka his first goal of the season. Even so, his defensive work and his role in shaping the match’s flow were significant, and on 5ch the game drew both praise — “it was a clean sheet whenever Tanaka was on the pitch” — and harsh criticism — “that bad habit of losing the ball hasn’t changed.” Some posters also objected to the own-goal ruling itself or pointed out how strict the criteria seemed.
[9.14 Premier League Matchday 4: Leeds 4-1 Newcastle]
On the 15th, Leeds picked up a commanding 4-1 win over Newcastle in Matchday 4 of the Premier League to move up to 3rd place. Midfielder Ao Tanaka made his second straight league start and set up the opening goal with a right-footed shot, though it went into the books as an own goal.
The first big chance grew out of Tanaka’s buildup play. In the 14th minute, Tanaka collected a loose ball from a cross and sent one in himself from a central-left position; defender James Justin flicked the resulting far-post ball back across goal, and midfielder Jaidon Bogle spun and fired a shot, but goalkeeper Lukáš Horníček kept it out.
Source: x.com / original article here
What people said
Tanaka Ao gets his first Premier League start and immediately puts in a Man-of-the-Match performance — scoring in back-to-back games, setting up assists, creating chances.
That's flat-out world class.
Forcing the opponent into an own goal while also losing the ball himself and nearly gifting one back — so very Tanaka lol
It was a clean sheet the whole time he was on the pitch.
His defending was great too.
He kept cutting out passes and putting on the pressure.
Tanaka Ao was winning the ball back constantly.
Fights hard, runs hard, works hard.
The whole flow of the game was different.
With him out there it's a clean sheet and the attack gets more active too.
Take him off and the midfield falls apart and they concede.
Calvert-Lewin said he's able to score because Tanaka Ao builds the attacking flow for him.
Last season, without him it was a draw and a loss.
Leeds now have enough depth that Harry Wilson — who was the main man at Fulham — is stuck on the bench,
and Tanaka Ao is starting and delivering. That's genuinely impressive, gotta hand it to him.
Shows how mentally weak he is.
They've passed Hull, and passed Brighton too.
Only Arsenal and Man City are above Leeds now.
Leeds are strong with Tanaka Ao starting.
Are they seriously in Champions League position?
and that's just a normal deflection off the defender.
This is the kind that gets corrected later, watch.
Tanaka Ao scored against Brighton last match too, but it got chalked off for offside
over a part of the hand that isn't even used in football [i.e., ruled offside via a handball technicality that shouldn't apply].
The officiating is way too strict on him, it's honestly a bit sad.
If he weren't Asian he'd probably already have 2 goals.
Sounds like he'd be popular with students cramming for exams.
A true phoenix🐦🔥
Tanaka Ao's even the face of ads for cram schools like Mori Juku, so it fits his image —
he was in the top 10 of his class at a competitive prep school too.
Yeah it's rough.
I want it properly credited as Tanaka Ao's goal.
There are cases where it gets corrected later too, right?
A goal off two deflections is an own goal, come on.
I'd say he's Japan's No. 1 player now, in name and in fact.
That's an overstatement. He's not that good.
Morita's supposedly such a high-"spec" player that he's been out of the squad forever (a sarcastic dig).
Man City
Leeds
…?
Tanaka was in the second division not long ago — is this timeline for real, even if just for a moment?
Maybe Tanaka really is a lucky charm.
It's not luck, it's Tanaka Ao's own ability.
Leeds as a team are completely different depending on whether he's playing or not.
The data shows the win rate is clearly higher with him in the side.
He's unbeaten in home starts, with a win rate unmatched in the club's history.
Tanaka Ao got Leeds promoted to the Premier League, kept them up, and is now pushing them up the table.
Still, it's classic Tanaka to follow it up with a string of turnovers that invite danger.
I wish he'd sort that habit out.
It was a clean sheet the whole time Tanaka Ao was on the pitch though.
Once he got subbed off, the midfield and defense fell apart and they conceded.
His defending was working — he was cutting passes, winning the ball, and pressing nonstop.
Yeah, that.
He pulls that kind of thing every single time, so as a defensive midfielder it's just not good enough.
He climbed a long way back from being out of the squad in Germany's second division.
Come on, he was never out of the squad in the German second division, and he was barely even on the bench — he started most of the time.
That's just anti-fans spreading misinformation.
Apparently Leeds got turned down by nine different midfielders they made offers to, and both of their regular defensive midfielders are injured lol
Tanaka did sit on the bench in the German second division at one point, it's true.
In the Minamino thread they used to call him "Nibungamu" or "Buntsuben" (mocking nicknames playing on "2nd division" and "Bundesliga").
It was a clean sheet the whole time Tanaka Ao was on the pitch though?
Once he left, the midfield fell apart, the defense got shaky, and they conceded.
Tanaka Ao was cutting passes, winning the ball, pressing like crazy — contributing a ton defensively.
Tanaka misplayed a pass and it went straight through to a clear-cut chance right in front of goal.
A teammate barely blocked it, but it was worse than the Brazil game — an absolute scapegoat moment.
Background and Talking Points
Whether a goal is recorded as an own goal comes down to the shot’s trajectory and how the defender made contact, and in borderline cases the official record is sometimes revised later — but this one was left as is. Ao Tanaka has kept his starting spot in the Premier League all season so far, supporting the team through ball-winning and buildup play, while also repeatedly giving the ball away and inviting danger, making him a player whose reputation splits opinion easily. In the thread, praise that “it’s a clean sheet whenever Tanaka is on the pitch” appeared alongside criticism that “he messes up every time” — but it’s worth noting both are subjective takes based on parts of the match rather than the full picture. There were also objections to the officiating standard, but that remains fan speculation rather than an officially confirmed fact.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Soccer] Tanaka Ao’s opening long-range strike recorded as an own goal, first goal of the season still elusive… Leeds rout their way to 3rd place.”
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