There’s life in the old dog yet.
Fernando Torres’ spell in Japan hasn’t exactly gone to plan.
The former Spanish international left boyhood club Atletico Madrid for J-League side Sagan Tosu at the end of last season, but has only managed a couple of goals in the time since.
The 34-year-old did, however, manage to get himself a goal in his club’s latest outing, one which saved them from relegation.
With little over ten minutes remaining of their game against Yokohama F Marinos, the score was 1-1. Had it stayed that way, Sagan Tosu would’ve remained in 16th on 38 points, making relegation a very real possibility.
Thanks to Torres, it did not.
Picking up the ball on the edge of the D, the former Liverpool and Chelsea striker cut inside one defender, shifted the ball out of his feet and fired low into the bottom corner to score the final goal of the game.
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The victory moves them to 15, ahead of Nagoya on goal difference. It means that Sagan Tosu cannot now finish in the Japanese top flight’s bottom two.
Although a major boost to their survival hopes, it is still possible for Sagan Tosu to go down. In Japan, the team finishing in 16th will go into a play-off with the third-placed team in the second tier. To avoid this, they must match the Nogoya’s result on the final day of the season.
