In the previous match, Tokyo won against Albirex Niigata at the Japan National Stadium. Before the summer break, they faced Kashima Antlers in an away game, aiming for a consecutive victory.
This season, Kuryu MATSUKI, who has been leading the team as captain, left the team to prepare for a transfer overseas, and Taishi Brandon NOZAWA and Ryotaro ARAKI of the U-23 Japan national team also joined the national team. The team faced a tough midsummer match that tested their overall strength.
Go HATANO was appointed as the goalkeeper in place of Taishi ENDO, and this was his first appearance in the league since the 13th round against Kashiwa Reysol. The 10 field players remained the same as the previous match against Niigata. Keita ENDO, who is expected to score for the second consecutive game, played on the left wing, while Leon NOZAWA, who scored the winning goal in the Niigata match, started as a substitute. In addition, Keigo HIGASHI also made his first appearance in the league since the 4th round against Avispa Fukuoka, after a gap of about 4 months.
1stHALF—Keita scores two consecutive goals to catch up
As Kashima does not put pressure on the front line, Tokyo's possession time increases from the beginning. In the 5th minute of the first half, they break through the right side and create their first chance. Yasuki KIMOTO passes the ball to the right side, and Soma ANZAI and Kosuke SHIRAI open up the side. Teruhito NAKAGAWA's shot did not meet its target, but it was a moment where their intended attack took shape.
In addition, in the 18th minute of the first half, they threatened the goal from the final line build-up. Shuhei TOKUMOTO carried the ball up and passed it to Takahiro KO in the center, who then passed it directly to Diego OLIVEIRA. However, Diego chose to pass to teammate Nakagawa on the right side instead of taking a shot, and was unable to bring it to a shot.
After that, the time when Kashima had the ball gradually increased. In that time, the fortunes of both teams were decided in about one minute between the 29th and 30th minutes of the first half.
When Toku Moto, on the left side, responded to Diego Taba's long throw and escaped behind the opponent, he calmly assessed the situation near the goal line and turned back. Diego Taba, who had jumped in, made a direct shot, but it was blocked by a defender who threw his body out.
Kashima, who picked up the loose ball, was countered and suddenly faced a pinch. When the ball was shot by Shigehira player with momentum in front of the goal, Teppei Oka blocked it once, but Nagoya player picked up the loose ball in a strong position and scored a powerful shot from the left diagonal position, taking the lead.
The players' mental state was a concern after the decisive opportunity turned into a goal against, but Tokyo regained their composure towards the end of the first half.
In the 41st minute of the first half, the double volante moved the ball on the left side while being involved in the build-up, and Tokumoto player fed the ball to the front line. Endo player, who took the opponent's back, entered the penalty area and switched the angle of the shot from near the goal line, swinging his right foot and piercing the ball into the right corner of the goal. With two consecutive starts and two consecutive goals, Tokyo returned to the game and ended the first half.
2ndHALF - Unable to overturn the early goal
Tokyo, who wants to continue the game with the momentum of catching up, is suddenly frustrated at the start. In the second half, after 2 minutes, Anzai player kicks a diagonal feed to Shioka player on the left side, and although the cross ball from Nono player who came to support is cut off, the loose ball is kicked back by Nono player again, resulting in a goal for the opposing team.
In a hot and humid environment, being down by one point has a heavy impact on both mind and body, allowing Kashima to control the game. However, in the 14th minute of the second half, player Anzai runs up the right side and connects with Endo's shot, showing a determined attitude to continue fighting and aiming for Kashima's goal.
In the 17th minute of the second half, Kota TAWARATSUMIDA was substituted for Yasuaki ANZAI, aiming to break through Kashima's solid defense by placing a dribbler on both the left and right wings.
In the final stages of the match, Yuto Nagatomo, Masato Morishige, and Leon Nozawa were all simultaneously brought on as fresh reinforcements in an attempt to break through Kashima's compact defensive block, but they were unable to find a way through their own half.
The team tried various attacking strategies such as moving player Morishige to the front line and utilizing player Tokumoto's long throw to threaten the goal, but they were unable to catch up to the one-point difference and lost 1-2.
MATCH DETAILS
＜FC Tokyo＞
STARTING Ⅺ
GK Go HATANO
DF Kosuke SHIRAI (41st minute of the second half: Yuto NAGATOMO)/Yasuki KIMOTO/Masato MORISHIGE (41st minute of the second half: Kota MORI)/Shuhei TOKUMOTO
MF Takahiro KO (33rd minute of the second half: Riki HARAKAWA)/Kei KOIZUMI/Teruhito NAKAGAWA
FW Diego OLIVEIRA/Keita ENDO (41st minute of the second half: Leon NOZAWA)/Soma ANZAI (17th minute of the second half: Kota TAWARATSUMIDA)
SUBS
GK Tsuyoshi KODAMA
MF Keigo HIGASHI
GOAL
First Half 41st Minute: Keita ENDO
＜Kashima Antlers＞
STARTING Ⅺ
GK Tomoki Hayakawa
DF Koji Ono/Naomichi Ueda/Ikuma Sekigawa/Koki Anzai
MF Gaku Shibasaki (29th minute of the second half: Kentaro Mitsukuri)/Kei Chinen/Shintaro Nago (37th minute of the second half: Homare Tokuda)/Shu Morooka (29th minute of the second half: Yuta Higuchi)
FW Leandro (11th minute of the first half: Hayato Nakama) (37th minute of the second half: Tomoya Fujii)/Yuma Suzuki
SUBS
GK Taiki YAMADA
DF Hidehiro SUGAI
GOAL
First Half 30th Minute: Shintaro NAGO / Second Half 2nd Minute: Kimito NONO
[Interview with Peter CKLAMOVSKI, Manager]
Q: please review the game.
A, it was a good football battle. We were able to play well within ourselves and the small difference led to the result. Of course, we are disappointed, but we were able to produce many good things ourselves. We want to continue to build on that and grow as a team, while carrying the pain of this defeat.
The first half was evenly matched and we felt that we could secure 3 points at halftime. However, in the beginning of the second half, the ball slipped away from us in the box and they were able to score. We talked before the game about how a small difference could determine the outcome, and they were able to score in those two situations. We were able to do a lot of what we wanted to do in the game and use the areas we wanted to attack. On another day, we may have been able to score more than one goal.
We are grateful to the fans and supporters who have come this far to support us. They have truly pushed the players until the end of the game. We are sorry that we couldn't get 3 points for them.
Q, after this, the J1 League will enter a break period. What are the things you want to build and progress during this time?
First, we need to make sure that the players who played today recover well, and we need to have the players who didn't play today participate in tomorrow's practice match. And, we need to continue creating what we are doing. We believe that we are a growing team, and we will make sure that we can grow in all aspects of what we are doing. We believe that we are moving in the right direction. Today, a small difference made the difference in the outcome of the match. However, in order to do that, we need to focus and be conscious, and we need to continue to grow with hunger. By continuing to grow, we want to finish the end of the season in a better shape than when we started. We will work towards that goal.
[Player Interview]
＜Keita ENDO Player＞
Q, please look back on the goal scene.
A, Shuhei TOKUMOTO had the ball, so I believed that if I started moving, he would pass it to me. Today, my ball control was really good and I thought that the space behind the opponent was a chance, so I was able to score from there and I think that was good.
Q, I feel like my condition is getting better as I scored goals in two consecutive games.
A, I feel that the condition has improved. However, I think that the overall atmosphere was lacking in the sense that today's game was a very important game for advancing to the top. When I think about regretting not being able to win this game later on, I think it was a wasted game.
Q, How do you plan to connect today's defeat to the next game?
A, if we play like we did today, we will become a team that cannot win in important moments. I myself was unable to return to where I should have been in the scene of the second goal, but I want to talk and push the team to show that kind of dedication and determination towards winning.
＜Teruhito NAKAGAWA player＞
Q, please review the game.
A, it was a really important game to close the gap with the top teams, but unfortunately we lost and missed out on valuable points due to small mistakes leading to conceding goals. We are feeling a sense of crisis that if we don't improve our performance, we will end up in the middle of the league. We need to focus on our marking, pay attention to the details, and fix the small things that are affecting the outcome of the game. It was a game where our weaknesses were exposed.
Q, the early second half goal completely changed the flow of the game.
A, as with the Albirex Niigata match, we tend to receive too much pressure from the opponent in the second half, and there have been scenes where we are too passive. This has been a recurring issue this season. If we start the game poorly and concede a goal, it becomes difficult to stick to our game plan. Especially in away games like today, we can get caught up in the atmosphere and momentum of the home team. We have talked about the importance of starting the first and second halves with focus and concentration, but there is still room for improvement. We want to work on improving our weakness and lack of concentration that can lead to momentary lapses.
Q, when focusing on player Nakagawa individually, it seemed like he was conscious of playing in the midfield position and being involved in both offense and defense in today's match.
A, it's still not enough and it's not helping. I want to demand more hard work from myself. For the players on the front line, everything is shown by results and numbers. It's my responsibility that we haven't been able to produce results. The reason we couldn't get points in today's match is because we lacked the ability to make decisions. I want to focus on myself and play with more responsibility.
<Tetsuhiro OKA>
Q, how do you look back on today's game despite the disappointing result?
A, Confirm what we should do as a team, had a meeting yesterday, and was conscious of how to defend and align, but maybe we didn't have enough practice against the opponent. We need to focus more on that and as a team, we need to do more to counter the opponent's measures, and the things that we don't like that the opponent has been doing to us. I think it's a reflection point that we couldn't do that. As an individual, there were scenes where I had to crush the player who is the starting point for the opponent. I think we need to be more greedy for victory. I think I'm doing it greedily, but I need to spread it more to those around me, and the part where I don't have that influence is still my lack of power. In order to have influence, I think we need to show more leadership from practice and send out messages. I want to spread what I have sent out to everyone.
Q: How was Okas player's feed aspect, which is also a feature?
A, I think there are still not enough effective passes. The distance between me and my teammates is far, so when I am free and another player is in a close position with the opponent, I want to attract the opponent and then expand with one touch or two touches, and I think Tokyo doesn't do enough side changes, so I want to increase those situations more from my position or from the defensive midfielder.
Q, we will now enter the break period.
A, I want to watch the video carefully, recognize the strong points and challenges, and focus on them and work on them firmly after the break.
