After three consecutive wins, we returned home to Ajinomoto Stadium. Tokyo celebrated their first victory in six matches against Nagoya Grampus in Sec. 30 held at National Stadium, and continued their winning streak in away games against Urawa Reds and Yokohama F. Marinos. In recent years, we have accumulated three points at Saitama Stadium 2002 and Nissan Stadium, which have been challenging for us.
The team is in good condition with its second three-game winning streak this season, aiming for its first four-game winning streak against Sagan Tosu. There were no major changes to the starting lineup, and Soma ANZAI started on the pitch for the first time in seven matches. The match kicked off in the rain, aiming for a victory at Ajinomoto Stadium, where the team has been away for about three and a half months.
1st HALF - Gaining rhythm from the middle of the first half and launching a counterattack
Despite being on a three-game winning streak, the issue of starting the game, which had been pointed out as a concern, was once again exposed on this day. In the 9th minute of the first half, after being pushed back while the ball was moved on the right side, a surprising direct cross was delivered to Fukuda, and Marcelo RYAN reacted to it with a headed shot. Although the goal was disallowed due to an offside call supported by VAR, it was a sudden scare for the team.
Just after that, in the 13th minute of the first half, they faced another crisis from a corner kick, but here the goalkeeper Taishi Brandon NOZAWA made a good save. He quickly reacted to block a shot from close range by Vykintas Slivka. After that, the pressure on Tosu's passing work was not fully effective, and there were noticeable moments where they struggled against the power of Marcelo RYAN up front, but mainly Yasuki KIMOTO, who was matched up against him, held firm at the critical moment and did not allow a goal.
Finally, around the 25th minute of the first half, Tokyo started to find their rhythm. In the 30th minute of the first half, Kota TAWARATSUMIDA received the ball in his own half and dribbled solo for about 60 meters. Although he couldn't take a shot, he excited the stadium. Then, in the 36th minute of the first half, they had their biggest chance. Ryotaro ARAKI's feed was reacted to by Anzai, who found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but he couldn't connect with the shot as he wanted, and they went into halftime without scoring.
2nd HALF - Equalized with a goal from Yang in the final stages
Even after the halftime break, the structure of the game did not change significantly, with Tosu continuing to hold the ball, but Tokyo's back line responded tenaciously. Conversely, in the 56th minute of the second half, player Tawara Tsukita, who had shown sharp moves since the first half, managed to take a shot, but it was blocked by a defender.
In the midst of a back-and-forth battle, we allowed the first goal. In the 28th minute of the second half, after being broken down on the left side, a low and fast cross from player Togashi was cleared by Masato MORISHIGE, but the distance was insufficient, allowing player Nakahara to take a shot. Although player MORISHIGE blocked this as well, the loose ball rolled in front of player VIKINTAS SLIVKA, who pushed it in, resulting in a conceded goal.
Even so, the current team does not look down and first aims for the equalizer, attacking the goal. Substitute players Riki HARAKAWA, Keita ENDO, and Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA actively play to bring in the ball, and in the 33rd minute of the second half, a close scene was created from the connection between HARAKAWA and OGASHIWA.
In that flow, during a corner kick, Mori Shige aimed for the goal with a direct volley, and from the subsequent corner kick, a tying goal was scored in the 37th minute of the second half. In the midst of a scramble in front of the goal, Takahiro KO powerfully struck the ball into the net, bringing the score back to a tie.
With this one goal, the voltage at Ajinomoto Stadium surged, and Tokyo aimed for a comeback, including the 7 minutes of added time, but they lacked precision in the end, resulting in no final goal, and they missed out on their first four consecutive wins of the season.
After a one-week break, the next match will be an away game against Vissel Kobe.
MATCH DETAILS
<FC Tokyo>
STARTING Ⅺ
GK Taishi Brandon NOZAWA
DF Yuto NAGATOMO (substituted at 42 minutes: Hotaka NAKAMURA)/Masato MORISHIGE/Yasuki KIMOTO/Teppei OKA
MF Hiroshi TAKAU/Keigo HIGASHI (substituted at 23 minutes: Riki HARAKAWA)/Ryotaro ARAKI
FW Diego Oliveira (substituted at 23 minutes: Tsuyoshi KOBAYASHI)/Kota TAWARATSUMIDA (substituted at 23 minutes: Keita ENDO)/Soma ANZAI (substituted at 42 minutes: Leon NOZAWA)
SUBS
GK Go HATANO
FW Keita YAMASHITA
GOAL
37th minute of the second half: Takahiro KO
<Sagan Tosu>
STARTING Ⅺ
GK Park Il-kyu
DF Kosuke Yamazaki/Kim Tae-hyun/Harada Wataru
MF Kento NISHIYA/Akito FUKUTA (39th minute: Daichi SUZUKI)/Nakahara Akira (45+1 minute: Yuta IMAZU)/Yuki HORIGOME (16th minute: Watanabe Ayahira)/Vikintas Slivka (39th minute: Keisuke SAKAIYA)
FW Hino Shota (16th minute: Cayman TOGASHI)/Marcelo Hian
SUBS
GK Masahiro OKAMOTO
MF Naoyuki FUJITA
GOAL
28th minute of the second half: Vykintas Slivka
[Interview with Peter CKLAMOVSKI, Manager]
Q: please review the game.
It was an entertaining football match where both teams fought to achieve results. I think Sagan Tosu played well, and I expected them to fight in this manner. Until about the 20th minute of the first half, the momentum was with Tosu, and we had to ensure we didn't get separated from the game. While battling in a situation where we needed to create our own game, we started to grasp our good rhythm and flow towards the end of the first half.
In the second half, we had to improve our attacking play, specifically by increasing our awareness and forward runs. By doing this, we were able to control the game better and grasp the flow of the match. It was important to connect our performance while building on what we had been doing, and as we discussed at halftime, we were able to improve our attack. Unfortunately, we gave Tosu an easy goal, which everyone regrets. However, from that point on, we responded well with our attitude and belief. We continued to fight and managed to equalize at 1-1. I believe we were able to fight strongly towards the end, and the players who came on as substitutes made a very good impact. We ran out of time to score the winning goal, and I regret that we couldn't bring home three points for our fans and supporters.
Q: With 5 matches left, there is an 11-point difference from 3rd place. How will you maintain the team's motivation as the season comes to a close?
A,The motivation is to steadily improve every week, week by week. And to fight to finish the season stronger than any other team. The important thing is not to look too far ahead, but to value each match and fight hard in every game. There were good aspects in today's match as well. However, there were also areas where we need to fight sharper. While improving those areas, I want to make us a stronger team, a team that can win matches like this. The players worked very hard. I want to ensure that we can continue doing this by first recovering well, and then growing tactically, physically, and technically.
[Player Interview]
Takahiro KO
Q: please review the game.
A, it is very frustrating. I believe that not being able to win a match that we absolutely had to win reflects our current abilities. After we caught up, we were able to increase our pace, but there were few moments throughout the match where we could take control, and we faced a long period of difficulty.
Q: This was your second goal of the season. Please review the scoring scene.
I was aiming for the loose ball that was contested. This week, I had a good feeling during shooting practice, so I was glad to be able to score. Coach Yu TOKISAKI has been presenting many variations for set plays. Therefore, we just had to respond to that, but we had not been able to score much. There was also talk that scoring from set plays is important to break into the top ranks, so I think it was good that we were able to score.
Q: The Japan national team has activities, and the league matches will be suspended. What preparations will be made during this suspension period?
I think it is difficult to maintain a dominant game like we had in the last 10 minutes of the second half for the full 90 minutes, but I want to work towards increasing that time as much as possible, focusing on ourselves, and aiming to win all the remaining matches.
＜Player Soma ANZAI＞
Q: It's been a while since you started in the lineup. Please share your thoughts on that.
A, it was my first start in a while as the team is on a three-game winning streak. Everyone understood that it wouldn't be an easy game, and there were several dangerous moments from the first half. As a team, I feel responsible for the many stagnant periods and for not being able to effectively utilize the momentum from the three consecutive wins, especially as a member returning to play after a long time. What I regret the most is that we couldn't win.
Q, the movement of running from the side to the center and actively targeting the opponent's back was particularly noticeable.
If we don't keep moving actively with running, the opponent will defend with five players, causing their defenders to shift sideways and no space will be created. I aimed for movements running from the outside to the inside, as well as vertical spaces along the sidelines and behind. By running vertically and behind, I aimed to break the opponent's line, and I was conscious of allowing my teammates to use the space created by my runs.
Q: There were scenes where the attack got stuck against Sagan Tosu, who put more players into defense.
A, I have the impression that many opponents have been pressing from the front in the last few matches, but Sagan Tosu was positioned with a five-man defense. In a situation where we were pushing forward, as someone who played on the side, figuring out how to deliver crosses effectively is a challenge for the next match, and I want to organize that. Regarding today's match, the opponent had a five-back formation, and I think we had fewer actions, which made it easier for them to defend against our attacks.
