A crucial match where we want a victory to lead to the opening

Welcoming the preseason match at Fukuoka Level-5 Stadium, where light rain is falling.
Tokyo, this season's new addition FW Maeda started. Muto and Maeda form a two-top, with Kono in the attacking midfield. Kajiyama is used as the anchor, and Canini is deployed as the center back. Uemoto and Mita serve as the inside halves in the lineup.

The members who participated in the morning practice match (vs Fukuoka University) will also be on the bench. Fukuoka is listed as 3-6-2 on the team sheet, but MF Kamekawa is playing as a left full-back in a 4-4-2 formation.

Preseason match for the desire to win in order to gain confidence and start the season in a good shape.
The match started with a kickoff in Fukuoka at 14:03.
 

In the 9th minute of the match, Ota on the left side calculated the distance and crossed. The ball that had drifted to the right was crossed again. Maeda ran into the goal area and closed in on the ball that had been spilled by the opponent's goalkeeper, but it only resulted in a corner kick.

In the 11th minute that followed, it was a period of time when they attacked mainly through set plays. From Ota's left corner kick, Morishige aimed for a high header but missed the target. In the 17th minute, Muto -> Ota from the left front line, a low cross. Maeda, who had moved up in the center, pushed it in by hitting it with his body, and GOAL!! They scored the opening goal!
 

At 24 minutes, the opponent dribbled from the left side and connected in the center, but Mita blocked the shot from the left corner of the central area. The loose ball was connected again and brought into a shot from the left front line, but it went over the goal. Furthermore, at 31 minutes, Yonemoto's play to steal the ball was judged as a foul. Tokyo gave Fukuoka a free kick inside their own territory. Fukuoka midfielder Suyoshi aimed directly from a distance, but it went over the crossbar.

37 minutes, Yonemoto steals on the left side of the midfield and passes to Kajiyama. However, Kajiyama's pass to Canini in the center is slightly short. Fukuoka FW Sakata closes in and steals the ball from Canini, who was trying to control it, and dribbles forward.
Gonda was put in a one-on-one situation... but FW Hirai's shot missed to the left, avoiding a dangerous situation...
In the first half, new signing Atsushi Maeda scored a goal and the score is 1-0 at halftime.

Muto jumps into Ota's cross and scores a brilliant goal for a 2-0 victory!

Tokyo's attack in the second half at the 50th minute. Ota's long cross did not reach Maeda. Mita tried to follow up on the opponent's defender's mistake, but the opponent's goalkeeper caught it first. In the 58th minute, the opponent's free kick from the right side of Tokyo's field. Suzuki sent the ball to the far post, and Hamada was challenged by the defender, but the ball touched slightly and went out of bounds.

In the 62nd minute, a fast attack was launched, and Ota, who went up on the left after Morishige, crossed again. Muto in front of the goal near post, released a low header and GOAL!! GOAL!!
 

66 minutes, Maeda, Kajiyama replaced by Higashi, Takahashi. Higashi is in the attacking midfield position. Kono and Mutoh are in the forward line. Additionally, in the 76th minute, Ishikawa and Yoshimoto are substituted in. Takahashi and Hanyu form a double pivot in the central midfield, with Ishikawa and Higashi on the wings. In the 78th minute, the opponent's left full-back Kamekawa moves forward centrally and plays a diagonal through pass into the right area. However, Ota and Yoshimoto react quickly. Despite losing the second ball, Ota clears the left cross with a header.
 

In the 88th minute, Maruyama replaced Morishige and stayed as the center back. The match ended with a 2-0 victory thanks to the goal-scoring ability of Maeda and Muto in the forward line. It was a good start to the 2015 season, marking the first official match with a win and setting a positive tone for the start of the J-League.

[Player Comments]

"Maeda"
"(Is this your first goal in Tokyo?)
Until now, I felt that my timing to go into crosses was a bit slow. Today, I was able to go in with good form without being late. Ota's crosses are easy to time. I can understand when they are coming up. Including before the camp, I have been conscious of fitting into the team rather than expressing myself. That was the same today. I made an effort to play more within the team. It was good to score, but what's important is from now on. I will work hard to improve our coordination and accuracy and score goals towards the opening."
 

"Muto"
"I haven't been impatient so far, but today, I feel relieved to be able to score in the atmosphere of an official match. I had been aiming to move towards the near post from the beginning. In the first half, there were many things that didn't go well... The pitch was slippery, and I couldn't catch up where I usually could. At halftime, Ota said to me, 'Since the pitch is slippery, it might be better to aim a little higher if possible,' and then a perfect ball came. It was amazing. Running for 90 minutes and not feeling tired in defense is a good indicator of being in a good condition. I think I can go even higher from here, so I'm looking forward to it myself. I want to start the season without any injuries."
 

[Summary of Massimo FICCADENTI's press conference]
　"I think the match against a competitive team in J2 was very important with only 2 weeks left until the league starts. It was a meaningful match for us in every aspect. Regarding today's match, there were some factors such as many substitutions and a drop in performance due to fatigue in the last 10 to 15 minutes. However, even without considering those factors, the team showed a very high level of play. Especially, we attacked the opponent's penalty area many times and created numerous chances. Our challenge lies in the precision of the final part. We want to improve that precision from here on, no matter what."
 

[Fukuoka - Coach Masami Ihara's Press Conference Summary]
"FC Tokyo has a very strong team in J1, with a stable lineup of talented players. They have a team color of being particularly strong in defense, and also have talent in their attacking lineup. We were wondering how far we could go against such opponents. Today, we conceded 2 goals, but I think we were able to defend to some extent as we had planned."
We were beaten by two crosses from the side that we were taking care of. It was due to the precision of the opponent's attack and the fact that the player who should have scored did. I think there was some weakness in our defense. However, I think we were able to demonstrate a certain level of team organization and balance throughout.