The first match of the Emperor's Cup is against J2 Vegalta Sendai

　Today is the 84th Emperor's Cup 4th Round match at Sendai Stadium between Vegalta Sendai. We have been struggling in the first match of the Emperor's Cup every year. From 2000, when we were promoted to J1, to the following 3 years, we lost in the first match against Kofu, Yokohama FC, and Shonan. Last year in 2003, we finally achieved victory against Honda Technical Research Institute in a penalty shootout. This shows that today's Sendai match is unlikely to end easily.

　Sendai is currently in 7th place in J2, and it is expected that they have a tremendous enthusiasm for the Emperor's Cup, as the possibility of promotion to J1 has already disappeared. Moreover, if the opponent becomes the Nabisco Cup champion, the tension naturally rises, and they can be considered a favorable opponent in terms of proving their own abilities.

　Tokyo also welcomes back Kelly, Ishikawa, Miura, and Shigemori, who were absent from the 11/6 match against Oita due to poor condition. In place of the injured Jean, Fujiyama will be included, and we will challenge the first match of the Emperor's Cup with a perfect posture. We will fight with confidence and pride as Cup winners, aiming for our second title.

Creates a decisive chance, but...

　The head coach sent the players onto the pitch with the words "Let's fight with the same feeling as in the Nabisco Cup Final Round" during the pre-match meeting. Sendai started the match defensively, but Tokyo attacked aggressively. They applied pressure from the front to the opponent's ball, and effectively attacked using both sides after winning the ball, which is their strength.

　2 minutes left side, Kanazawa's vertical long feed is run up by Toda and centered. It flows to the opposite side, but this time Ishikawa and Kaji break through the opponent's defense with a combination. 4 minutes, Ishikawa keeps the vertical pass from Fujiyama on the right side, passes it to Kaji, and attempts a forceful dribble breakthrough, causing the opponent's defense to commit a foul. Although they couldn't bring it to a shot, they give Sendai enough surprise.

　Then, in the 5th minute, Kelly passed to Toda from the right side, who ran up with the ball on his back and passed it back to Inokawa. He aimed for a shot from outside the penalty area, but unfortunately it went over the bar. In the 6th minute, Ishikawa dribbled from the right side to the center and passed through to Lucas, who had run behind the opponent's defense. He dribbled into the box and took a shot, but it went wide. They completely grasped the rhythm of the attack. Sendai has been faithfully executing their tactic of pulling back to their own half and counterattacking. However, the attacking hotline between MF Silvino and FW Sato, which occasionally shows up, surprises the Tokyo defense. In the 9th minute, Oshiba broke through the left side in a scramble and crossed to the center, but Sato couldn't hit it well with his left foot and the shot went straight to Doi. It was a decisive chance, but Mobata, who was marking Sato, calmly dealt with it.

　Tokyo's attack continues. In the 10th minute, Kaji passes to Lucas on the right side, who then passes directly to Ishikawa. The opponent tries to escape with a corner kick, but Ishikawa puts the ball in front of the goal and Lucas scores a perfect header. However, he hits the ball too hard and it bounces off the crossbar. In the 15th minute, Kelly intercepts the opponent's ball in the center and dribbles through, causing the opponent's defender to commit a foul just outside the penalty area. Ishikawa takes the free kick and aims for the goal with a ground shot, but it goes to the left of the goal.

　The wave attack continues. In the 17th minute, Miura passed to Kaji on the right side from near the central half line, and he quickly shook off the opponent's DF by sending a direct vertical pass to Ishikawa, entering the penalty area. When he sent the ball to the center, Kelly, who had been closing in on the near side, shot with a heel but was blocked by the GK. Although it was cleared once, this time, there was another pass exchange between Kaji, Ishikawa, and Kaji on the right side, and a centering pass to the center. Kanazawa picked up the loose ball and took a shot. Tokyo is setting the pace, but they are having a hard time breaking through the goal. In the 35th minute, a decisive chance arises.

　On the right side, a foul against Kelly resulted in a free kick. Ishikawa put the ball on the far side, freeing Inokawa from the opponent's defense. In close range to the goal, Inokawa trapped the ball with his chest and took a left-footed shot. It seemed like everyone thought it was a goal, but it hit the goalkeeper and resulted in a corner kick. Towards the end of the first half, Toda reacted to a ball that slipped behind the opponent's defense and took a shot, but it didn't fit perfectly and the ball missed to the right of the goal, ending the first half. With a heavy and tense atmosphere, both teams returned for the second half with no goals scored.

With player substitutions, both teams quickly transitioned into an offensive playstyle.

　At halftime, Coach Hara instructs, "Pick up loose balls and attack without wasting time. Put the ball between the goalkeeper and defenders from both sides as soon as possible. Let's keep repeating patiently." Tokyo continues to actively attack from the start of the second half. In the 49th minute, Kanazawa runs up the left side and crosses, but fails to connect in the middle. This time, it's from Kelly to Ishikawa on the right side. Ishikawa cuts back just before getting past the defender and crosses with his left foot. The ball reaches Kelly in the center, but unfortunately, it's offside. In the 51st minute, Konno sends a long feed from near the center half line behind the opponent's defensive line, and Lucas picks it up and shoots with his left foot from the left side of the penalty area, but it misses the target weakly and goes wide to the left of the goal.

　Amidst the deadlock, Tokyo makes a move. In the 53rd minute, Abe replaces Miura and takes up the position of the two top players with Lucas, while Imakawa becomes the defensive midfielder. As a result, the game starts to pick up pace. Sendai, now able to pick up the ball in the midfield, gradually launches aggressive attacks. In the 56th minute, from the hot line between Silvinho and Sato, they earn a corner kick, and from the short corner, midfielder Yanagida sends a centering pass, which is headed by defender Cedroski who was up in the center. In the 57th minute, although Kaji cuts off Fabinho's through pass, the ball reaches the free forward Oishi who was in front of the goal, and just as Doi comes out, he skillfully loops a shot. At the moment when everyone thought it was a goal, Toda enters to cover and clears it. They narrowly escape from a desperate pinch.

Finally, Abe's priceless goal pushes Sendai away!

　The match became a fast-paced exchange of attacks and defenses, but here an accident happens to Tokyo. Shigetani is substituted by Masushima in the 62nd minute due to a right leg muscle strain, disrupting Manager Hara's game plan. In the 64th minute, Kanazawa and in the 65th minute, Lucas take free shots but are blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper, and Tokyo just can't score a goal. Sendai also substitutes MF Sugo for FW Sekiguchi in the 76th minute to advance the game aggressively, but they fail to bring the ball to a shot. After that, both teams struggle to break through, and in the 86th minute, Tokyo finally scores the long-awaited goal.

　In the 85th minute, Kajiya was substituted for Kelly, who showed signs of fatigue. Just one minute later, while Sendai was launching an attack in the center, Kajiya, who had stolen the ball, quickly made a vertical pass to Abe, who was free near the center circle. Despite facing three opposing defenders, Abe attempted a dribble through the center and forcefully bypassed the defenders, resulting in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. Without panicking, Abe calmly observed the goalkeeper's movement and took a left-footed shot. The ball pierced into the left side of the goal, finally obtaining the desired goal! Afterwards, Sendai launched a total attack by moving Sedroski, a defender, to the front line, but they were unable to score and the match ended as it was. As expected before the match, it was a tough game, but they managed to hold on and secured a spot in the 5th round of the Emperor's Cup.

　【Player Comments】《Imano》It's been a while since I played at Sendai Stadium. It seems like everyone was solid in today's Emperor's Cup first match. Winning was the most important thing, so I'm really glad we did. The opponent defended in the first half and tried long shots from a distance, and we had a couple of great chances but couldn't convert them, so I feel really sorry for the team. We managed to score one goal in the end and won, and I don't think the performance was that bad.《Abe》We couldn't create good attacking opportunities, but I'm glad we scored in the 90th minute. In the first half, when I was on the bench, we were being pushed back and defended against, so it was Sendai's pace, but in the end, we were able to win... The goal-scoring scene was thanks to Yosuke and Lucas RIAN drifting to both sides, which opened up the center and allowed us to break through. I want to thank both of them. Last year, I missed a penalty and we lost, so this year, I don't want to experience such an unpleasant feeling, so I just want to go all the way to the final. (Were you scolded by Doi?) I knew that his child was born, but I didn't know about the cradle dance... I was at fault. I'm sorry, Doi-san.

　【Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference】 "As expected. I told the players that it would be a tough match, and we should approach it with the mindset of the Nabisco Cup final. I think the players started well, but Sendai defended desperately, and if we give them time, they will all fall back from the halfway line to their own side, making it difficult to break through. For example, there were a few chances when Ishikawa broke through and Kelly connected with a low ball, or when Konno had a shot from a loose ball from a free kick, but we couldn't score, and it was tough to end the first half. At halftime, I was worried about the opponent's counterattacks, especially from Sato and Oshima. I was really scared that we would lose the ball in a strange way and get countered, so we needed to be careful and respond properly. When the opponent has a goal kick, we talked about not pressing from the front all the time, but rather pulling back to our own side and allowing Sendai to come a little closer when necessary. We struggled to score, and I wanted to create a base in the front line, so I took Miura out to have more players up front to create that base. However, it didn't go well at first, and I changed the positions of Toda and Abe, and I was also thinking of bringing in Kajiyama earlier and Suzuki, who has a powerful left-footed shot, but Moniwa got injured, forcing a substitution. Considering Ishikawa's condition and Toda's foot, it was true that we couldn't move much. However, I thought we couldn't continue like this, and since Kelly was getting tired and being tightly marked, I felt that Kajiyama could help maintain defensive balance while moving the ball, so I brought him in. Shortly after, Abe scored in a good shape, which was a bit forceful but characteristic of him. It was a really tough match with some dangerous moments, but I think the fact that everyone stayed focused and kept it at zero was the key to our victory. The players said that the first match is the most important, and I am very happy that we can move up. There are still three matches left in the league, so I want to raise our level a bit more and win the Emperor's Cup one by one. (Did switching to one defensive midfielder allow Sendai to attack?) There are aspects to that as well. However, in that situation, I thought that if we didn't break the balance somewhere, nothing would change, so I felt we had to move in such matches. There are risks associated with that, but I thought that if the opponent came out, we could also go for it. Allowing them to come out actually created counterattack opportunities, and as a result, we were able to take the ball in our own half and attack with three players. When it becomes a stalemate, you have to take risks somewhere; otherwise, nothing will change. Even if we were to concede a goal in that situation, I think it would be unavoidable. Today's Sendai's performance was completely different from what I had seen in the videos from the previous four matches. Especially in terms of each individual contest and concentration. With today's lineup, it wouldn't be surprising if they were ranked higher in J2, and personally, I really like the atmosphere of this stadium, and I hope they can move up to J1 soon."

　[Sendai Verdenik Press Conference Summary] "I am not satisfied because we lost the game. We have made every effort to win this game until today. We have prepared tactically for this game in training this week and have also conducted a thorough analysis because the opponent is a very good team. The main characteristics of Tokyo are aggressive defense, fast attacks, and counterattacks, and there are several players with high individual abilities. Today, we decided to play with the same tactics as the opponent. Specifically, we aggressively defended without giving space in our own half and launched fast counterattacks, and defensively, we quickly returned to our own half. By doing so, we did not allow the opponent's fast players to play freely and we were not able to play as we wanted even in a crowded situation. As for the attack, we countered and tried to put more players when we could keep the ball. The game went as planned and both teams had several chances. I think we had a chance in the last 15 minutes. However, towards the end of the game, it proved that football is a game of mistakes. When we became aggressive, we lost the ball and the fast player broke through our defense. Although we only allowed such a situation at that time throughout the game, Taiki Oishi unfortunately made a pass mistake. It may have surprised our teammates, but that doesn't mean that the three defenders in the backline should be easily beaten. I think we had a good fight against the J1 team. I am satisfied with the tactical approach and the content of the game, but I am not satisfied with the result of losing the game.