Kensuke KAGAMI's first starting lineup. Tokyo's true value will be tested against Ichihara

J1 League Sec. 13. Tokyo, missing Amaral and Kanno due to injury, faced Ichihara in a formation with TUTO as the lone striker and Kensuke KAGAMI, making his first J1 start, as the attacking midfielder.

The opposing team, Ichihara, has Baron for height and Benson for speed as their two top players. Sometimes they also play with a double defensive midfielder, but today they have a attacking lineup with SAKAI as the lone defensive midfielder, MUTO as the left midfielder, NAKANISHI as the right midfielder, and OSHIBA as the central midfielder. Both teams are creating chances, and the first half is progressing.

The first to take the initiative was Ichihara. In the 5th minute, Muto chased after the ball that was deflected by GK Doi from Baron's header and went towards the goal. Baron followed up on that. Although they couldn't bring it to a final finish, it was a close call. After that, Ichihara created attacking opportunities with Nakaniwa and Muto as the starting points, with Benson and Baron running into the penalty area. Tokyo also saw Fujiyama on the left side making aggressive runs and creating chances by dribbling into the middle, but lacked the finishing touch. They also tried to exploit the high defensive line of Ichihara, but there were many offside situations and they couldn't create clear-cut chances. However, around the 10th minute, Coach Oshima, judging that "TUTO, who was marked by Ichihara's defender Chano, is not fully functioning as the starting point in the front line," decided to switch the positions of TUTO and Kagami. Kagami was placed in the front line as the target player. From this point on, Tokyo's rhythm improved and TUTO made moves that gave a sense of a goal, such as a free header shot.

Kagami's diving header explodes! However, they take the lead...

At 23 minutes, Benson, who was competing with Komine, shook him off with his speed and crossed to Baron, but Tokyo called a solid offside. And at 24 minutes, a pass from TUTO in the center to Seigo on the left, who then passed it to Fujiyama with his heel. Kensuke scored with a well-aimed cross from Fujiyama! A fast direct play that tore through the Ichihara DF and scored!!

Looking back, it was in June of last year, during the away game of the Nabisco Cup second round. Amaral, Yukihiko SATO, and Kensuke KAGAMI scored goals at the rainy Ichihara Seaside Stadium, leading to a 4-1 victory. And then, the goal in the final J2 match in Niigata. Kensuke KAGAMI's diving header instantly reminded us of such moments! In crucial situations, the "goal end" of Tokyo cannot help but get excited by the valuable contributions of the players.

However, J1 was not easy enough to defend here. In the 29th minute, Nakaniwa evaded Tokyo's mark and passed through the space that Fujiyama had moved into. Oishi neatly finished this and in an instant, the score was tied again.

After that, Tokyo had several opportunities to take shots freely, but TUTO's trap mistake and Sei Kobayashi's miss prevented them from scoring. The first half ended in a draw.

Masamitsu KOBAYASHI, a beautiful goal of determination! Pushing Ichihara away, 1st

Shortly after the start of the second half, Asari, the defensive midfielder, dribbles forward and advances towards the goal. This play symbolizes the consciousness of Tokyo on this day, which is to avoid being equalized and losing momentum like in the Cerezo Osaka match. Kagami and TUTO adapt their positions flexibly without being too fixated on their roles, which improves the flow of the game and causes the opponents' marking to shift (Kagami). Yukihiko Sato actively attempts to break through more than in the first half. In the 61st minute, Kina is substituted for Koike. However, Ichihara also counters Tokyo's attack by taking advantage of Nakanishi's unexpected long-range shot, and Benson aggressively attacks with his speed. But in the immediate 68th minute, Ichihara's defender Abe cannot help but commit a foul against Yukihiko Sato, who attempted a breakthrough on the right side. Tokyo is awarded a free kick. The kicker is, of course, Yukihiko Sato. And when the ball, kicked strongly and accurately by Yukihiko Sato, nears Masamitsu Kobayashi, he nods his head and the ball is sucked into the goal net.

. Kobayashi, who had taken several shots today, scored a fantastic goal that showed his determination to score.

Ichihara tries to counterattack by putting FW Ogura and MF Hayashi, but Tokyo defends tightly in the final line. On the contrary, in the injury time, Toda and TUTO, who came in for Kagami in the 88th minute, launched a counterattack together, and in the end, TUTO scored the third goal. They left Ichihara behind.

Provisional ranking is 3rd. Give it your all for the remaining 2 matches.

Tokyo, who stood in third place with this victory. In the next match, Naito will be suspended due to accumulated warnings, but as coach Okuma says, "Umeyama has been preparing sufficiently in the satellite team, so I'm not worried," and I want to overcome it with the power of everyone. Of course, there are also concerns about whether he can fit into the team immediately, but if we can fight with new members like today and show new possibilities, it will be a great achievement that leads to the next. In the remaining two matches, we want to fight with the Tokyo-like team soccer without letting our guard down.

"Comment from ZAMFIR Coach"

"It was expected to be a difficult game as we were facing a team with a strong defense. The first half was still good, but the weaknesses of Ichihara came out in the second half. We conceded a goal from an easy mistake in a free kick and had no choice but to go for a goal. As a result, we gave the opponent space, made repeated mistakes, and ended up conceding three goals. We had good build-up play and created chances, but if we can't convert any of the four chances into goals, we will lose. It's a common thing in football."

"Coach Okuma's comment"

"Regarding Kagami, there are some things that fall short of 100% of expectations, but his starting goal after a long time had a big impact on the team as a whole. I think he was able to concentrate even in the second half. The fact that Yukihiko started to break through from the second half is also largely due to his mental aspect. In the first half, even though there was space, he was crossing with his left foot, so at halftime, I gave him instructions to 'break through vertically even if you can escape from the corner kick.' He was able to get past once, and I think he became more decisive."