Achieve revenge in the 1st stage and start with 4 consecutive victories!

Despite taking the lead with Kamiya's goal, we were caught up in the last 5 minutes and then suffered a close defeat as the winning goal was scored right after. It was a match against Shimizu S-Pulse in the 1st stage where we were once again reminded of the strength of a strong team and the fear of soccer. And now, we have reached the 4th match of the 2nd stage, facing Shimizu S-Pulse again. We approached this match with full determination to achieve revenge from the 1st stage and also to achieve a new record of "4 consecutive wins at the start of the season" for a team in its first year of promotion.

The venue for this match was the Kagawa Prefectural Marugame Athletic Stadium, which was being used for the first time in Tokyo. Although it had been used as a venue for the Emperor's Cup in the past, this was the first time it was being used for a J-League event. The stadium, with a seating capacity of 30,000 in a city with a population of 80,000, seemed somewhat disproportionate. However, it was a very modern and wonderful stadium. The only thing that was not accepted was the scorching heat of the day. The temperature, which had been in the mid-20s since morning, had risen to a staggering 33.3℃ around 2 p.m., just before kickoff. It goes without saying that it was even hotter on the pitch where the players were playing. The severity of the heat could be easily understood by looking at the players' faces during the pre-match training on the pitch. It was easy to imagine that it would be a grueling death match, but for the fans who had come all the way from Tokyo to support the team in their home game, and also to seek revenge against Shimizu S-Pulse and extend their winning streak, they could not afford to lose.

Tactical maneuvering on the side...

The biggest feature of S-Pulse and the most important thing to take care of is undoubtedly the speedy attacks from the sides. From the left side, last year's J-League MVP, Alex, creates numerous chances from aggressive attacks, while from the right side, defenders like Ichikawa and forward Kuboyama, who utilize their speed and stamina, create opportunities with powerful overlaps. Even though we knew it, in the 1st stage match against S-Pulse, we ended up conceding 2 goals to Alex on the left side. Fortunately, Ichikawa on the right side is not playing due to injury today, so we cannot deny the decrease in destructive power and it is expected that the focus will shift to attacks from the left by Alex.

Who will confront this Alex? It was naturally Naito, the right back, but the one chosen by Coach Ookuma was Yukihiko, who has had fewer opportunities to start recently. According to the coach, there were also some reasons like "because it's the Shimizu match...". What was expected of Yukihiko on this day was to seal Alex with the combination with Naito and to exploit the space behind the opponent that appeared by using his speed for counterattacks.

The match started and unfolded as Coach Okuma had planned. S-Pulse, as expected, passed the ball with few touches in the midfield through Sawato and Ito, and quickly entrusted it to Alex on the left side. And Alex (Naito) challenged the opponent and crossed the ball. However, Naito's solid defense and Yukihiko's efforts prevented any fatal breakthroughs and did not give S-Pulse any scoring opportunities. On the contrary, in the 10th minute, after winning the ball, Yukihiko made a sharp run on the right side, dribbling 40 meters and creating a chance with a centering pass. It turned out to be a great prediction by Coach Okuma.

Takeuchi scores a spectacular goal to take the lead!

In the scorching heat exceeding 33℃, both teams showed signs of fatigue, with easy pass mistakes that are not usually seen in regular matches. Even when they managed to break through the sides, the accuracy of crucial crosses slightly dropped, and they didn't aggressively try to steal the ball from each other in the front line, resulting in a somewhat sluggish pace. TUTO was no exception, as they lacked power even when they had the ball, and there were noticeable opportunities where they lost possession.

It was Koike who completely changed the mood. In the 21st minute, Fujiyama broke through the left side with a sharp dribble, attracting enough S-Pulse players, and then passed to Koike who was near the center circle. Koike, who was free, dribbled towards the goal and swung his right foot powerfully. Koike's long shot from about 30 meters grazed the hands of the S-Pulse goalkeeper and pierced into the left corner of the goal. With Koike's beautiful goal that thwarted S-Pulse's plans, Tokyo took the lead.

Continuing, Yukihiko skillfully floated the ball that came out deeply on the right side to Amaral running ahead. Amaral rushed towards the goal and aimed for a shot that went over the head of the goalkeeper who came out, but unfortunately missed. Tokyo actively targeted the side space of S-Pulse, who deployed a 3-back formation, and created opportunities.

On the other hand, Espalos had to rely on attacks from the left because they were missing Ichikawa, the right rook. In addition, the team's overall movement was sluggish due to the intense heat of the day, and their usual quick passing game was not effective. Although Espalos dominated possession of the ball in the first half, there were only a few dangerous moments. In the 38th minute, Alex cut inside and passed to Santos, who was left unmarked and took a shot. In the 41st minute, An'ei received a ball from behind and quickly shot with his left foot. In the 44th minute, DF Morioka, who had moved forward, took a long-range shot from about 25 meters, but GK Doi managed to save it. Alex on the left side also lacked threat as he attempted solo runs without a clear plan. Even when he occasionally delivered sharp crosses, GK Doi, along with Sandro and Komine, the two center-backs, consistently repelled them with high concentration, not giving Espalos any opportunities.

TUTO, Amaral's charge... With Masuda and Kina joining, the midfield gains depth.

In the second half, S-Pulse started to move. In the first half, they substituted the struggling ace Alex with forward Hiramatsu, and also pushed midfielder Santos up front, aiming for a come-from-behind victory with an ultra-attacking formation of four forwards. On the other hand, to prevent conceding a fatal additional goal, they changed from a 3-back to a 4-back formation and approached the match with the unusual 4-2-4 system. Long balls were sent from the defenders to Santos, who moved up to the top, in an attempt to create chances with headers, but Sandro, who was marking him, overwhelmingly repelled them with his height and almost perfectly prevented him from doing his job.

On the other hand, Tokyo started to thoroughly attack from the side, with the left side half, Masuda, who was brought in from the second half, as a starting point. In the first half, Masuda was inserted into the position of Kobayashi, who couldn't become a starting point on the left side, and that became a starting point and created a pause. Masuda, who has good ball control, created time, which allowed Fujiyama, the left side back, to enhance his overlapping runs. In addition, TUTO, who had been dormant until then, gained another starting point in Masuda, as there was no other option besides Amaral in the first half, and his movements improved significantly. TUTO would first charge forward with dribbling whenever he had the ball. TUTO would always beat at least one defender and then step up his game to attempt a breakthrough. This charge became the biggest fear for the opposing defenders, and because of this, passes also became effective. If he tried twice, he would succeed once. Even the marked Japanese national team player, Moriooka, was desperate.

In the 7th minute of the second half, Naito from the right side passed the ball to Koike in the center. Koike made a perfect through pass to Amaral running towards the space on the left side. Amaral sprinted towards the goal and took a shot with his left foot, but unfortunately, it missed to the right of the goal.

In the 8th minute of the second half, Tokyo substituted Koike with Kina. With Kina, who is now said to have the team's number one technique, Tokyo's attacking patterns have increased even more.

In the 12th minute of the second half, Naito assembled on the right side, and Naito, who had risen in front of the goal from Yukihiro's cross, jumped in and shot a header, but it went over the bar. In the following 15th minute of the second half, TUTO rushed from the defense and cut deeply into the left side, then passed to Masuda who was free in the center. Masuda aimed carefully with a direct shot, but it was blocked by the goalkeeper's offense and defense. Furthermore, in the 20th minute of the second half, TUTO rushed to the ball that came out on the right side, and sent a last pass in front of the goal. Although it was stopped once, TUTO regained possession and sent another exquisite cross. Masuda hit a right foot volley on this and hit the bar of the goal, and Amaral hit an overhead shot on the rebound, but the ball went over the bar. In contrast to S-Pulse's slowing down, Tokyo's energy has become prominent.

King Amaral's final goal seals the victory, achieving the first four consecutive wins!

The situation of not being able to score additional points while leading the game 1-0 reminded us of the "nightmare" of the 1st stage, but that anxiety disappeared in an instant.

After 25 minutes into the second half, when the ball was played to the right side, Kina, who had moved up, dribbled 40 meters, evading the opponent. While confirming Amaral's position, he attracted the opponent sufficiently and then delivered an exquisite final pass, which was crossed in front of the goal. Amaral, who had run past the opponent at top speed, kicked the ball with his right foot into the left corner of the goal in a powerful manner, securing an additional goal as the finishing touch.

Tokyo continued to dominate the game with TUTO and Amaral at the center. Sandro became a wall against S-Pulse's last-ditch attacks, and Sakoi, who replaced Komine, Fujiyama, and Naito as the right-back, defended without losing focus, shutting out the strong S-Pulse team. They not only avenged their loss in the 1st stage but also achieved a 4-game winning streak at the start of their first year in the top division. It is undeniable that the presence of Amaral and TUTO is a major factor in their impressive performance, but several factors such as Masuda's addition, Seigo Kobayashi's growth, Kina, and Fujiyama's adaptation to J1 level have contributed to the current team strength. However, they must not be satisfied with this. They will further improve their team strength by winning as many games as possible, keeping the lessons learned from the 1st stage in mind. The challenger mentality will always remain unchanged. Tokyo's challenge continues...

[PERRYMAN Coach's Comment]

Tokyo is a team with a very difficult system to play against. In the first half, S-Pulse was better, but Alex's poor performance dragged the team down and led to the result of this day. If we had made a substitution earlier, the situation might have changed, but anyway, Tokyo is a good team that is difficult to play against, especially with their counterattacks.

[Coach Okuma's Comment]

I thought if we could hold the first half at 0, we would be able to do well in the second half. So, Koike's goal in the first half was very important, and the fact that we were able to keep the first half at 0 was the key to our victory. Everyone really worked hard in this heat. We have a week off now, so we will prepare ourselves and look forward to the next match.

After finishing the 1st stage, even though the opponents have been studying us, the team has improved. In the future, we want to take control for as long as possible throughout the 90 minutes.