Repay the debt of the 1st stage and escape from the losing streak!

On April 1st of this year, Tokyo, who had won their first three matches of the season and had the opportunity to achieve a new J-League record (four consecutive wins at the start of the season) if they won the game that day, traveled to Kashiwa's Hitachi Stadium to face Kashiwa Reysol. Despite a difficult situation of falling behind twice, Tokyo managed to equalize each time and even played a close match in extra time, but in the end, they conceded a winning goal just before the final whistle, leaving them in tears. Tokyo, who have steadily built up their achievements under the leadership of coach Nishino, including winning the Nabisco Cup for the first time last year, faced a strong opponent and managed to give them a tough match until the end, which gave Tokyo confidence. Although they have only won one out of the seven matches they have played against Kashiwa Reysol since their time in the JFL (a 2-1 victory in August 1993 at Edogawa), if they can play the same never-give-up style of soccer they showed in the 1st stage, they have a good chance of winning. In the 2nd stage, Tokyo is currently facing a difficult situation with two consecutive losses after a five-match winning streak, so it was crucial for them to win today's match in order to break this negative trend.

Conceded a goal right away, taking advantage of the absence of key players

The venue for today's match is Ishikawa Athletics Stadium in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, which is the third away game of the season in Tokyo. Before the match, goalkeeper Doi, who achieved his 100th appearance in the J-League, was presented with a bouquet. Is there some kind of fate that the opponent is Kashiwa Reysol, who he used to belong to until last year?

Tokyo faced the game with a difficult lineup, missing Amaral, their ace, due to injury, in addition to Asari and Kina, the double defensive midfielders. Although it was expected that the absence of Amaral would be covered sufficiently by the in-form Kamiya, who has a different playing style, the absence of Asari, who maintains the defensive balance, and Kina, who also handles game-making, cannot be easily covered and became a source of concern.

The match started with Kashiwa's pace. Kashiwa showed their momentum by targeting the excellent post-play and scoring ability of Kitajima, and by delivering crosses from both sides at an early timing. In the midfield, they tried to grasp the rhythm with a variety of passing plays centered around the genius MF Ono. As Coach Okuma mentioned before the match, "How to neutralize Ono, the game maker of Kashiwa, will determine the outcome." It was immediately understood that passes from Ono were a key point to be cautious of. Ono did not hold onto the ball for a long time, but he distributed sharp passes with exquisite timing and trajectory to the left side technician Hirayama, Kato who came out to the back with abundant athleticism and speed, and Kitajima who stuck to the goal front.

Tokyo has been assigning midfielder Hashimoto to mark the source of this Kashiwa pass, but they have been unable to catch him and ultimately ended up being broken down from here. In the 18th minute, this "player to watch out for" Ohno made a dribble and in response, Kitajima shook off his marker and rushed towards the goal. Just then, Ohno quickly passed a perfect through ball and Kitajima, even though he fell down in an awkward position, managed to take a shot and score a goal. We ended up conceding the opening goal from the most dangerous pattern that we needed to be cautious of, including the timing of Ohno's through pass and Kitajima's running path and finishing ability.

Start counterattack using the space on the left side

Tokyo woke up with this one point. In this game, it seemed that which side could take the advantage on the side would be one point, but after conceding a goal, Tokyo started to counterattack from this "side attack". Kashiwa took a three-back formation, and when the side half shifted to attack, naturally space was created there. Coach Okuma pointed this out in the pre-match meeting, and from around 20 minutes into the first half, the players began to exploit this space as they grasped Kashiwa's speed and attacking patterns. Especially on the left side, Seigo Kobayashi intentionally moved into that space and started creating chances through combinations with left fullback Fujiyama and big side changes from Yukihiko on the right. In the 27th minute, a pass went from Seigo on the left to TUTO in the center, and then to Naito who had moved up on the right side, and finally Naito took a powerful shot but unfortunately the ball missed the left goal. In the following 28th minute, Fujiyama dribbled up the left side and passed to the top player Kamiya. Kamiya shook off the defender with one touch and faced the goalkeeper one-on-one, but the shot unfortunately missed. Furthermore, in the 29th minute, Seigo broke through the left side again and passed a ground ball with speed to the center. Kamiya pretended to shoot the ball but let it go through, and then Yukihiko took a strong left-footed shot, but it went straight to the goalkeeper. In the 35th minute, Fujiyama dribbled through the left side and passed to Seigo in the center. Seigo took one dribble and swung his left foot, and the ball seemed to go straight to the Kashiwa goal and shake the net, but it hit the right post. In the 43rd minute, Seigo dribbled through as Kamiya dropped the ball into the post. He was brought down inside the penalty area, but it was not a penalty kick.

On the other hand, after the 18th minute goal, Kashiwa, who had been pushed back by Tokyo, also had a chance in the 30th minute when Ohno dribbled up and passed to Kato on the left side. Kato received the pass and took a powerful left-footed shot from the dribble, but the ball hit the post and did not go in. In the 44th minute, Kato again took a free shot after breaking through the right side and crossing to the opposite side, but it was cleared without hitting the target.

In the first half, Tokyo conceded one goal, but the number of shots was equal at 8-8, and Tokyo clearly outperformed in terms of content. The outcome of the match was completely unpredictable as the second half began.

Sinking with a regrettable red card...

Tokyo continued to attack from the sides in the second half. Yukihiko created chances from the right, while Seigo created opportunities from the left with decisive movements. On the other hand, Kashiwa also fiercely fought back. In the 2nd minute, Hirayama took a powerful shot from a free kick, but Dohi made a fine save. In the 10th minute, another strong shot was taken from the front of the goal, but Dohi caught it firmly. The intense battle filled with tension indicated that both teams understood well that the next goal would greatly influence the outcome.

However, what determined the game was an unexpected situation. In the 22nd minute, Masuda, who had replaced Yukihiko in the second half, fell into Kashiwa's provocation and was sent off with a red card. Tokyo was tied, in a position to turn the game around, in a very good state at a crucial time, but faced the worst situation. It was self-destruction caused by an "act that should not have been done" not only as an individual player but also as a team. After this, Tokyo was pushed into a very difficult situation where they had to fight with 10 players while being one point behind.

The decisive second goal came 9 minutes later. Despite being one player down, Tokyo had to go on the attack. From a counter, they were caught off guard by the "player to watch out for," Ohno, who took a shot from the center after the midfield had thinned out. Despite Doi's desperate saving attempt, the shot went past him and Tokyo conceded the second goal without any resistance.

Tokyo never gave up until the end. And they fought until the end. In the 37th minute, Kamiya received a through pass from Kobayashi and faced the goalkeeper one-on-one, but was stopped by the opponent goalkeeper's fine play. In the immediate 38th minute, TUTO broke through the left side and sent the ball to the center, where Kobayashi unleashed a powerful low shot that threatened the Kashiwa goal. In the 40th minute, Sandro scored a header from a set piece, and in added time, TUTO dribbled past two defenders on the left side and stunned the Kashiwa defenders with a powerful shot, but it did not result in a goal. And unfortunately, the time was up here. Tokyo's fierce attack ended here. Tokyo suffered their first three consecutive defeats of the season. The decrease in team strength due to a series of injuries cannot be denied. The players fought well, but the midfield lacked organization and effective passes did not reach the front line, forcing TUTO, who should have competed in the forward position, to retreat. TUTO showed a lot of individual skills, but at the same time, demonstrated his consistently high ability to break down the opponent's defense. Kobayashi and Fujiyama also had technical superiority over Kashiwa, and I felt the efforts of the defense, including the goalkeeper. Although the result of "victory" was not achieved, there were many chances and we are not heading in the wrong direction. This is the crucial moment. If the team comes together again and aims for the same goal, the results will surely follow.