In pursuit of victory...

Tokyo, who wants to forget the nightmare of the previous match as soon as possible, faced Hiroshima, who is in last place (16th) on this day. However, even though they are in last place, the point difference between Tokyo, currently in 14th place, is only "2". If Marinos, who are in 15th place on this day, win against Verdy and Tokyo loses to Hiroshima, Tokyo will fall to last place for the first time in club history.

Before the match, Coach Okuma confirmed once again the coordination and balance of the defense line that led to the previous match's conceded goals, and instructed the team to pay close attention to the sharp movements and long distances covered by Hiroshima's front three. He emphasized not to repeat the same mistakes. The lineup included bold choices such as Amaral starting as a forward for the first time in five matches, Captain Shimodaira making his first appearance in four matches as a central midfielder, and Ito Tetsu starting as a right-back for the first time in three matches and his first time on the right side this season. The focus was on the combination of Kelly and Amaral, who were both starting together for the first time. Whether this combination can become the "trigger" to break the team's negative momentum remains to be seen. If this combination functions well, the team has the potential to quickly rise, but if it doesn't, a tough reality awaits. Expectations are high for this combination, which holds the key to the team's future ups and downs.

Early goal conceded due to a setback

"Once again..." It is. Coach Okuma had been saying it over and over again before the game, but due to a defensive combination mistake, just like in the previous match, we conceded the opening goal.

On this day, Tokyo had been creating a "good shape" from the start of the match. In the 2nd minute, Asari, who had sharp footwork near the center circle, stole the opponent's ball and dribbled forward, passing to Lopes who had drifted to the right of the penalty area. Lopes took a bold shot. Although the powerful shot was caught by the goalkeeper, expectations were raised for Lopes' forward play, which was not seen in the previous match. In the following 3 minutes, Amaral dribbled into the penalty area and then passed to Lopes, who had run into the center after attracting the opponent on the right side. However, the pass was slightly too strong and passed in front of Lopes. Missing this decisive big chance would have a significant impact later on.

Tokyo, who couldn't score the opening goal while creating chances from aggressive and sharp defense in succession, will gradually come under Hiroshima's counterattack. Hiroshima placed their ace Kubo slightly forward, with technician Fujimoto on his right and speedster Takahashi on the left side, launching quick attacks from counters. In the midfield, they quickly passed the ball to Kubo at the right timing, and midfielders Morisaki and Fujimoto picked up the ball and aggressively pushed forward. In the 7th minute, Lopes lost the ball in the midfield, and Kubo and Fujimoto easily broke through the right side from a sharp counterattack. Fortunately, the cross was inaccurate and didn't result in a goal, but Tokyo continued to lose the ball easily to the opponent's intense press in the midfield, leading to counterattacks and creating a bad pattern of giving Hiroshima rhythm from their own mistakes. In the 11th minute, after Fujimoto stole the ball from Fuyama due to a careless dribble, Fujimoto advanced with the dribble and played a through pass to Takahashi, who ran behind Tokyo's defensive line. Takahashi's shot hit goalkeeper Doi and lost its momentum, but it rolled into the goal.

Conceding a goal at a similar time as the previous match, it's a familiar "here we go again" moment. Tokyo once again suffered an early goal, which disrupted their game plan.

The aggressive attack was also deprived of additional points and fell into despair.

Tokyo, who wants to change their feelings, passed the ball to Lopes, who flowed to the right from the center outside the penalty area, in the 13th minute. Lopes shot boldly just like he did at the beginning of the game. The goalkeeper bounced the ball in front of him from the powerful shot, and Miura jumped in to take a sliding shot, but it also hit the goalkeeper. Amorao then tried to volley the ball from outside the penalty area, but it went over the bar. Tokyo missed another big chance and was then caught up in Hiroshima's pace for a while. However, in the 25th minute, right-back Ito Tetsu showed a spirited attacking participation by dribbling past two opposing defenders. In the 29th minute, Lopes picked up a loose ball in the midfield and made a powerful long-range shot of about 25 meters, taking advantage of the opponent's unpreparedness. Tokyo's play stood out with its boldness. In the 41st minute, Miura, Kelly, and Lopes broke through the opponent's defense line with their passing play, creating a chance. In the 43rd minute, Amorao received a pass from Asari and made a decisive shot from a counter-attack, coming close to scoring, but the goal was still far away. On the contrary, in the 44th minute just before the end of the first half, Takahashi jumped in near the near post and headed the ball into the goal from Hattori's cross, scoring an additional goal. Once again, just like in the previous match, they conceded an additional goal in the time period of "Now, let's counterattack," and found themselves in a difficult situation, trailing by two goals at halftime.

Harsh reality of relegation to the bottom... Switching mindset for the next match

At halftime, Coach Okuma instructed the fullbacks, midfielders, or Amaral to make aggressive movements and surpass the forward Luvisu when attacking at the opportune moment. In the previous match, the team had a negative mindset after conceding a goal, and as a result, they lost the attacking momentum. This instruction emphasizes the importance of maintaining a strong mindset in this aspect.

However, how many people on the pitch in the second half understood and implemented the halftime coach's instructions? At least, it was only Shimodaira who clearly showed the "fighting spirit" and persevered until the end. In this season's seven matches so far, this was the second time he was on the bench (both times as a starter), and I felt that his game sense was somewhat dull, but he led the team with sufficient leadership and fighting spirit to cover for it. He risked his body to steal the opponent's ball and quietly but surely distributed it to the front line. With Shimodaira's presence, the accuracy of distribution in the midfield definitely improved and led to chances in the front line. It could be said that this was the only bright spot and achievement that was close to "fighting alone". I couldn't help but think that his captaincy in the future could save the current team.

The second half was a one-sided development for Hiroshima. In the 8th minute, a free kick given away in front of the goal was saved by the post, but in the 17th minute, Takahashi scored his third goal of the day with a header from a right corner kick, sealing the deal. Tokyo, whose motivation dropped due to conceding 3 goals in consecutive matches, was on the defensive for the rest of the game. Shimodaira's brave play and Kelly's improved movement after changing positions from the right side to the left side or center maintained a high level of quality until the end. Yukihiko and Kina, who came on in the second half, also created good opportunities near the end, but Amara and Lopes, the two top players, lacked concentration and were frequently dispossessed due to careless play, failing to create an organized attacking shape that would lead to goals.

It seemed that we were completely overwhelmed by Hiroshima in the first half, which led to us being on the defensive the whole time. However, the main reason for this was the lack of initiative from Tokyo players to move forward. It is true that the opponent's front three always stayed up front, especially with the incredible speed and post-play of their ace, Okubo. It was dangerous for Tokyo's defense to join the attack recklessly, as pointed out by Coach Okuma. However, as he mentioned, without the defenders and midfielders making decisive moves to surpass the forwards at crucial moments, the attack lacked depth and chances were not created. In the latter part of the second half, Fujiyama participated in the attack several times, but there was a lack of long-distance runs and significant movements to break through the opponent's defense, which prevented us from finding a fundamental breakthrough strategy.

The match ended with a few minutes remaining, in the 40th minute, Fujiyama dribbled down the left side and crossed the ball, but it went past the goal. Yukihiko then crossed it back from the right side, and Amaral headed it down. Kaburagi attempted an overhead goal, but narrowly missed. In the 43rd minute, a wonderful ball from Kelly reached Yukihiko on the right side, who then passed it to Kina. Kina took a powerful left-footed shot from about 25 meters away, but unfortunately, the goalkeeper caught it. Immediately after, Amaral and others jumped for Kaburagi's cross from the left side, but it didn't result in a goal. In the end, the match ended like this. Before the match, they called the previous match a nightmare, but little did they know that a tougher reality awaited them on this day... With this, the club fell to last place for the first time in its history. The next match against Sapporo is approaching in 3 days. How will they turn things around in this short period? It can be said that this is a more serious challenge than last year's losing streak, the first (real) test since being promoted to J1. The club believes in the coach, players, coaches, and staff. Now is the time for Coach Okuma to show his skills.

[Coach Okuma's Comment]

The overall balance was not bad. Just like the previous match, we conceded a goal early on due to our own mistake, and unfortunately, this had a significant impact on our passive play afterwards. It was a momentary lapse that led to the goal, but we need to reconsider the balance of our defense. In the future, without compromising the current overall balance, we need to think about how we can have our full-backs and midfielders make big runs forward at the right moments, in order to launch attacks from the sides and with speed. We hope to approach the next match with these considerations in mind.