Let's restart the J-League!

After a break of about one month, the J1 League resumed. The 11th round will be an away game against Yokohama F.Marinos. During this break, the coach changed, and under the command of the new coach, Mr. Shimozu, who took over from Mr. Ardiles, F.Marinos will be missing Nakamura, Komura, and Castle due to injuries and Tahara due to a World Youth absence. Tokyo, on the other hand, had a draw in the previous Nabisco Cup Hiroshima match, with 3 goals scored and 3 goals conceded, which was a result that was neither good nor bad. Therefore, they want to show the results of the break period here. It unintentionally became a match between 12th place Tokyo and 13th place F.Marinos, but both teams want to use this as an opportunity to rise. It is expected to be an intense match.

F.Marinos continues to struggle in the attacking phase...

Tokyo creates a chance early in the game. Immediately after the kickoff, Kelly steals the ball in the midfield and passes it to Kobayashi on the left. Kobayashi overtakes Kelly and breaks through the defense line, receives the ball again, cuts back the defenders, and takes a shot. Although it was caught by Marinos goalkeeper Kawaguchi, an aggressive attack was seen.

However, it was Yokohama F.Marinos who took control of the pace from there. They quickly connected passes vertically after stealing the ball with intense pressure, and MF Hirama repeatedly broke through Tokyo's right side. In the 13th minute, from a direct pass by Hato → Nagayama on the right side, Hato once again rushed into the penalty area and tried to take a shot. The Tokyo DF persistently closed in, but MF Ueno, who came up from behind, provided support and delivered a cross, showing a strong attack.

Tokyo also launched a counterattack in the 14th minute, with Kelly as the starting point and Sato running up the left side. He crossed it into the middle. Kelly ran into the goal area and took a shot. It was a decisive moment, but it was blocked by GK Kawaguchi's nice save, giving a hint of the difficulty of scoring in today's game.

After that, Tokyo struggled with FW Kijima's speed and committed several fouls. In the 20th minute, Kobayashi accurately judged the offside line and reacted to the pass from Asari behind him, crossing the ball and earning a corner kick. However, Naito's header shot missed the goal. Tokyo, with Amaral dropping back to initiate the counterattack, tried to create opportunities but struggled to do so. F.Marinos continued to press Tokyo with their attacking style of play, constantly pushing them back.

Don't miss the chance! 2 goals with Amaral's skills!!

However, the goal came in a surprising manner. In the 29th minute, a long back pass from Yokohama F.Marinos' shallow defensive line reached goalkeeper Kawaguchi, but Amaral quickly pursued and stole the ball from under Kawaguchi's feet. Amaral was initially pushed out towards the goal line, and Kawaguchi also returned to his position, but there was no one to stop Amaral, and he scored a goal from an angleless position, shaking the net!

Tokyo gains momentum. In the 32nd minute, Kelly heads a long pass from Naito in front of the goal, Amaral traps it with his chest, evades the approaching defender, and takes a volley shot! It was an artistic super shot by Amaral, but it goes straight to Kawaguchi. However, the shot was powerful, causing Kawaguchi to parry it forward, and Amaral takes another shot at the rebound. But Kawaguchi's sharp reaction prevents the chance for an additional goal. In the 40th minute, Sato breaks free on the left side and Kelly, who is free in the center, forcefully attempts a shot, but the ball narrowly misses the goal to the left.

It was a tense period of time, but as the remaining time decreased, both teams slowed down their pace. Just when it seemed like the game would end like this, in the 43rd minute, the opponent's defender headed the long ball from Naito back to the goalkeeper behind him. Once again, Amaral anticipated the drop point of the ball and ran in as if he had predicted it, easily connecting with his right foot. Although Kawaguchi touched the ball with his hand for a moment, the ball drew a large arc and went into the goal! Following the first goal, Amaral's sharp reading and good positioning shone through as he didn't miss the "one chance".

Secure a shutout victory by holding the opponent scoreless!

In the second half, F.Marinos, who were trying to make a comeback, had a drive shot from Kijima in the 48th minute. However, Tokyo also showed an attacking formation where Kobayashi on the left dribbled into the middle after a big side change from Sato, and Asari followed up in the space afterwards. F.Marinos, who had shown intense physical activity since the first half, tried to break through with substitutions, but with Nagayama moving to the left, Tokyo's left side, which had been troubled by the combination with Namioto in the first half, "became easier (Kobayashi)".

Still, F.Marinos continued to put pressure on Kijima, and in the 62nd minute, he cut through the defense in the penalty area multiple times and took a shot. Although Doi deflected it behind, Asari, who was covering, calmly cleared it. After that, Kijima repeatedly attempted to break through into the penalty area, but Tokyo's final line of defense remained strong and did not give any decisive chances. However, Tokyo struggled to push the ball forward even after winning possession, and in the 66th minute, Kagami was substituted for the injured Sato, and in the 75th minute, Ito Tetsuya was substituted for Naito.

In the 78th minute, F.Marinos also substituted FW Leandro for Kijima, whose physical condition had declined, in an attempt to gather the ball at the top.

In response, Tokyo made a substitution in the 83rd minute, replacing Shimodaira with Kina. As a result, the rhythm improved, and in the immediate 85th minute, Kina caught up with a ball that was played wide to the left and crossed it. Kagami was lured in front of the goal, and Kelly closed in to take a shot, but unfortunately, the ball hit the post.

In the end, neither team was able to score a goal and the game ended without a decisive moment. However, it was not a satisfying performance, but they managed to break the beginning of the counterattack by the new F.Marinos and secured 3 points with their first victory since May 12th. Although they couldn't score in the flow of the game, keeping a clean sheet was a significant achievement. With this, they also moved up to 7th place in the rankings. There is no shortcut to future improvement, but this game made it clear that they have to seize their chances and accumulate points to rise.

[Coach Shimokou's comment] "The result was disappointing, but I think we were able to demonstrate what we have been doing in this short training time as we imagined at the start. If we had scored during this time... We conceded a goal due to a mistake, and losing our rhythm afterwards shows that we still have a long way to go as a young team."

[Coach Okuma's Comment] "I was worried about the team's lack of concentration at the beginning, but we gained momentum with the first goal and our physicality improved both in attack and defense. We want to aim for a team that can continue to play this style of soccer, running long distances and surpassing the front line, for the full 90 minutes, including the substitute members."