The true value of team strength is tested in the crucial moment

　Kelly, Tetsuya ITO, Miura, Kagami... and injuries continue. And in this round, Tokyo will face Yokohama F.Marinos, the champion of the Nabisco Cup, without Amaral due to accumulated warnings, with a difficult lineup. Moreover, in the remaining 5 rounds, they will face teams fighting for relegation to J2 and teams competing for the top spot like Kashima, and the pressure will be different from usual as they face opponents whose intentions have changed. Truly, now is the crucial moment where the team's strength will be tested.

　Among them, today's starting members are Fukuda as the top striker, Sato on the right midfield, Kaburagi in the center, Masamitsu Kobayashi on the left, Shitahira and Asari as defensive midfielders, and the defensive line consists of Komine, Yamao, Sandro, and Fujiyama. And on the bench, there are GK Ozawa, FW Toda, as well as fresh members including DF Minoru Kobayashi, MF Miyazawa, and FW Enomoto, making their first appearance in this season's league match.

Attacking F.Marinos, struggling Tokyo

　The game progressed at the pace of F.Marinos. In the 7th minute, Tokyo cut off F.Marinos' back pass and Sato, who was free on the left side, approached the goal, but his long dribble went over the goal line and they couldn't create many chances afterwards. F.Marinos had a free kick and a corner kick in the 5th minute, and in the 12th minute, MF Nakamura took a shot from a long-distance free kick. In the 17th minute, Nakamura aimed for the goal again from a free kick, followed by two consecutive corner kicks. In the 20th minute, they had another corner kick and created 5 shots from set plays, but on the other hand, Tokyo was put at a disadvantage with Asari's first shot in the 28th minute.

　F.Marinos dominates the ball with a solid defense from Endo and Kaneko's double pivot, while Nakamura moves in all directions. CB Matsuda frequently pushes forward. Tokyo's right side is pushed back by the aggressive play of left MF Dutra, struggling to counterattack from a defensive position.

　At 30 minutes, Matsumoto of F.Marinos ran forward and received a pass from the backline, trying to bring it to a shot. However, immediately in the 31st minute, Tokyo's Fukuda jumped out behind the defense to a long ground pass from Komine on the right and took a bold shot. Unfortunately, it hit the side net, but at 33 minutes, Sato headed a cross and gave us a glimpse of hope for a goal... At 36 minutes, Dutra on the left side of F.Marinos passed to Nakamura in the center, who exchanged quick return passes with Castle and finished with Nakamura's soft shot. At 37 minutes, Castle took a shot after another pass exchange between Nakamura and Castle. From this play, KOMURA got a header shot from a corner kick, but none of them were able to score. Finally, in injury time, Tokyo quickly turned from defense to offense and Sato crossed the ball, but it narrowly missed Fukuda. It became a first half where only the defense of Yamao and Komine stood out, but they did not allow any goals and went into the second half with a score of 0-0.

Although Toru KABURAGI's fine goal quickly followed after being scored by Shunsuke NAKAMURA

　In the second half, F.Marinos substituted FW Britt with FW Yasunaga due to injury. The game became a series of interceptions. Although the ball was exchanged in the midfield, neither team was able to create clear chances. In the 53rd minute, F.Marinos MF Hirama took a long-range dribble shot, which was the first shot for both teams combined.

　Tokyo, which tried to break free from the stalemate situation. In the 54th minute, rookie Miyazawa, who made his first appearance in the league, replaced Shimohira, and in the 58th minute, Toda replaced Kobayashi. Kaburagi as the top, Fukuda on the left midfield, Toda in the center, and Miyazawa in the defensive midfield formed the lineup. From here, they were finally able to establish a rhythm of attacking and defending.

　However, contrary to Tokyo's intention to attack, in the 67th minute, a pass from F.Marinos' Matsuda to Dutra on the left after dribbling, and Nakamura's header shot from the cross sent to the center. In the 69th minute, once again giving a free kick in front of the goal against Nakamura's dribble breakthrough. As expected, Nakamura and midfielder Endo feel threatening when they have the ball, and they try to develop their attack in coordination with the movements of forward Yasunaga and Castle. And finally, in the 73rd minute, when Castle headed the goal kick ball to the front line, Yasunaga received it in the center and kicked it to the left with a heel. Nakamura, who ran in with speed, shot from around the left corner of the penalty area and scored a goal. In the midst of adversity, they allowed the first goal that seemed to weigh heavily on them.

　However, Tokyo tried to attack with Fukuda and Fujiyama's combination from the left, as the right side was being held back more than usual. In the 75th minute, just after F.Marinos substituted Ueno for Kaneko, Fukuda received the ball from Fujiyama and returned it. Fujiyama dribbled into the center and passed to Miyazawa, who cut inside and sent a perfect ball to the back of the opponent's defense. Sato, while competing with the defender, stretched his leg and sent a lobbed pass to the center. Toda, who tried to head it, was used as a decoy, and Kagami, who jumped into the drop zone, took a direct shot! The equalizer goal that dampened the spirits of the F.Marinos, who were trying to gain momentum, was scored!!

　Tokyo, which was energized by this, in the 78th minute, Toda, who broke through behind the DF utilizing his speed, received a through pass from Miyazawa! However, the opposing GK Enomoto came out slightly earlier and caught it. Miyazawa, again, in the 80th minute, immediately aimed for a mid-range shot when he saw that there was no passing option. This shot was saved by the GK in front of him, but his boldness in taking the shot and his attitude of trying to break through with passes showed a fresh challenge that is characteristic of Tokyo. In the 86th minute, Enomoto, making his first appearance at the top, was substituted for Fukuda. Both teams tried to find a way to score with aggressive player substitutions, but neither team had the decisive touch and the match remained undecided after 90 minutes. It went into extra time.

Draw ends, shining on fresh players

　Tokyo, Enomoto enters the left midfield, and Miyazawa, the defensive midfielder, moves from the center to the left to support. Yamao moves up from the center to the right side and transitions to the attack. In the 94th minute of the first half of extra time, Sato's sharp cross is cleared by the defender in the center, but Toda persistently picks up the loose ball and takes a shot. The ball veers to the right of the goal, but Tokyo showed their characteristic attacking play. F.Marinos, on the other hand, steals the ball with their defensive line and Matsuda advances to threaten the goal. In the 96th minute, they launch a quick counterattack, and in the end, Doi's clearance ball ends up right in front of Matsuda, who was advancing... It was almost a decisive shot from a very close range, but it hits the side netting, and Tokyo escapes by a hair's breadth. In the 101st minute, F.Marinos brings in the speedy forward Woodland, but as the second half of extra time progresses, fatigue becomes visible throughout the team, and Tokyo consistently picks up loose balls and connects passes. However, their next pass is read and intercepted. In the 108th minute, a free kick is awarded to Tokyo in the center of F.Marinos' half, and Castle heads Nakamura's free kick, but Doi catches it firmly. In the 112th minute, Kobayashi Minoru, who is also making his first appearance as a substitute for the injured Asari, comes on, but in the end, neither team gives way and the final whistle blows.

　Manager Okuma talked about the proactive use of players after the game, saying, "We had a lot of disadvantaged time, but I wanted to instill the mindset of transitioning from defense to offense instead of just 'defending and defending to somehow score a goal.' Everyone's abilities don't change, so I trusted them and gave them opportunities, and I think both the players who participated and myself had the desire to 'win'. In the second half, that aspect came out, and there were parts where the team functioned better than in the first half." It was certainly a match that ended in a draw with remaining challenges, but what we gained for "Tomorrow's Tokyo" may have been greater than today's result of 1 point. It became a game with shining possibilities.

[Coach Lazaroni's Comment] "FC Tokyo has been deploying a clear tactic of dropping back into their own half and launching counterattacks from the beginning. They didn't give us much space, but I think we were still able to create chances within that limited space. Britto got injured, so we approached the second half with two forwards, Yasunaga and Jo, just like in the first half, constantly sending diagonal passes into the front line for the forwards to interact with as a post player and make runs. The opening goal came from a brilliant run by Nakamura, but we immediately let our guard down and relaxed, which led to a cheap mistake and conceding a goal. The failure to capitalize on the period of time when we were dominating was the reason for our defeat. The exhaustion of our physical strength was also a significant blow."

[Coach Okuma's Comment] "With so many injured players and members who have not experienced severe matches in J1, I expected the game to develop like this. I am not satisfied with the content, but it is a harvest to confirm that new sprouts are gradually growing. However, I keenly felt the lack of strength to win this kind of match. As a team and as individuals, we need to step up and strive harder to bring victory in these matches."