Defeat Kobe at home and aim for qualification to the league stage

　Sec. 4 will be a consecutive match with Kobe, which ended in a draw in the previous round.

　Tokyo, who is currently leading the group with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 7 points, faces the tough opponent Kobe Univ. They not only want to achieve their first victory in 3 years and overcome their bad compatibility, but also this is an important match that determines their qualification for the next round. However, for Kobe Univ, if they lose this match, their hopes of advancing to the final tournament will be dashed. With a tough schedule continuing every other day, the obstacles they must overcome are formidable, but they want to defeat them with united soccer.

　Tokyo, both the starting and substitute players are the same as the previous match. On the other hand, Kobe is missing their key midfielder Daniel due to accumulated warnings, so they have changed to a 4-back defense from a 3-back defense for this match.

They start with an aggressive attack...

　Tokyo, which gained momentum from the start of the first half. In the 3rd minute, Toda jumped into the goal and took a shot. In the 4th minute, Hoshi ran into the right side penalty area, following Kelly's pass, and attempted a goal from a close distance, but the shot hit the defender and the opponent's goalkeeper saved it with one foot. In the 5th minute, they won a corner kick from Hoshi's sharp cross, but Jean's header shot went over the frame.

　Tokyo, who brought the ball to the finish and attacked advantageously, but on the other hand, Kobe also connected a left corner kick in the 10th minute and FW Hashido made a header shot. In the following 11 minutes, FW Jo, who received the ball in the space on the left side, dribbled up and feinted Jean, entered the penalty area. After attracting Doi as well, he sent a pass to the front of the goal. Hashido, who received this, took a decisive shot from just before the goal area, but it went over the goal, and Tokyo escaped a big pinch.

　Tokyo, who couldn't score in the early stages, gradually began to slow down, possibly due to fatigue from consecutive matches, and started to defend. In the 23rd minute, Kobe's SB Hirano connected with MF Nishitani, and finally, the ball reached FW Jang who broke through the defense. However, Tsuchihi showed a brave dive and made a save, avoiding another dangerous situation with a fine play.

　The precision of the play has dropped, and effective crosses and final passes are not seen, and Tokyo cannot create an attacking shape. After the first 5 minutes, they were unable to take a single shot. The play on Tokyo's right side was concentrated, and the ball went back and forth in a narrow range, resulting in a continuous offensive and defensive battle, and the first half ended.

Tokyo, which has revived, Fukuda's diving header from an excellent combination play

　The game remained in a stalemate from the middle of the first half, but the second half saw a resurgence and became an exciting match with many highlights.

　Kobe replaced Hato with FW Miura in the second half. However, in the 49th minute, Fukuda received a pass from Toda in front of the right goal and unleashed a powerful shot from an impossible angle. It was blocked by the goalkeeper, but in the 51st minute, Hoshi feinted past a defender and cut into the penalty area, delivering a final pass in front of the goal. Kelly, who was waiting, took a decisive shot, but it went well over the bar and couldn't score. However, they showed an aggressive attacking style.

　Here, Tokyo substitutes Amaral for the star. Riding the rhythm, in the 52nd minute Shimohira sees a chance and takes a middle shot. Kaji also boldly challenges Hirano of Kobe in a face-to-face speed battle.

　Opportunities also come to Kobe. In the 55th minute, Hirano took a powerful middle shot. Doi saved it and it escaped to a corner kick, but from this corner kick, Tsuchiya, the CB, turned his back to the goal and shot a looping shot. However, Doi saved the creative shot again with his right hand.

　And in the 62nd minute, Miyazawa sends a long pass to the right side and Toda keeps it. Then, Toda sends it to Kaji who overlaps, and Kaji, riding on speed, cuts through the side and delivers a sharp cross. Fukuda dives with a header in front of the goal! The ball pierces into the goal, and the long-awaited opening goal is born!!

Suppressing Kobe's fierce counterattack, taking a big step towards advancing to the qualifying league!!

　Tokyo took the lead in an unparalleled way, but afterwards there was a fierce back and forth battle.

　In the 65th minute, Kobe Univ's MF Yabuta, who had just come on for the castle, headed a shot. In the 71st minute, this time Tokyo, Kelly, Toda, Amaral, and Kaji connected passes interestingly in front of the Kobe goal, but couldn't bring it to a finish. In the 73rd minute, Toda received a pass from Shimodaira and ran into the penalty area, appearing to be fouled, but there was no whistle.

　In the 74th minute, Tokyo substituted Suwazono, who made his first appearance in the J1 League, for Fukuda. Kobe also substituted Yasutoshi Miura for Nishitani, who had been the starting point of their attacks. They placed Miura in the defensive midfield and pushed Shijikure one step forward to launch a counterattack. However, Tokyo's Jean marked Shijikure. He won all the aerial battles and didn't allow any chances. On the contrary, in the 84th minute, Amaral connected with Suwazono, and Toda returned the ball from a post-play. Suwazono, who had broken free in front of the goal, took a shot! He showed a combination and decisiveness that didn't seem like his first appearance. In the 88th minute, Amaral received a long pass from Suwazono and charged towards the goal, shaking off the defenders, creating a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. However, his shot was unfortunately saved by the opponent's goalkeeper, and there was no additional goal.

　Kobe tries to counterattack with a power play, even pushing Tsuchiya, a CB, forward. Towards the end, there was a scene where Miura Kazuyoshi headed a shot from a free kick and the loose ball almost went into the goal, but Tokyo managed to repel Kobe's counterattack without letting their guard down, until the final whistle.

　Fukuda's goal became a valuable final point, and it was a particularly joyful victory that held back the archrival Kobe. Also, undefeated in home games this season. It truly feels like we are being supported by our home crowd, and we have taken a big step towards advancing in the qualifying league.

[Summary of Manager's Press Conference] "If Kobe loses today, there will be no possibility, so before the game, I told the players that the start is crucial and the first goal will determine the outcome. The start was quite good, with chances including set plays, but we lacked finishing and Kobe took advantage of that and turned the game around. Kobe changed their system, while we were playing in a familiar way, so we wanted to put more pressure, but we were also tired. One dissatisfaction in the attacking aspect was that there were too many back passes, which disrupted the rhythm. That's why at halftime, I told them not to be afraid and to play forward. Also, instead of half-heartedly trying to win the ball from the front, I instructed them to pull back once and compact the team before firmly trying to win the ball."

　It was a tight game where we struggled to score, but the goal was fantastic. That formation is the ideal shape for the team. Starting from the right side, Kaji overlapped, and we had two or three players in front of the goal. We want to continue scoring in that way and playing that kind of soccer.

　Now, I am most happy as a coach that all the team members are approaching with high motivation. Toda still has some rough areas in his final work, but he is really moving well and his earnestness and speed are attractive. Fukuda also shows his "feelings" and Amaral, although he came on as a substitute, has an attitude of "for the team". Suwazono is originally a player with technique, but he did well. With this, we have reached 10 points, but the games are still ongoing and especially in the next Verdy match, we cannot afford to lose. We want to switch our mindset and move on to the next one."

[Summary of Manager Kawakatsu's Press Conference] "Today, Daniel is unable to play, so we started with two attacking midfielders. In the first half, we allowed the opponents to attack to a certain extent, while keeping Mochizuki and Nishitani in free positions as our starting points. Nishitani was able to receive the ball in good positions and had two great scoring opportunities. However, not being able to convert those chances had a significant impact on the game, resulting in a one-goal loss. Throughout the league matches so far, we have been able to create several scoring opportunities within the flow of the game, but we have not been able to produce results in the final moments. Although we are starting to come together as an organization and a group, we still cannot overcome our opponents individually. That is the current challenge for our team. We don't want to make too many changes that would confuse the players, so going forward, we will make adjustments through player substitutions and approach the game without making significant changes to the overall flow."