A stepping stone to consecutive victories and advancing to the top

　This round, which is five days after the previous round, will be against Gamba Osaka. On top of the consecutive matches during Golden Week, Shigeki, Ishikawa will be participating in the Olympic Asia regional qualifiers on May 1st and 3rd, respectively, and their fatigue will reach its peak. Today, with temperatures close to 25 degrees, there are concerns about the condition, but in the previous round against Kobe, we showed perseverance and won away, and the team's atmosphere is excellent. It will be a crucial match where we want to take a victory from G Osaka, who is tied with 8 points and is in the upper ranks in goal difference, and use it as a stepping stone for advancing to the top.

　Tokyo will face the match with the same lineup as the previous round, with Shigenoba, Miyazawa, and Ishikawa on the bench, and Miura as the defensive midfielder and Fujiyama as the center back. On the other hand, Gamba Osaka will be without their key defender, Miyauchi, who is suspended. Additionally, during today's warm-up, left midfielder Arai was injured. As a result, a last-minute substitution was necessary, and Inoue was brought in as a starting midfielder. Galerano was placed on the bench, and they kicked off the game.

Pressing against the sluggish Gamba Osaka...

　Kickoff at 2:05 PM. Tokyo aggressively attacks from the beginning despite the heat. The defense also shows a spirited performance, allowing G Osaka FW Maglone to enter the penalty area in the 10th minute, but Fujiyama quickly closes in and prevents a shot. In the 14th minute, they steal a corner kick from a right throw-in, and in the 15th minute, Abe breaks through the front line in response to Kanazawa's pass to Kelly, but is narrowly offside. In the 17th minute, Kelly passes through the area, reaching Amaral in front of the goal, but unfortunately he is unable to take a shot. In the 20th and 21st minutes, they continue to steal corner kicks and push G Osaka, who are slow in movement, into their own half.

　After the match, Coach Hara looked back and said, "It was lucky for us that Arai was absent." G Osaka couldn't create a starting point on the side and couldn't find their rhythm. In the 21st minute, MF Nikawa took a middle shot from a counterattack, which was their first shot of the day. Tokyo created a decisive scene in the 23rd minute. Abe received the ball just outside the left penalty area, won the battle against the opponent's DF, dribbled into the area, and sent a final pass to Toda, who took a shot, but unfortunately it was blocked by the opponent's DF's foot. From the resulting corner kick, Jean made a header shot, but the ball missed the target.

　Tokyo, which shows no signs of slowing down, often picks up second balls and connects them well. Kanazawa and Kaji, the fullbacks, show well-timed attacking participation. Kanazawa creates chances by connecting passes to exploit the space behind G Osaka's three-back line, while Kaji sends in early crosses to anticipate chances. Miura also shows an aggressive push forward and has found his rhythm. In the 39th minute, Amaral, who exchanged passes with Kelly, takes a shot but it goes over the goal. In the end, despite 6 shots and 6 corner kicks, they were unable to convert them into goals and the first half ended.

Against G Osaka, who tries to make the most of their few chances

　In the second half, G Osaka substituted MF Chikialse with U-22 representative FW Nakayama. Coach Nishino said, "Tokyo had a 3-top formation with speedy players (Toda and Abe) on both sides, so we responded by putting Kiba on the right and Irie on the left in a 4-back formation." Shortly after the start, G Osaka allowed Hasegawa, their defensive midfielder, to advance and take a shot with speed, but it went wide to the left of the goal.

　However, in the 48th minute, Abe boldly shot from outside the area after seeing Rychely free in the midfield. The well-controlled shot was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper Matsushiro in the lower right corner of the goal, and Toda followed up on the rebound but couldn't take a shot. In the 50th minute, Toda broke through the front line from a pass from Kanazawa but was called offside. In the 51st minute, Miura received a pass from Asari and made a wedge pass to Amaral in front of the goal, while he himself made a fierce dash forward. He received a return pass on the left side of the goal and took a free shot, but unfortunately it went over the goal. Despite missing a big chance, G Osaka, who tried to regain the rhythm in the second half, did not allow them to take the initiative by attacking. In the 54th minute, Ishikawa was substituted for Toda to maintain the rhythm. In the 55th minute, G Osaka threatened in front of the goal, but they were slowed down by a tough check.

　However, Tokyo, despite dominating the game, struggled with their finishing. In the 62nd minute, they were caught off guard by G Osaka's fast attack. From a direct pass by DF Mamiyoshi to MF Nikawa, who then passed it to Nakayama, who broke through the defense and took a one-touch looping shot. The shot narrowly missed the goal. In the 69th minute, Nikawa was allowed to dribble from the side to the center of the goal and take a shot, showing a lack of concentration in that scene.

Kelly's goal leads to the first consecutive victory of the season!

　Tokyo, which still does not let up on the attack, saw Jean score a header from a right corner kick in the 71st minute. In the 74th minute, Amaral, who was on a counterattack, sped into the penalty area and was brought down, but instead, a simulation foul was called against him. This gave G Osaka an opportunity to counterattack, but midfielder Hashimoto's shot was securely caught by Dohi. In the second half, after the 30th minute, Abe was replaced by Baba and Miura was replaced by Miyazawa, as they tried to make a decisive move towards the last 10 minutes. However, in the 78th minute, G Osaka's forward Okubo received his second yellow card of the day and was sent off. Tokyo gained an advantage and fought for the remaining time.

　Tokyo took a numerical advantage, but in the 80th minute, Kelly's volley shot hit the bar and the rebound was followed by a wave of attacks from Miyazawa, but they couldn't break the goal. In the 82nd minute, Kanazawa sent a soft cross from the left side to the far post with exquisite timing, and Ishikawa, who was waiting, was brought down in the penalty area, but the whistle did not blow. In the 83rd minute, again from Kanazawa to Ishikawa's side change, Miyazawa aimed for a middle shot but hit the goalkeeper's face.

　However, Tokyo, who continued to attack without giving up, finally scored a long-awaited goal! In the 85th minute, Kaji, who received a pass from Amaral, made an early cross in front of the goal. Kelly, who was positioned on the left side of the penalty area, made a header shot! The well-aimed shot went into the bottom left corner of the goal! They scored a valuable, truly valuable goal.

　In the end, without easing the attacking pressure even with just over 5 minutes remaining, we managed to defend this one goal and the game ended. We overcame a tough match with a one-point difference and achieved a consecutive victory. Coach Hara said, "The next match against F.Marinos will also be against a strong opponent, but we want to prepare for it while maintaining this momentum," and we will face the next round with great momentum!

【Player Comments】《Kelly》"I'm happy to have taken 3 points because G Osaka is a good team. However, we were able to win today thanks to the support of many fans on Children's Day. I want to continue winning, so please continue to support us."《Akira KAJI》"The early cross that led to the goal was as intended, as always."

[Summary of the press conference by former coach] "I thought we might end up with a draw, but it was good that we scored at a good time. Last week, I watched the match between G Osaka and Kashima, and G Osaka kept pushing forward whenever Kashima seemed a little scared. So I told the players not to be afraid and to attack from our side. I thought today's match, being a daytime game, would be quite exhausting, so I planned to start Toda, Fujiyama, and Miura, who are in good condition, as Miyazawa, Ishikawa, and Mobata, who played in the Olympic qualifiers, are tired from the previous match. I wanted to bring in Ishikawa, Miyazawa, Baba, and Mobata at crucial moments. The team's competitive spirit is showing in a good way. Miura made a starting lineup comeback for the first time in a year and two months in the previous match, but he didn't make us feel Miyazawa's absence and had an even greater presence, and Fujiyama also provided excellent defense. That's what makes me the happiest. Of course, there were some difficult moments, but we created so many chances, and compared to last year, we had many more shots and corner kicks. We still have a long way to go in terms of finishing, but I want to aim higher while continuing to play this style of soccer. Today's result is thanks to the players. I'm grateful that everyone did well."

[Summary of G Osaka Manager Nishino's Press Conference] "Due to a last-minute injury to Arai before the game at Arai Field, we were forced to make a sudden substitution in the lineup and included defensive-minded Irie, who has a different style. However, we were unable to create attacks starting from both sides and couldn't establish a rhythm. There are games like this, so at halftime, we had no choice but to play patient football today. We discussed aiming for counterattacks with few opportunities and also made changes to the system, but we couldn't grasp the momentum."