Incredible Form of Ichihara and an Exciting Match to Watch

　Sec. 10, which marks the 2/3 mark of the 1st stage, is approaching. After this round, a 6-week break will begin, and the last match before the break will be an away game against JEF United Chiba.

　Ichihara has achieved a breakthrough with "running soccer" under the new coach Osim, who took office this season, and is currently in second place. He has scored 23 goals in 9 matches, and his scoring ability is at the top of the league along with the first-place Iwata. In particular, FW Choi Ryong-su, who is leading the top scorer ranking, is in good shape. It is expected to be a tough match away, but it won't be easy to win. I hope for a good game that will lead to the remaining 5 matches. Also, in order to enter the break period in a good shape, I want to confront Ichihara, who is said to be "the strongest now", without hesitation.

　Tokyo, who will be without Kelly due to accumulated warnings, started the kickoff with a formation consisting of Amaral and Abe as the two top players, Ishikawa on the right side of the midfield, Toda on the left side, and Miura and Miyazawa forming a double pivot.

Defending against Ichihara's attacks well and creating chances from counterattacks

　Immediately after the start, Tokyo showed an aggressive attitude by pressing from the front line, but they were quickly drawn into JEF's fast pace and dominated the game. Taking advantage of that opening, in the 6th minute, a clearance ball from Shigeki's end line was connected, quickly expanding to the right side. Miyazawa ran in to the cleared ball from Ishikawa's cross and took a middle shot. In the 11th minute, Jean made a long pass to the front line. Toda followed up with a shot from outside the area, but it went over the goal.

　Although Ichihara dominated, they couldn't create any decisive chances so far, but in the 14th minute, MF Abe took the first shot of the day from the midfield. In the 16th minute, they attacked the goal from a throw-in and had two consecutive shots. They picked up the clear ball from Tokyo DF and launched a wave attack. In the 18th minute, DF Milinovic took a shot from a short corner. It hit the DF and Sandro tried to shoot the loose ball. However, Doi jumped in. The ball rolled in front of the goal, but Jean cleared it just before the goal. With a fantastic covering, Tokyo escaped a decisive pinch.

　At 20 minutes, Ishikawa dug deep on the right side and crossed the ball, but the goalkeeper caught it. At 21 minutes, Miyazawa aimed for a direct goal from a free kick of over 40 meters, but hit the crossbar. Tokyo created some close chances, but in the flow of the game, Ichihara consistently picked up second balls, leading to a difficult situation. Sato and Abe, the two central midfielders, showed sharp attacking movements, while right midfielder Sakamoto crossed the ball from wide positions. In the 31st minute, Choi headed Sakamoto's cross. In the 35th minute, the ball was passed to Sakamoto, who had entered the penalty area from Sandro, but the cross was cut off and resulted in a corner kick. In the 37th minute, a quick counterattack involving a side change allowed a free shot for Choi just outside the penalty area, but it missed the target. In the 42nd minute, Abe and Sato combined in front of the goal, and Sandro returned the ball with a header, but Doi caught it.

Toda's shot narrowly missed offside

　The cross was thoroughly bounced back by Jean and held up with concentrated defense. In the 43rd minute, Ishikawa, who received a pass from Kaji on the right side of the area, raised a direct cross. Toda, who ran in freely from the center to this ball, made a header shot. It was a perfect timing, but the ball went slightly to the right. In the injury time, Kanazawa, who went up the left side, connected with Toda, and Abe, who received a cross in front of the goal, competed, and Kanazawa ran in again and took a shot. However, it curved to the left, and the first half ended with a score of 0-0.

　Tokyo, which withstood Ichihara's fierce attack and found opportunities on the counter, bet on victory in the remaining 45 minutes. However, it was Ichihara who first had a big chance in the second half. In the 47th minute, Sato stole the ball from a fierce collision in the midfield and dribbled forward. He sent a pass to the left side, and MF Murai made a one-touch through pass in front of the goal. Choi, who had run in free, took a shot, but it curved to the right and resulted in nothing. However, Tokyo gradually started to pick up second balls and create chances. In the 56th minute, Miura sent a fast long pass behind the defense line, and Abe received it while avoiding the mark, but he couldn't bring it to a shot. In the 58th minute, Kanazawa jumped into a scramble in front of the goal after clearing the ball from Kaji's early cross. Kanazawa picked up the loose ball in the penalty area and took a shot. The shot from close range was saved by the opponent's GK Kushino, but Toda picked up the rebound and the ball from the shot shook the goal net. However, it unfortunately ended up being disallowed due to an offside decision.

Get valuable 1 point

　In the 70th minute, Ichihara Milinovic advanced and appeared to take a middle shot, but passed to Choi in the penalty area. Choi entered a shooting position, but Jean intercepted. Jean consistently stood in front of Choi today. From that play, Tokyo launched a quick attack, and Abe jumped in with a header from Ishikawa's cross, but the ball went slightly to the right. Both teams had chances, and the back and forth battle continued.

　In the 72nd minute, Bamba was substituted for Amaral, who was not in good shape. In the 74th minute, Ichihara substituted Lin, a speedy forward, for Sandro. Immediately after that, Ichihara dropped a cross from the left side, and Hayu, the midfielder, headed it down. Choi shot from the right side of the area, but it went to the right of the goal. In the 75th minute, Tokyo picked up a loose ball in the midfield and connected a quick pass between Bamba and Miyazawa near the edge of the area. A perfect through pass behind the defense line of the forward. Toda ran into the goal area, overtaking Miyazawa, and faced the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation, but was stopped by the sharp footwork of goalkeeper Kushino just a step away from scoring.

　Tokyo substituted Suzuki for Toda in the 81st minute, and Ichihara substituted Yamagishi for Murai in the 82nd minute. Both teams used their substitution cards to seek opportunities, but neither had the decisive touch and the game ended in a scoreless draw. However, Ichihara withstood the fierce attack and fought hard until the end without giving up. They earned a valuable point.

[Player Comments]

"In the first half, we were pushed back by the opponent's pace, but in the second half, we were able to attack from both sides. That was a positive aspect of today's game. However, I couldn't score because of my own fault. I'm sorry." "I didn't intend to defend by sitting back, but we ended up being pushed back by their runs. However, during the game, we tried to thicken the center, including the defensive midfielder, and force the opponent to the outside to compete. In that sense, we were able to defend according to the plan."

[Summary of the press conference by Coach Hara] "Ichihara is a team with high scoring ability, they run long distances and are good at fast attacks. So I thought if we could make them play a slow game instead of a fast game, our counterattacks would be effective. In the first half, without Kelly, the opponent's defensive midfielder was able to stay side by side, and as a result, they were able to pick up second balls. We were also kicking the ball too much, but we made adjustments around the end of the first half and tried to tire them out and win in the second half even if they had possession to some extent. I think we were able to create chances from counterattacks and from the sides in the second half. Ichihara was indeed strong and had momentum. I think we fought well without Kelly. While we aim for attacking football and pressing from the front, we also believe that it is necessary to be patient away from home this season. We haven't changed our way of playing. We have been creating more clear-cut chances, and I think our direction is not wrong."

[Summary of Ichihara Osim's press conference] "It didn't go well until the end. We were able to play well, but it's disappointing that we couldn't score goals. The results reflect reality. It probably wasn't expected to earn this many points in these 10 matches. However, there is still something lacking when facing a team that completely defends. Today, we played solidly and took risks to attack. The opponent always defends with 6 players and it's easier to play on the counter-attack than constantly attacking. Constantly attacking consumes energy. That's why I think the opponent was able to play easily today. However, FC Tokyo has been a really good team among those we have seen so far. If it was the previous JEF, we might have lost 0-1 today. I think we are growing in that sense."