A crucial match where both teams cannot afford to lose. Challenging Urawa away.

　Matchday 12 will see an away game against Urawa Reds at Saitama Stadium 2002. Tokyo, currently in 6th place with 18 points, must win this crucial match to stay in the top positions of the 1st stage. On the other hand, Urawa, currently in 8th place with 17 points, is in the same situation. Urawa has won all 4 previous matches against Tokyo, so they will be determined to seek revenge. Moreover, both Tokyo and Urawa have remained undefeated at home this season. The atmosphere is heating up in both goal ends before kickoff, and it is expected to be a tough match.

　Today in Tokyo, Amaral is on the bench, with Abe in the top position, Toda on the left, Kelly in the center, and Ishikawa on the right. Tokunaga, a specially designated player (currently studying at Waseda University), started as the right fullback, following the previous match. Coach Hara said, "Going forward aggressively is Agui's strong point, but today we wanted to utilize Tokunaga's good passing skills to create opportunities from the side." On the other hand, Urawa's ace, Emerson, is suspended due to accumulated yellow cards. Despite the high humidity of 84 percent, the daytime heat eased as the kickoff in Tokyo began.

Although Urawa has the advantage, both teams are unable to create chances

　The ball continued to move back and forth since the start of the match, but in the 3rd minute, Kanazawa, who went up the left side, was fouled and won their first free kick. Moino headed Miyazawa's kick in front of the goal, but it went over the goal. In the 5th minute, Miyazawa passed the ball to Miura after winning it in their own half, and Miura passed it to Ishikawa, who ran up the right side. Ishikawa, who received the ball around the center line, dribbled past the opponent's defenders one after another and attempted to break through the center, rushing into the penalty area and shooting with his left foot. The shot missed to the left as it was well defended by the defenders and he couldn't control it properly, but it showed an aggressive attack. However, immediately after that, Urawa FW Tanaka almost stole Jean's back pass to the goalkeeper, creating a dangerous situation. Doi's quick reaction prevented any harm, but it was a moment of suspense. In the 8th minute, Kanazawa sent a through pass to the front line, but Abe was offside.

　Urawa took 10 minutes, DF Yamada cut in from the right side and made a negative pass to the front of the goal. MF Uchidate, who ran in, took a middle shot. In the 13th minute, Uchidate took a shot from a post-play by FW Nagai. In the 14th minute, Kanazawa cut the loose ball and MF Hasebe picked it up for a shot. In the 18th minute, Nagai made a heading shot from MF Suzuki's cross from the right side. Although they couldn't capture the frame in any of these shots, Urawa had the advantage in ball possession rate.

　In the 26th minute, Abe received Kelly's pass and took a shot from near the penalty area. Following the instructions of Manager Hara to "run into space quickly," Abe aimed for the back of the opposing defender, but in the 35th and 41st minutes, he was caught offside and unable to create chances as desired. Urawa also lacked precision in their play, and in the 28th minute, Yamada's mid-range shot was saved by Doi. Suzuki's mid-range shot in the 38th minute went over the goal. In the 42nd minute, Hasebe's cross was cleared by Jahn. In the 43rd minute, Nagai was allowed to enter the left area and sent a negative pass to the goal, but Shigeno cleared it with a header. In stoppage time, Tokyo had a throw-in from the right side, and Toda closed in on Doi's cross, but the goalkeeper caught it. Lacking a decisive touch, both teams reached halftime with a 0-0 score.

Amaral, Bamba is put in and they make a bet, but...

　In the second half, Tokyo was the first to attack. In the opening seconds, they swung the ball to the side after winning it in the midfield, and Ishikawa lifted a fast cross between the defense line and the goalkeeper. Then Jean passed it to the front line from an interception. However, Abe was offside. In the 48th minute, Miyazawa took a free kick from about 40 meters in front of the goal. Although they couldn't finish it, in defense, in the 46th minute, Nishikawa dropped the ball with a header and Jean cleared it. Then Tanaka's dribble was cut off by Ishikawa's persistence. In the 49th minute, Nagai on the right side and Suzuki's attacking run towards the penalty area were quickly defended by Mobata and Toda, not giving any chances to Urawa.

　In the 51st minute, Asari was substituted for Miura, who was concerned about his injury, and Amaral was substituted for Abe in the 53rd minute. The game progresses with a speedy development, taking a gamble. In the 56th minute, Urawa aims for a goal from Suzuki's free kick. Immediately after that, Amalao in the center awaits Kelly->Ishikawa's cross from Tokyo, but it doesn't connect. In the 59th minute, Amalao, who received Ishikawa's pass, forcefully shoots, but the goalkeeper catches it weakly. Then, Miyazawa swings to the right side from Amalao's post, and Kelly meets Tokunaga's cross on the far side, but the ball goes over the line. In the 53rd minute, Miyazawa receives Tokunaga's pass and crosses, but Amalao jumps offside. In the 68th minute, Jean heads from the center from a short corner, but the Urawa defender clears it.

　In the 70th minute, BABA was substituted for Toda with the instruction to "attack instead of defending". In the 73rd minute, Ishikawa crossed the ball from a throw-in, and Baba attempted a direct shot at the falling ball, but the goalkeeper caught it. In the 75th minute, Urawa made a counterattack, and Suzuki made an early cross. Substitute MF Chishima slid into the goal area, but narrowly missed the opportunity to score for both teams.

Kelly's heroic goal secures a hard-fought victory!

　However, in the 83rd minute, Amaral was fouled in front of the goal and earned a free kick. Miyazawa aimed directly for the goal. The sharp ball was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper Tsuzuki and escaped to a corner kick. However, Miyazawa kicked the left corner kick again and Shigeki Mogi returned it with a header inside the area on the right. In the midst of the melee in front of the goal, Kelly shot the ball! The ball went in despite being blocked by the defender! Tokyo scored the long-awaited opening goal from their persistent attack!!

　Tokyo, who never let up on their attacks, had Kelly break free from a counterattack right after taking the lead and crossed the ball in front of the goal on the right side. However, the goalkeeper caught it and allowed Urawa to counterattack. In the 86th minute, Chishima's shot went over the goal. In the 87th minute, Urawa attacked the area from the left side, causing chaos, but Asari held on and prevented a shot. Immediately after that, a free kick was given just outside the area, but Yamada's direct shot hit the crossbar. In the 89th minute, Yamada allowed a dribble and Suzuki crossed from the right side, but it was cleared in the center. Then, Suzuki picked up Jahn's clearance and took a shot from the middle, but even with Urawa's fierce attack in the nearly 4 minutes of stoppage time, Tokyo's defense stood strong as a unit and secured the victory! Despite a tough match, they obtained 3 points away from home and achieved a consecutive win.

【Player Comments】《Kelly》"It was a crucial match for both sides, and I anticipated it would be challenging. I'm delighted that we were able to win as planned by defending solidly and launching counterattacks. Since I joined FC Tokyo, I have never lost to Urawa, so I approached the game with confidence. However, not only in this match, but winning matches boosts the team's confidence. I want to share this victory with everyone."《Shigenoba》"In the first half, Ishikawa and Toda both defended well, but overall, we became more defensive. However, our top priority was to stop Urawa's speed and counterattacks. It was tough, but we fought with the mindset of allowing the opponent to have possession, and I believe we were able to make adjustments in the second half."

[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "Urawa's characteristic is that when players like Nagai, Tanaka, and Yamada in the front line face forward, they come at you with speed. However, today being an away game, I thought that if we let the opponent have the ball in the first half and take our time, it wouldn't be easy to break them down. But we pulled back a little too much and allowed Uchidate and Suzuki in the midfield to be free. We wanted to make adjustments there and patiently wait for the second half, where we wanted to bring in Amaral and bring the game to Tokyo's rhythm. In that process, we created several chances where Amaral dropped the ball and passed it directly to Kelly from Miyazawa, and we wanted to create more opportunities like that... Although it was not a good performance, the fact that we earned 3 points is today's achievement. However, following the previous match, the substitute and substitute players also fulfilled their roles properly, and that makes me happy."

[Summary of Urawa Ooft's press conference] "Before today's game, we talked about not jumping into the game when the opponent is holding a knife. We gave them a couple of chances, but we were able to avoid the opponent for a long time in a good way. We tried to attack from the side and put the ball into the space behind the backline, and we created some dangerous situations, but we couldn't break through the center with high balls. The opponent was strong in aerial battles. We conceded a goal only once when we lost the ball from a corner kick, but other than that, we were controlling the game. However, we couldn't create many chances. Even though we were moving the ball well, we couldn't move forward or take advantage of the space behind because the opponent was in a good defensive position. We needed passes that could move the ball, break through the side, and stop the opponent's breath, but we couldn't do it well. Tokyo had sealed our chances."