Challenging in the Nabisco Cup quarterfinals

　After a break of about 10 days since the end of the 1st stage, the second half of the season has begun. Prior to the league matches, the Nabisco Cup final tournament was held. Kashima and Shimizu joined this tournament, and 8 teams will compete in home and away matches. Tokyo, who finished first in Group B, will face Urawa Reds (2nd place in Group A) in today's quarterfinals. The first match will be an away game.

　In addition to Jean's injury, Tokyo is missing Ishikawa, Suzuki from the U-22 representative team's expedition, and Tokunaga, a specially designated player. The defense consists of Kaji, Fujiyama, Shigeno, and Kanazawa. Miura and Miyazawa are in the midfield. Abe is in the top position, Toda is the right midfielder, Kelly is the central midfielder, and Baba is the left midfielder. On the other hand, Urawa is also missing Suzuki from the U-22 representative team, but Nikiforov, who joined the team, is making his debut. Although Nikiforov is registered as a midfielder, he plays as a defender along with Tsuboi and Zellich. Additionally, Yamase, who has recovered from an injury, starts as an attacking midfielder. Emerson and Tanaka form the top two in a 3-5-2 formation for the kickoff.

First goal by Toda from a counterattack!

　Shortly after the start, Baba attacks, Toda attacks the Urawa goal in 1 minute, but then the game progresses in the Tokyo field. However, neither team can finish, and in the 10th minute, Kelly cuts off a loose ball in the opponent's field and takes the first shot of the day. In the 16th minute, Urawa sends a ground cross from the left side, and Emerson jumps but narrowly misses. It flows to the right, and Tanaka shoots from the penalty area, but Doi saves it. In the 20th minute, Tokyo, Abe connects to Kelly on the right, and Baba shoots a volley shot in front of the goal, but it is blocked by the defender.

　Tokyo, who has been eliminating spaces and responding firmly to Urawa, who has been connecting precise passes, has not been able to create decisive scenes as the passes after winning the ball do not connect and spread the field. In the 27th minute, Urawa's Zeljko Glišović was injured and DF Miyauchi came in. Immediately after that, in the 28th minute, Kaji received a pass for a side change near the enemy's right sideline, evaded Kelly with a one-two, and attacked. He broke through the approaching defenders with an exquisite trap and crossed from the edge of the end line, and Toda jumped in with a header to score a goal! They scored the opening goal from a well-executed counterattack.

　32 minutes, Urawa received a left side FK on the right side, Tanaka cut back and crossed, DF Yamada shot in the center but hit the bar. Tokyo, in the 34th minute, received a pass with his back to the goal in the center from Baba and shot. In the 38th minute, Urawa's Emerson exchanged a one-two in the left area and entered a shooting position, but Fujiyama and Mobara closed in tightly to contain him. Urawa picked up the loose ball and connected passes, and Yamase shot from the front of the goal, but Doi caught it. In the 40th minute, Tokyo's Toda and Abe were caught offside, and although they couldn't create a decisive opportunity, they looked for a chance from sharp counterattacks. In injury time, Abe dribbled up the right side, passed the defender, and crossed. Baba jumped in from the left side of the goal, and Toda shot in the center. However, they couldn't hit the target, and they missed a great chance to score an additional goal as they entered the second half.

Emerson scores the equalizer

　Tokyo, who wanted to score an additional point, dominated the ball in the second half, but Urawa was the one who scored. In the 48th minute, left DF Hirakawa's cross reached Emerson's feet on the far side, but his shot was too deep. In the 52nd minute, Tokyo took a short corner and Kelly headed in Miura's cross, but the GK caught it. In the 53rd minute, Emerson received a yellow card for fouling Kaji who stopped his breakthrough. In the 58th and 59th minutes, Fujiyama and Miura also received warnings, but they were able to control the central breakthroughs and crosses in front of the goal, and there was no danger.

　In the midst of a back-and-forth battle, neither team was able to create many chances. However, in the 63rd minute, Kaji crossed the ball after a play initiated by Miyazawa. Toda seemed to have broken free, but unfortunately, he was offside. However, this happened just after Wu replaced Baba, who was injured. When the ball reached Urawa Emerson, he evaded Kaji's defense and Fujiyama's tackle, allowing him to dribble forward. Despite Moino's attempt to block, the ball was scored near the near post from an angle on the left side of the box. We were caught up by an equalizer with a speedy and skillful shot.

　With this equalizer, Urawa gained momentum. Tokyo substituted Amorao for Abe. However, in the 69th minute, they were caught off guard by Urawa's quick attack. Tanaka crossed from the right side with Emerson's through pass. Yamada dropped the ball with a header on the far side, and Yamase took a free shot in the center. However, Doi's fine play prevented a goal. In the 70th minute, Asari was substituted for Miura. Immediately after that, Emerson took a header shot from Urawa's corner kick. It narrowly missed the goal, but in the 74th minute, Tanaka took a shot from a free kick, and the danger continued.

It seemed like Toda's second goal had put them in the lead, but it ended in a draw.

　Urawa replaced FW Chishima with Amaral in the 78th minute. In the 78th minute, Tokyo dropped Chan's cross and Miyazawa aimed for a middle shot, but the DF cut it off. In the 81st minute, Amaral connected Asari's cross and Kelly took a shot, but missed the goal by a wide margin. In the 84th minute, Toda jumped out in front of the goal on Miyazawa's floating pass, but the opponent's GK jumped out slightly earlier and caught it. However, in the 86th minute, Chan created a chance. Receiving Kelly's pass on the left side, he crossed it and Toda, who had run into the goal front as a decoy for Kelly and Amaral, pushed it in, GOAL!! It seemed like Toda's second goal had put Urawa in a commanding position, but...

　In the 87th minute, Kelly delivered a precise cross from the right side, and Amaral executed a perfectly timed header. However, it narrowly went over the bar. Tokyo, who wanted to hold on to this lead, unfortunately fouled Emerson in front of the goal in the 88th minute, resulting in a free kick.

　In the 89th minute, Yamada takes a free kick from the right side around 20 meters. Inside the left area, DF Muroi strikes it with a header. The ball bounces and floats, but Doi jumps out and leaves the far side open. Chishima fills the gap and pushes it into the goal with a header. We have once again allowed an equalizing goal from a set piece.

　The match ended in a 2-2 draw, and the decisive game will be carried over to the game at Ajinomoto Stadium in two weeks on the 27th.

【Player Comments】《Toda》"The goal was not so much me breaking through, but rather the result of my teammates, including the defenders, aiming for the goal. I thought we would at least get 1 point away, but if I had scored (in addition to the 2 goals), we could have gotten 3."《Miyazawa》"I was prepared to let the opponents attack to some extent away. It was difficult because we couldn't play our own soccer. Personally, I spent a lot of time in defense and couldn't get involved in the attack without creating a rhythm. It's a shame that we couldn't finish with a win."

[Summary of the Former Coach's Press Conference]

"We were able to score the second goal at a good time, so we wanted to hold on to the lead. Urawa had height advantage, and we were most concerned about set plays without Jean. But in the very end, we were done in by them. We were missing three players, Ishikawa, Suzuki, and Tokunaga, in the U-22, but Kaji assisted in the first goal and showed his true self. Toda played on the right and Baba on the left, and although there were some mistakes, I think we were able to play the soccer we intended. It would have been good to score another goal just before the end of the first half, or to hold on after it became 2-1, but Urawa gained energy with Emerson's goal. It would have been better if we had been a little more patient there... However, we have just reached halftime. We drew away, and now we want to defeat Urawa at home."

[Summary of Urawa Ooft's press conference] "It was a difficult game. The opponent created a wall, so it was very difficult to break through. Our positioning was poor when we pushed forward, and if we made mistakes in that state, the opponent would take advantage. The competition was half-hearted. We needed to concentrate and always take good positions to fight. Although we were trailing 0-1, our game management was good in the second half, but there were also difficulties in organizing the game. At halftime, we talked about sticking to the sides, moving quickly regardless of ball possession, and adding speed and intensity. A 2-2 result is somewhat acceptable. We did half of what we could, so we want to settle the score at Ajinomoto Stadium in the remaining half."