Stop the losing streak with a victory after one month of league matches

　A match between both teams who suffered losses in the previous round and want to break the bad streak. Especially for Tokyo, they haven't won a single game in the league since the Sec. 3 match against Tokyo V about a month ago, and they have been in a tough situation with consecutive shutout losses in the last two matches. They desperately need a win. Although they narrowly won against Kashima in the Nabisco Cup match on April 29th, preventing "early goals" within the first 5 minutes of the game, including that match, in the last 3 matches will be the key to breaking the losing streak.

　On the other hand, Kobe Univ has been updating their "home undefeated record" this season with 3 wins and 2 draws in home games, despite losing in the previous away game. Additionally, at the venue of this day, Kobe Univ, they have continued their unbeaten streak with 3 wins in league matches against Tokyo in the past. It is expected that they will aggressively attack from the beginning of the kickoff, aiming for a certain victory at home with absolute confidence in order to ride the rising air current again.

　Tokyo's starting lineup will face the same members as the previous match, except for Fujiyama replacing Wu at left back. Miyazawa will replace Miura, who is suspended, on the bench, and Baba will replace Kurizawa. It was expected that the performance of 18-year-old Kajiyama, who has played a key role as an attacking midfielder in four consecutive matches including the 6th round against Iwata and the Levain Cup, and the midfield duo of Konno and Asari, who formed a double pivot in the previous match, would have a significant impact on the outcome. The match kicked off at 2:04 PM under perfect sunny conditions.

Once again, we conceded a goal early in the game...

　Kobe showed momentum right after the kickoff. Kobe targeted the tall Brazilian striker Leandro as their forward and sent long balls from the defense line. Forward Hashido, who formed a two-top with Leandro, made sharp movements and approached the goal. Leandro was not inferior in height, but Kobe reacted faster to the second ball. Not only Hashido, but also right midfielder Kojima and left midfielder Fujimoto picked up the ball with sharp starts, supplied passes to the front line, or attempted to break through with dribbles to apply pressure. In the 4th minute, a precise pass was connected in the central area in front of Tokyo's goal, and Hashido, who was left free on the left side of the penalty area, received the final pass and took a shot, but Kaji managed to block it. In the following 6th minute, the ball came out behind the defense line from the chaos in front of Tokyo's goal, and Hashido broke through alone, but goalkeeper Doi bravely came out and caught the ball a moment earlier. It seemed that they had survived this series of pinches and the "dangerous time just after the kickoff" without conceding a goal, but it was short-lived.

　11 minutes, when a floating pass from MF Tsubouchi on the left side reached Leandro who was preparing in the center, he skillfully trapped it and shot with his left foot while blocking the marker with his right foot. The low and powerful shot grazed Doi's hand and went into the goal. Once again, they allowed a goal in the early stage when they should have taken enough care and were put in a difficult situation from the beginning.

Passive play was noticeable in the first half

　The match started with a noticeable difference in intensity between Kobe, who showed fighting spirit from the beginning, and Tokyo, who seemed to lack that sense of determination. This difference in "temperature" resulted in an early advantage for Tokyo. Even after that, Tokyo not only failed to wake up but also continued to be dominated by Kobe's power play. The atmosphere felt heavy. Perhaps the early goal conceded, despite taking enough precautions, shook the players' confidence. Although they were not being completely overrun, they were frustrated by the unnecessary goal they conceded... In the midst of all this, it was midfielders Imano and Asari who were fighting on the pitch. Imano aggressively chased down the ball like a cheetah, while Asari put his body on the line to stop the opponent's passes that were disrupted by Imano's pressing. It seemed that the opponent was relying on long balls to avoid competing in the midfield precisely because these two midfielders were effective. However, even when they managed to win the ball and connect passes, they often played passively in the final third, resulting in the ball being cut off before reaching the goal and leading to counter-attacks.

　Finally, the chance came in the 27th minute. Ishikawa kept the ball in the center and passed it to Lucas, who jumped into the space on the right side after going through Kajiyama. Lucas put a low cross between the opponent's GK and DF from just near the goal line, and Toda jumped in with his head but couldn't push it in and the ball went just outside the goal. It was the first decisive moment of the day after breaking the side. On the contrary, in the 35th minute, after receiving a counterattack from Fujiyama's missed kick, Shigeki was broken through by Leandro on the left side and faced Toi one-on-one. He was hit by a powerful shot with his right foot that was kept low inside the penalty area, but Toi prevented it with a superb play using only his right leg. In the 37th minute, Tokyo broke through the right side from a counterattack. Kajiyama → Ishikawa → Kaji crossed and Lucas shot in the center. In the 40th minute, a corner kick from the right side became a melee in front of the goal, and Imano, who was filling the loose ball, took a powerful shot, but it hit the opponent's DF and became another corner kick. Ishikawa kicked the corner kick from the left side, which passed to Imano who was free on the far side, and he trapped it and took a powerful shot from close range, but once again it was blocked by the opponent's DF and did not become a goal. In injury time, Ishikawa aimed directly at the goal from a free kick obtained at a distance of about 30m slightly to the left of the center of the goal, but it was escaped by the good save of the opponent's GK, and the time was up here. The first half ended with a score of 0-1, and the game was carried over to the second half.

Kono's one-man show! Amazing comeback victory with 2 goals!!

　During halftime, Coach Hara said, "Instead of focusing on the plays, have a stronger fighting spirit. Ishikawa, play more aggressively. If we continue to attack from the outside in the second half, we will definitely score. Just like when Konno took a shot, we can create chances from set plays as well. The game starts from here," he shouted.

　30 seconds into the second half, a pass from Lucas to the right to Ishikawa, who crosses the ball. The ball drifts to the far side after a contest in the center, and Kajiyama runs in to take a volley shot from a difficult angle. The ball goes over the crossbar, but Ishikawa, who didn't have many opportunities in the first half, immediately showed his strengths.

　Tokyo, which became aggressive like a different team in the first half, started to steal the ball in a high position in the front line and created chances. In the 50th minute, Imano, who received a pass on the right side, quickly passed a through ball into the vertical space, and Ishikawa caught up with it and earned a corner kick while being surrounded by two opposing defenders. Ishikawa took the corner kick, and Imano dived for a header while competing with the opposing defender in the center of the goal. The ball drew a powerful trajectory and pierced the goal net. Imano's joyful first J1 goal became a priceless goal for the team in the best time zone.

　Tokyo, who gained courage from Konno's goal, became even more aggressive. In the 53rd minute, Abe was substituted for Lucas, who was not in good condition. They went for the win. On the other hand, Kobe, who was caught up to the tie, became more aggressive in order to score additional points, and the game became more intense. In the 56th minute, Kobe's Kojima, who stole the ball on the left side, sent a long pass to Harato in the shallow space behind Tokyo's defense line. Harato broke free from Doi and faced him one-on-one. Doi jumped out fiercely and managed to escape with a punch, but it was a decisive moment. Furthermore, in the 59th minute, Leandro carried Jean on his back in front of Tokyo's goal and skillfully used the sole of his foot to shoot with his left foot. The ball narrowly missed the left side of the goal, but it was a dangerous scene.

　Tokyo is not losing either. In the 60th minute, a pass was made behind the shallow Kobe DF line, and Toda broke through to face the GK one-on-one. As Toda entered the right penalty area, the opposing GK also came out, but Toda chose to send a final pass to Abe, who ran into the center instead of shooting. Abe slid in, but the opposing DF cleared the ball a moment earlier. It was a decisive moment that should have been a shot. In the following 63rd minute, Kaji broke through after a perfect one-two with Ishikawa on the right side and put in the best cross of the day. Kajiyama, who ran into the far side, headed the ball, but the shot narrowly went over the bar. In the 64th minute, Kajiyama cut off the ball in midfield. At this timing, Imano rushed fiercely into the space on the left side that opened up, and Kajiyama passed to Imano at the perfect timing after pulling the opposing DF enough. Imano calmly swung his left foot around the edge of the penalty area and his powerful ground shot grazed the hands of the opposing GK and went into the right side of the goal. He himself was surprised as he scored his first two professional goals to secure an additional point.

　After that, Jang Hyun Soo created many chances with effective plays that exploited the space on the left side of Konno. Despite facing a desperate counterattack from Kobe towards the end, they managed to repel it with high concentration and physical play until the final whistle. They stopped their losing streak in the league at 2 and obtained a valuable 3 points, which was their first win in about a month.

【Player Comments】《Player Imano》"(The first goal) was lucky that I was able to score because I happened to be free. The second goal was also easy to score because Yohei KAJIYAMA attracted the opponent. Today, it felt like the ball was coming to me, and I think I was lucky."《Player Asari》"We had a discussion with everyone because we lost in the previous game in a similar way... but we conceded a similar goal again and struggled in the first half. I think we were able to recover based on the instructions from the coach at halftime. In terms of defense, we just need to aim for the loose ball after Imano's shot, and we are improving, but we still haven't been able to move the ball well in the attack, so that's the challenge."

[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "In the past three matches against Júbilo, Antlers, and Marinos, we conceded goals within 5 minutes, so today we aimed to avoid conceding early goals by increasing our focus. However, we conceded a goal in the 11th minute. The first goal was a ball that the goalkeeper could have saved. Although we weren't broken down, the entire team became nervous after that goal. Shigenobu also lost confidence after being beaten by Leandro once. At halftime, I told the players, 'Let's not focus on making good plays, but let's fight more.' I also told Ishikawa to play more vertically, and the second half improved. In the first half, only Makoto and Asari were doing well. In the second half, the whole team started to attack aggressively from the front, and that's our style of soccer. We found a good rhythm, and Makoto scored two goals for us. Today, I paired Makoto with Asari, and Makoto was able to confidently move forward because Asari was behind him. His natural aggressiveness came out, and he led the team. It's true that it's difficult without Kelly and Jo Kanazawa, but everyone is doing well. Today's match was a crucial one where if we had lost, we would have been in a downward spiral. We want to carry the momentum from today's match into the next game against Reysol."

[Kobe HASEK's press conference summary] "Our players did well. Leo played wonderfully and I want to see him play in every match. However, it's disappointing that we couldn't score another goal in the first half. In the second half, Hato had a decisive chance to face the goalkeeper one-on-one, but it was stopped by the goalkeeper's hand. That was a 100% red card play. We have now lost two consecutive matches, so we want to switch our mindset and focus on the next match against Hiroshima. It was also painful that Tsuchiya received his third yellow card."