A crucial match to make a comeback in the 2nd stage

　League match since August 29th. In the 4th round of the 2nd stage, we will face Vissel Kobe at home. Tokyo achieved a convincing victory in the quarterfinals of the Nabisco Cup last week and advanced to the best 4, but they are currently in 11th place in the league. The match record against Kobe this season, including the Nabisco Cup, is 3 wins, indicating a good compatibility, but Kobe is currently in 9th place. In the 2nd stage, FW Emboma, MF Holvi, and FW Hiraishi have joined, taking on a new challenge. Emboma, of course, has a fear factor in the secondary attack launched by FW Hato and MF Kojima, even with the attention focused on him, and there is no room for complacency. Today's match, where both teams face each other with 1 win in this stage, will be an important battle for the future fights.

　This week, Doi and Kaji, who played in the World Cup qualifying match against India for the Japanese national team on the 9th, started in the lineup. Kajiyama, who temporarily left the U-19 Japanese national team activities and joined the team, was unable to make the squad due to injury. Kondo Yusuke, who will start for the first time since the final match of the 2nd stage last year, will play as the top striker, with Kelly behind him. The match started with a kickoff in Tokyo.

Despite taking the lead with an early penalty kick, they were caught up and the score became level.

　The game started early. In the 1st minute, a quick attack was launched from our own half, and a pass was made to Yusuke Kondo who broke through the left space. Although initially cut off by the Kobe DF, we regained possession again in the opponent's half, and Imano, who ran up the left side, crossed the ball. Kelly neatly headed the ball down in the center, and Yusuke Kondo entered a shooting position from the penalty area. In response to this, the opponent's DF Kitamoto showed the sole of his foot and made a tackle. This play resulted in a foul inside the area, and Tokyo was awarded a penalty kick. Kelly calmly scored, taking an early lead.

　Kobe has a lineup of 3 defenders on the member table, but MF Hojel enters as a left back in a 4-back formation. Tokyo, on the other hand, aggressively attacks with Kaji and Kanazawa taking the lead on the sides. In the 4th minute, Kobayashi broke through to the right area and took a shot. However, they were unable to convert any decisive chances after that.

And it was the 13th minute. In the midfield, Kobe MF Horvi connected a pass to Emboma, and then Horvi again floated a pass to the front line. Hodo dropped it with a header and connected it to MF Park, who went up the right side. Park cut in to the end line and crossed to the center. Tokyo DF had overlapping marks on Park and couldn't catch Hodo in front of the goal, allowing an easy header shot and conceding a goal. They were quickly caught up to a tie score.

Yusuke Kondo gets his second penalty kick today! Kelly scores and takes the lead.

　However, Tokyo, without getting flustered, tried to maintain their rhythm. In the 21st minute, they stole the opponent's goal kick in their own half, and Baba played a through pass from near the halfway line to the front line. Yusuke Kondo caught up with it and headed straight towards the goal. In response to Yusuke Kondo's powerful sprint, Kobe DF Kitamoto had no choice but to stop him with a foul, and Yusuke Kondo, who was brought down in the penalty area, got his second penalty kick of the day. Kelly also decisively scored the go-ahead goal. Kitamoto received his second warning and was sent off in this play, and in the 24th minute, Tsubouchi was substituted for Park. Tsubouchi played as a right full-back, Hato as a right midfielder, and Kojima as a left midfielder, with Emboma as the lone striker.

　However, Tokyo was unable to create any decisive scenes despite comfortably controlling the ball against the 10-man Kobe. On the contrary, in the 40th minute, Hojel's headed shot from Kobe Holvi's accurate free kick narrowly missed the right side of the goal. In the 44th minute, Holvi was persistently marked near the left end line and passed into the penalty area, but Shigetaka skillfully intercepted it. Although they ended the first half with a score of 2-1 without conceding any additional goals, they have struggled in the past against 10-man opponents and have some concerns about a similar situation this time.

Abes's two consecutive goals push Kobe away!

　In the second half, we confirmed the need to be proactive in both offense and defense during halftime, and to try to score the next goal early to decide the game. Fujiyama replaced Kaji, considering the matchup with opponent MF Kojima. However, we did not immediately dominate Kobe. There were also scenes where Kobe's attacking lineup, centered around Emboma, attacked us, and in the 54th minute, Emboma scored a header from a deep position on the left side cross. In the 55th minute, Tokyo won three consecutive corner kicks, but failed to score a goal. In the 57th minute, Abe was substituted for Kobayashi and we made a decisive move. However, Tokyo's play remained sloppy against the one-man disadvantage of Kobe. Even if we won the ball, we couldn't create a build-up that led to a finish. In the 68th minute, Abe's volley with his left foot, which was connected to Baba's right cross, was the first shot of the second half.

　Finally, in this shot, the flow began to be grasped. In the 69th minute, Fujiyama boldly attacked and received a foul, earning a free kick. Yusuke Kondo aimed directly from a distance of 22-3m, but the powerful shot went over the goal. In the 72nd minute, Kondo Yusuke broke through the defense line chasing from the long feed of Fujiyama and faced the goalkeeper one-on-one. However, the ball he dodged to the left just passed by, and the shot went to the left of the goal. They missed a big chance for an additional point. Even with 10 players, Kobe tried to make use of one chance and collected the ball to Em Boma in the front line. On the other hand, Horvi and Hashido also had scenes where they were free, and it was a back and forth battle where it wouldn't be strange if they scored at any time. In the midst of that, Abe's goal was finally born. In the 80th minute, they took advantage of the opponent's corner kick loose ball and launched a quick attack. Kelly dribbled and sprinted. He passed to Baba who opened on the right side. Baba challenged the Kobe DF who faced him and feinted to get past, and crossed from the end line with a ground ball. When Kelly let the ball pass in front of the goal, Abe, who was waiting on the left side of the area, took a one-touch and swung his right foot! The ball pierced into the upper left of the goal and it's a goal!! Tokyo's attacking pattern and Abe's strength in the match were demonstrated. They scored the third goal to pull away from Kobe.

　Tokyo, who regained their rhythm, deployed an aggressive attacking soccer. In the 83rd minute, Miura was replaced by Miyazawa. In the 86th minute, Abe received a last pass from Kanazawa and Miyazawa after a pass exchange on the left side, and shot from inside the area. In injury time, Miyazawa advanced up the center and connected with Kelly on the right, and Baba picked up the ball on the left side and shot from near the goal. The opponent's goalkeeper saved both shots. Although they couldn't score a fourth goal, they launched a fast-paced attack in the final stages and won 3-1. They obtained valuable 3 points that will lead to the future.

【Player Comments】《Kondo》"When I looked forward, I aimed for the goal myself, and when the ball came to my feet, I tried to play easily and use the players around me. As a team, we may have been too conscious of the fact that the opponent had 10 players in the first half. In the second half, I couldn't keep the ball where I should have kept it, so I have regrets. (There was a big chance against the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation?) I was able to break through in front of the goal, but I was too focused on avoiding the goalkeeper because there was a possibility that a weak shot could be stopped. If I didn't score there..."《Abe》"I entered the pitch with the intention of scoring and actively challenging in one-on-one situations. I don't think I have changed anything myself (compared to the 1st stage), but even as a substitute, I feel like I can contribute to the game. I believe that if we fight each battle carefully, the results will come, and I'm happy that it has resulted in goals. The next match is more important than what comes after."

　[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "Doi and Kaji returned from the national team, but they only had one day of practice and didn't have time to get used to the team. I thought Doi might be rusty, but his practice yesterday was the most focused he has been so far, so I decided to rely on his experience. Kaji was tired, so I planned to use him as much as possible and make substitutions depending on the situation. Kajiyama had finally formed a good partnership with Kelly, but he injured his knee during the U-19 national team training camp and couldn't play today. Recently, we have been relying on Abe and Yusuke Kondo as our key players in the second half, so it was important to see how much Yusuke Kondo could contribute from the start today. Kobe has changed their lineup from previous matches, and they have individual strengths like Emboma, Horvi, and Hirase. If we let them take control, it will be a tough match. We were particularly cautious of their set plays, as they have strength and patterns. We scored an early goal, but in soccer, sometimes when you score during this period, you can't play as usual afterwards. So I had a bad feeling about it. We were equalized, and I thought we might get a little boost, but our rhythm got worse as soon as the opponent's player was sent off. So even with the opponent having 10 players, we discussed the plan to go and take the third goal by taking the ball from them and using Abe. The ball didn't reach Abe for a while, but the game was decided by his goal. It wasn't a great performance, but we were able to bring the record from two consecutive losses to two wins and two draws, so we will start paying off our debt from here. We want to fight each game carefully and accumulate victories."

　[Kobe Hasek's press conference summary] "We have been preparing for this game for two weeks. There was absolutely no fault or mistake on Kobe's part. However, we conceded a goal easily right after the start. In a blink of an eye, the flow of the entire game changed. After that, we were targeted in the spaces, countered, and the opponents broke through our front line, resulting in (Kitamoto) receiving a second yellow card to stop it. We conceded a goal from a mistake in the second half, but the players fought well until the end. There is nothing to say to the players."