Aiming for a third consecutive victory, we challenge Kashiwa Reysol away

　Sec. 5 of the 2nd Stage will be an away match against Kashiwa Reysol. Tokyo is currently on a two-game winning streak and sits in 7th place in the league. Today's match is scheduled for Sunday, one day later than the other matches, and the top teams are in a tight battle due to the results from the previous day. Tokyo aims to secure a third consecutive victory and gain ground in the standings, as well as build momentum for the upcoming back-to-back home matches against Urawa on the 23rd and Kashima on the 26th.

　Kashiwa, on the other hand, has no wins yet with 1 draw and 3 losses in the 2nd stage. In the previous match, they suffered a heavy defeat of 1-5 against Gamba Osaka. They have been struggling for the bottom position in the overall standings since the 1st stage, with MF Ricardinho and Roberto CESAR also sidelined due to injuries. However, in September, MF Ono, who had been on loan to Nagoya, returned. FW Haji also joined from Ichihara, and they are trying to rebuild with new members. In this season's matches, including the Nabisco Cup, Tokyo has had 2 wins and 1 draw against Kashiwa, making them a favorable opponent. However, considering that they held closed-door training this week at Kashiwa no Ha Stadium in preparation for the Tokyo match, it can be said that they are desperate for a win in this match.

　This section, Miura is suspended. Kono and Miyazawa form a double pivot, and Kondo Yusuke leads the lineup as the lone striker. Suzuki, who has recovered from injury, starts as the left midfielder for the first time since the final match of the 1st stage. Toda also made it to the bench for the first time since the July 24th Nabisco Cup Sec. 6 match against Kashiwa. The match started with Tokyo's kickoff in the hot and humid conditions at the Kashiwa Soccer Stadium, where you sweat just by standing.

Struggling with tough marking and pitch conditions...

　Kashiwa started aggressively from the beginning. In the 15th second, right full-back Hato advanced and won a corner kick on the right side, and forward Tamada took a shot. However, both teams struggled on the rough pitch after this one chance and were unable to create opportunities. In the 13th minute, Kaji won a corner kick from an overlap on the right side, but goalkeeper Minami's clearance was picked up by Tamada, leading to a counterattack by Kashiwa. In the 19th minute, Tamada entered the penalty area from the right side and passed to midfielder Myojin, who took a shot in front of the goal, but it was saved by goalkeeper Doi.

　Tokyo, 21 minutes in, Yusuke Kondo takes a left CK (corner kick) from a short corner and launches a wave attack, earning a second CK from Inamoto's shot. They look for a chance from the set play, but Kashiwa also gets three consecutive CKs in the 25th minute. They quickly counter-attack after picking up the loose ball, but fail to finish. However, immediately after, Kanazawa makes a big side change pass to the right side. Via Kaji, Baba sends a cross to the front line, and Yusuke Kondo picks up the loose ball from Kashiwa's defense and takes a shot. However, it is blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper.

　Kashiwa tries to launch a simple attack targeting the front line player Hagi, after stealing the ball from a tough defense. On the other hand, Tokyo tries to interchange the positions of Suzuki and Baba on the left and right of the position after 30 minutes, but Kelly was marked thoroughly by Kashiwa MF Myojin, which resulted in the play being disrupted and unable to launch effective attacks. Finally, in the 43rd minute, after connecting a free kick, Kashiwa approaches the goal and Inamoto shoots from the left area, but it is saved by the goalkeeper. Then, it's time for extra time. After connecting a free kick, Kashiwa clears the ball and launches a counterattack, trying to raise the defensive line. Miyazawa picks up the clearance and sends a lobbed pass towards the back of the defensive line. Yusuke Kondo, who broke free in front of the goal, heads the ball, but it hits the right post and goes to the center. And before Kelly could push it in, it was cleared by Kashiwa's defense. Tokyo created a big chance towards the end, but couldn't score a goal. The match ended 0-0 and was carried over to the second half.

Kashiwa takes the lead with Toda's comeback goal!

　The halftime instructions from Manager Hara were "Kashiwa is pressing hard, so it's difficult to control the ball, but be patient and receive the ball in high positions on both sides, and use the sides more." Following the instructions, Imakano repeatedly ran up the right side, but Kashiwa's concentrated defense prevented Tokyo from creating chances. In the 51st minute, Suzuki took a shot from the right side, and in the 52nd minute, Kaji picked up the loose ball from a corner kick and took a shot. However, both lacked power to score a goal, so in the 53rd minute, Abe was substituted for Suzuki. In the 55th minute, Kashiwa earned a corner kick following a free kick. In the 58th minute, MF Ono aimed directly from a free kick in front of the goal, and Tokyo came close to scoring from the restart.

　However, neither team was able to create a decisive scene, and Tokyo tried to break this stalemate by substituting Toda for Kelly in the 68th minute. With Baba in the center, Abe on the left MF, and Toda on the right, they headed towards the goal. In the 76th minute, from Miyazawa's quick restart, Baba passed to Kondo Yusuke, who broke through in front of the goal but missed the shot. Despite the remaining 15 minutes, the back and forth attacks continued, but it was Tokyo who seized the opportunity first.

　79 minutes, Yusuke Kondo, who received a left throw-in, passed to Abe on the outside while being surrounded by defenders. Abe then made a one-touch pass to the center to Miyazawa. Miyazawa sent a beautiful arched cross from just outside the area to the far side, and Toda met it perfectly! With excellent timing, a high contact point, and a heading goal that seemed to celebrate his return from injury, they took the lead with the much-needed goal against a resilient Kashiwa team.

Unable to hold onto the lead, ending in a draw

　Kashiwa made substitutions in the 81st minute, replacing midfielder Ohtani with forward Yamashita, and midfielder Ono with midfielder Shimodaira. They launched a counterattack with a lineup of Yamashita, Tamada, and Haji as the front three. In response, Tokyo made a substitution in the 85th minute, replacing the visibly tired Miyazawa with Fujiyama in the defensive midfield position. They were supposed to strengthen their defense against the opponent's desperate counterattack and hold on to the lead. However, in the 87th minute, Kashiwa's Tamada received a pass inside Tokyo's territory, turned around, slipped through between Kaji and Imakano, and dribbled forward. Jean tried to provide support to Tamada, but just before that, Tamada made a smart decision to play a through pass to the front line. While Shigeki was distracted by Tamada, Haji was left unmarked in front of the goal and was able to break free and score with a one-touch finish, resulting in a goal. They were caught off guard for a moment and allowed a tying goal through the combination of Tamada and Haji.

　The FK given in front of the goal in stoppage time was saved by Doi from Tamada's shot. Although they didn't allow an additional point, Jean's header shot from the CK at the end went to the right of the goal. They couldn't take the lead and ended up with a frustrating draw. Throughout the game, Tokyo couldn't play the attacking football they wanted and only managed to get 1 point.

【Player Comments】《Miyazawa》"It's disappointing to lose the victory at the very end. It was a tough game. The field conditions were bad and I couldn't show my strengths, but the assist for the goal was good. In the next match, Reds are in good form, but it's at home and we'll have a lot of fans, so we want to win together as a team."

[Summary of the press conference by former coach] "Kashiwa today was really desperate from the start, as they suffered a big defeat in the previous match against Gamba Osaka. I had told the players that it would definitely be such a situation based on the training until today, so we changed the system to a 4-back and threw in long balls early, picking up loose balls and rebounds. Due to the wind and pitch conditions, we also struggled to connect passes, but we held firm in the first half, thinking that the second half would be the decisive moment. Toda scored the opening goal at a good time, and honestly, I thought we could make it. However, Kashiwa also brought in experienced players like Shimohira and Kato in the final stages and desperately attacked. We momentarily lost focus on Tamada and that led to conceding a goal by losing our mark on Haji. There are no easy games that can be won easily. I think we need to be able to win these kinds of matches, but Kashiwa today was really amazing. In the next match, we want to defeat Urawa with the same spirit as Kashiwa today."

　[Summary of Kashiwa Hayano's press conference] "Considering the extremely disappointing performance in the previous match, today we made sure that the backline doesn't drop. At the same time, I think we were able to chase from the front line well in the first half. However, we still lack confidence and composure in breaking the opponent's final line, so we didn't concentrate our efforts decisively there. There was a big pinch at the end of the first half, but it was due to the immaturity of line control. As for the second half, we expected Tokyo to come out attacking, so we made sure not to drop the line like in the first half. We also instructed to thoroughly mark Kelly. It was good until the substitutions in the second half, but we conceded a goal due to a lack of closing. At that point, we had no choice but to go on the offensive, so we put Yamashita in, placed Haji on the left, and Tamada in the center as a 3-top, and I think we were able to equalize by not giving up until the end. However, we didn't have the momentum to go ahead after that. It was a game where we showed our desire to win, but we still couldn't earn 3 points. I want to approach the next match with this as the minimum baseline."