A battle that tests our strength against Júbilo Iwata

　Facing Júbilo Iwata in the 2nd Stage Sec. 9 match, just three days after the Nabisco Cup Semifinal Round. Our previous record against Iwata is 1 win and 8 losses. They have been a tough opponent for us. Iwata in this stage is different from before and currently sits at the bottom of the league. However, since the 5th match, they have welcomed a new coach, Suzuki, and have been showing some improvement with 1 win, 1 loss, and 2 draws. We cannot underestimate them as an easy opponent, but they are a wall that we must break through. Can we build on our victory in the Nabisco Cup and continue our success today? How far can we go against Iwata? This match can be seen as a litmus test.

　Tokyo, recently returned from the World Cup qualifiers for the Japan national team, has just started with players Doi and Kaji. On the other hand, for Iwata, it has been two weeks since their last official match, but Suzuki, a DF, is suspended, Sato, the GK, is injured, and DF Tanaka, a member of the Japan national team, is also absent. GK Iwamaru and DF Ooi started for the first time this season, and they approached the game with a 3-5-2 formation. The temperature was below 20 degrees, but the match started at Tokyo's National Stadium under the autumn sun.

Get a rhythm from the start and go on the offensive

　Tokyo, which took the lead from the start. They stole the ball with coordinated pressing and created chances from quick passing. In the 1st minute, they attacked the Iwata goal. In the 4th minute, Jean dropped a long feed and Lucas returned it to Kelly, who quickly moved forward. Despite being surrounded by defenders, Lucas broke free in front of the goal and his shot narrowly missed, missing the chance to take the lead. In the 6th minute, they spread the play from left to right, and from the combination of Ishikawa and Kaji on the right side, Kaji crossed the ball. Miura picked up the ball cleared to the far side and took a shot from the center, showing an unsuccessful attack.

　However, in the 9th minute, Iwata picked up a clear ball from Tokyo's MF Kawamura and passed it to FW Maeda in front of the goal, who took a shot. In the 11th minute, the midfielder Fukunishi expanded to the right side, and Kawamura took a shot. In the 17th minute, midfielder Hattori connected Maeda's pass in front of the goal directly, and MF Fujita attacked in front of the goal. Immediately after that, Lucas -> Kelly picked up a loose ball in the midfield and launched a quick attack, creating a 2-on-1 situation with the opponent's DF. However, Kelly's shot from the area slightly to the right crossed the goal, once again missing a big chance.

　Tokyo dominates, but without showing any signs of impatience, Iwata endures and waits for the opportunity to quickly turn to attack. In the 22nd minute, Maeda heads in a early cross from DF Kikuchi. Tokyo, who missed their own chance, ends up losing momentum. In the 34th minute, Maeda takes a shot from Iwata's quick restart. It misses the target, but shows the "Iwata style". However, it was in the 36th minute. Iwata's DF Ooi, who had dribbled up, passes the ball to Imakawa in the midfield, and Ooi, with excessive momentum, slides. This tackle, where he lifted his leg, receives a significant foul play decision, and Ooi is sent off. Following the Nabisco Cup Tokyo V match, Tokyo now has to play against 10 opponents from this time.

Despite overwhelming a short-handed Iwata...

　Iwata moved Hattori from defensive midfielder to defender, shifted attacking midfielder Nabe to defensive midfielder, and moved Maeda down one line to adjust. In the 44th minute, they attacked the goal from a fast pass play, and Fujita took a shot. Tokyo struggled to create decisive chances despite having a numerical advantage. In injury time, Kelly picked up the opponent's clearance and passed it to Lucas, who broke free in front of the goal. Lucas sharply cut past the defender and took a shot, but the ball went to the left of the goal. In the end, Iwata had 7 shots compared to Tokyo's 4 shots in the first half. Although it was not a bad performance, they couldn't seize the opportunities, and the match was carried over to the second half.

　In the second half, Iwata replaced Fukunishi with Morishita and changed to a 4-back formation. Tokyo substituted Abe for Baba. Throughout the second half, Tokyo took control against the 10-man Iwata. In the 45th minute, Kelly picked up a loose ball and attacked, heading a right cross. In the 47th minute, Kelly again headed a cross from Ishikawa, but the opponent's goalkeeper Iwamaru made a nice save, resulting in a corner kick. Tokyo obtained two corner kicks from this point, but failed to score. Tokyo continued to attack, but could not break down Iwata's solid defense, leading to a stalemate situation.

Lack of decisiveness resulted in a regrettable draw

　In the 64th minute, Imakano and Lucas created a decisive scene. Imakano, who stole the ball in his own half, quickly passed it to Lucas in the front line. He bypassed the defender and shot, narrowly missing the right side of the goal, evading the jumping goalkeeper. Lucas continued to show sharp attacks, but he just couldn't score. Immediately after, Miyazawa was substituted for Miura. However, when aiming for the space behind the opponent's defender, they were caught offside, and the cross was bounced back in the center, unable to break through the solid Iwata goal defense.

　In the 76th minute, a free kick was obtained from the left diagonal of the goal. At this point, Suzuki replaced Ishikawa. Suzuki, in his first play after the substitution, aimed directly for the goal with a powerful shot, but the goalkeeper made a save. In the 77th minute, Abe took a strong shot from the right area inside the Kanazawa's left cross, but the goalkeeper made another save. From here, they took three corner kicks and Miyazawa directly aimed for the goal from a free kick near the right corner, but the goalkeeper made multiple nice saves and there was no goal. In the 80th minute, Suzuki picked up the loose ball from Kelly's shot in front of the goal and took a shot. It seemed like the net was shaking, but unfortunately, it was offside.

　In the 3rd minute of injury time, Kelly's shot from Abe's left cross was blocked by the opponent's defender. Then, Miyazawa's shot from the front of the goal went over the goal. From a right throw-in, Abe connected with a header and Kelly's shot went over the bar as well. In the final stages, the game was mostly played in the Iwata's half, and although they came close to scoring, the goal was far away. In front of the tenacious Iwata, the game ended in a scoreless draw. For Tokyo, it was a game they could have won but ended up losing, settling for only 1 point.

　【Player Comments】《Suzuki》"I was strongly told to go for the shot and entered the pitch. I wanted to score with the first free kick, but overall, the start of the game was good and I was able to approach it relaxed. However, when we are winning 1-0, this might have been enough, but when it's 0-0, it's like my job is zero. I wanted to score."《Imano》"Today, we went forward from the beginning and when things were going well, we wanted to score a goal. It felt uncomfortable when the opponent was down to 10 men, but I tried to pick up loose balls. I think we were able to create a wave of attacks from there. I no longer have a weak consciousness against a team with 10 players, but drawing against Iwata doesn't give me confidence. (What do we need to do to make use of our chances?) I think we have to practice as the voices from the stands suggest."

　[Summary of the press conference by the former coach] "After the Nabisco Cup ended, we first need to change our mindset. Especially against Iwata, we haven't won in the past few years, so we approached the game with the intention of breaking that streak. We applied pressure from the beginning of the first half and things were going well. Until around the 20th minute, we were able to take the ball from the front, and Lucas and Kelly created chances while Ishikawa and Kaji broke through from the right side with their speed in the attack. We wanted to score during that time and there were decisive chances that we had to convert. The opponent had one less player, and in the second half, we tried to attack from the sides by bringing in Abe, but they defended well and we couldn't break through in the final moments. In the second half, there were good crosses from Kaji and Ishikawa from the right, but we couldn't control the headers in the center, and that is an area we need to work on. Also, when the opponent is down to 10 players, we tend to struggle. Our movements became awkward and our attempts to take the ball from the front became weak. However, the players fought with concentration in the Nabisco Cup on Wednesday and I think they did well considering the fatigue after the dramatic match. Kaji, who just returned from the national team's expedition, played with Ishikawa for the first time in a while, but Ishikawa would go forward and Kaji would move back repeatedly. We really wanted to win, but we were able to play against Iwata to that extent, and we want to continue playing the same style of soccer that we showed at the beginning. And then score goals. If we score one goal, we aim for the second goal, and if the opponent is reduced in numbers, we want to pass the ball more and aim higher. The second stage is still a close battle. In the next match against F.Marinos, we also want to play the same kind of soccer as we did today and win."

　[Summary of Iwata Suzuki's press conference] "The players understand Tokyo football well and tried to play Iwata football on top of that. We were able to develop from the movement around the 25th minute and play good football with a good rhythm of attack, but immediately after that, Oi was sent off. We didn't want to disrupt the team's shape, so we kept the 3-5-1 formation in the first half and changed to 4-4-1 in the second half considering physical condition. We changed the system because both sides of Tokyo were stretched, but the players worked hard without giving up until the end and were able to get 1 point. However, we didn't aim for a draw, and we were trying to score until the end. After switching to a 4-back, Nanami and Fujita became the starting point and Maeda got involved, and we were able to create time to keep the ball, but we couldn't break through. Nanami was also tired, so we tried to break the right side by putting in Ota, who has speed and physicality to break through. However, in the end, we couldn't create much time in the midfield, and it resulted in a draw."