Overcoming Unwinnable Battles

　2nd stage is also 2/3 complete, and in the 10th round, we will face Yokohama F.Marinos away. Tokyo has not been able to gain momentum in the league matches and cannot win. However, Yokohama F.Marinos, the champion of the 1st stage, is the same. They are currently in 5th place, but they have been struggling with injuries, and in the last 5 matches, they have only won 1 out of 4. In order to remain in the top fight in the final stage, both teams will aim for 3 points today.

　In this match, GK Dohi achieved a Japanese-Tie record by reaching 145 consecutive appearances in the J1 League, tying with Shimizu S-Pulse's player Masanori Sanada. Interestingly, we would like to adorn this great record that has continued since the Yokohama F.Marinos match in the 1st stage of the 2000 season with a victory.

Conceding the first goal from a dominated and difficult situation

　The game that started with the kickoff of Yokohama F.Marinos began with both teams concentrating. Amidst the continued battle for the ball, in the 4th minute, F.Marinos MF Oku took a middle shot. In order to break the tense situation, in the 14th minute, FW Sakata aimed for a ground shot from a distant position. However, gradually F.Marinos started to dominate by picking up loose balls and launching aggressive attacks from MF Tanaka as the starting point on the right side. In the 19th minute, Tanaka picked up the cleared ball from Tokyo DF and took a shot with speed, but Doi caught it firmly.

　In the 20th minute, Tokyo showed an attack from the side as Kelly headed a shot from a right cross by Kaji->Ishikawa, but it went over the goal. However, they were often pushed into the side of F.Marinos, who deployed a 3-5-2 formation, and couldn't gain an advantage. In the 21st minute, F.Marinos Tanaka's breakthrough was escaped by Baba to a corner kick. Then, in the 25th minute, F.Marinos left MF Dutra picked up Tokyo's clearance ball and exchanged a vertical pass with Oku. He hit MF Yanagi who had moved forward and immediately passed it back, and Oku took a shot. This resulted in conceding the first goal. It was a situation where they couldn't catch Oku and conceded a goal due to a marking error, but afterwards, they continued to struggle with Dutra, Oku, and Yanagi's positioning. They lost the second ball and couldn't create attacking opportunities for Tokyo.

　Finally, in the 36th minute, Kelly launched a quick attack, and Lucas in the front line evaded the defender and got into a shooting position, but was stopped by the opposing defender. Then, Ishikawa bypassed two opposing defenders from the right side and passed to Lucas in the center. Miura got involved, and the final cross was lifted by Kaji from the right, but it was also cleared by the defender. Just as the counterattack was starting to take shape, Suzuki was substituted for Baba in the 40th minute. On the other hand, in the 42nd minute, F.Marinos substituted MF Sato for the injured Dutra. In stoppage time of the first half, Jean attacked the goal from a free kick, but failed to finish. Tokyo trailed by one goal as they entered the second half.

Suzuki and Ishikawa create rhythm, Jean scores the equalizing goal!

　The halftime instructions from Coach Hara were "Do not lose in the 1-on-1 battles for the ball and the loose balls. Let's move forward without fear when attacking." As instructed, Tokyo showed a completely different movement from the start of the second half. Immediately after the start, the pass from Kaji on the right side did not reach Ishikawa, but they regained possession of the ball and earned a free kick by sticking with it. And in the 46th minute, Jean, who evaded the marking of the opponent's defender with a curved kick from Ishikawa, perfectly headed the ball into the goal! They caught up early in the second half and gave hope for the subsequent development.

　In the 49th minute, Suzuki, who broke through the front line by intercepting the ball with Kaji and Ishikawa's combination, was fouled after Ishikawa's cross. From just in front of the area, Suzuki took a powerful bullet liner with Lucas as bait, but the opponent's goalkeeper made a nice save. Miura, who reacted to the loose ball, couldn't push it in with a header. Tokyo, centered around Imakano and Miura, continues to create chances by regaining possession in the midfield.

　In the 58th minute, Suzuki dribbled after connecting a clear ball from the defender. The cross was caught by the opponent's goalkeeper. In the 59th minute, Suzuki's through pass to Lucas was offside. In the 61st minute, Imakawa aggressively tried to steal the opponent's ball and was fouled, resulting in a free kick. Suzuki aimed directly from a distance of about 30 meters, but this shot floated. In the 66th minute, Kelly received a lofted pass from Ishikawa in front of the goal, but the trap was too big and he couldn't take a shot. In the fast-paced game, F.Marinos also launched a counter-attack, and in the 68th minute, Sakata headed a cross from Sato on the right. However, it missed to the upper left corner of the goal.

Late in the game, we conceded a penalty and it was already too late for a comeback...

　In the 70th minute, Miyazawa replaced Miura in Tokyo. F.Marinos also made a substitution, replacing Yanagi with forward Shimizu and moving Oku to defensive midfield, disrupting Tokyo's rhythm with player changes. In the 77th minute, a shot was taken by Tanaka->Sakata combination play from a keep by forward Yasu, but it narrowly missed to the left of the goal. In the 78th minute, a shot by Yasu from a quick attack was caught by Doi. In the 79th minute, Sakata picked up a loose ball from Tokyo's defense that stopped the counter and took a middle shot. It missed above the bar, and Tokyo escaped the danger. In the 79th minute, Abe was substituted for Kanazawa, who was injured. Suzuki was placed as left full-back and Tokyo went for the win.

　Amidst the intense attack and defense, in the 83rd minute, Miyazawa expanded to the right and attacked the goal with Ishikawa's cross. In the 84th minute, from F.Marinos' quick restart, Tanaka's shot from the left bottom of the goal was nicely saved by Doi. In the 87th minute, F.Marinos' defender Nakazawa advanced and Shimizu broke through with a through pass, but the shot missed to the right. Tokyo tried to break through the defense line with Abe's run behind the defense line from Nishiba's long feed, but it was ruled offside.

　It was right after that. From an indirect free kick, Sakata passed to Yasu who entered the area. In an attempt to feint the defender, Jean committed a foul, resulting in a penalty kick for F.Marinos. They scored from it, and Tokyo conceded the lead in the 88th minute. There was not enough time to score another goal. In injury time, Suzuki made a bold move and took a shot from the left area, but the goalkeeper saved it. One more goal, one more step... but it was not enough, and the game ended in disappointment. They were defeated 2-1 at the away Yokohama International Stadium.

　【Player Comments】《Doi》"Tokyo had to play the same style of soccer as F.Marinos in the first half. We found our rhythm in the second half, but the result was disappointing due to the goal conceded from a penalty kick. I am happy to have set a consecutive appearance record in the league, but I think it is something that I couldn't have achieved without the support of my teammates and staff. Since the start of my career in 2000, the team has changed its style from a defensive focus to an attacking one, and the younger players have been developing from the bottom, making us truly 'one team'. While it is important for me to play, the most important thing was to win. Today, I feel frustrated, but I want to switch gears and aim for a winning streak from here."《Ishikawa》"I think F.Marinos had more chances, but it was good that we were able to withstand and connect our attacks. We need to bring it to a finish and score when we have the rhythm. Defensively, I focused on coordinating with Kaji and organizing the defense to avoid one-on-one situations. In the attack, the opponent's defensive line was shallow, so we tried to cross early, but we couldn't penetrate deep. To do that, we need to win the ball in a higher position. I am in good condition, so I want to get involved in more chances."

　[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "In the first half, F.Marinos set the pace from the beginning. We were bombarded more than expected and struggled to connect passes. Even when we played long balls, they were easily cleared and we couldn't capitalize on loose balls. The goal we conceded was also a result of losing a clearance and being caught off guard. In this situation, Bamba's strengths didn't come through. He was also tired and was beaten to the ball by Hayato Tanaka. He is a player who can usually hold onto the ball, but he was chasing after the opponent's defense. So we brought in Suzuki, who has power and momentum, to attempt breakthroughs from the left side and make an impact. A long pass from Ishikawa to Norio also worked in our favor. However, we couldn't fully capitalize on our attacks and created some dangerous situations in our own half. So we kept Norio on and brought Abe forward to take a gamble. But we conceded a penalty during that period and didn't have enough time to turn the game around. (Regarding not being able to pick up loose balls in the first half) F.Marinos' defense, including the backline and players like Yanagi and Nasu, have the strongest heading ability in the J-League, I believe. We should have connected passes at a faster tempo, but we mostly lost out in aerial battles. Also, we were hesitant to press against F.Marinos' attacking trio plus Oku, which contributed to our inability to push forward. We made adjustments during the match and created opportunities through Ishikawa or Suzuki on the wings... The performance was not bad at all. We created chances against a strong F.Marinos side and didn't concede due to being completely broken down. It's difficult to switch gears after losing in this manner, but we want to stay positive and make an extra effort to earn points."

　[Summary of F.Marinos Okada's press conference] "The performance has not been bad recently, but we have been unable to win consecutive matches. Today, we played excellent soccer in the first half. However, we only managed to score one goal and conceded due to a slight lapse in concentration in the second half. I thought we might not be able to win again. However, the players never gave up and fought for the ball until the end, finally achieving victory. Once again, I realized how difficult it is to earn three points. The reason we couldn't replicate the first-half performance in the second half was mainly because Dudu was not on the field. There is no replacement player like him, and the team's balance inevitably gets disrupted when he is absent. In the next match, Dudu will be injured and Oku will be suspended, but we will all come together and do our best."