Aiming for victory away in the league match with only two days of rest

　Under the schedule of playing three matches in one week, Sec. 6 of the league will be an away game against Yokohama F.Marinos. The match will be held one day earlier than the other games, and Tokyo will have a two-day break from the Nabisco Cup. In this Urawa game, Baba and Jean got injured and will be absent this round. Therefore, Mashima and Kurisawa will start. Also, Doi and Shigemine, who returned from the national team's expedition yesterday, will start in good spirits. Asari will also be on the bench for the first time this season, and Akamine will be a substitute for Sasa. We will overcome this crucial moment with an all-out effort.

　Yokohama FM is currently in 2nd place in the league. They have a solid defense and quickly transition the ball to the front line, using their forward line as a starting point for various attacking patterns, including runs from the sides and second row. Today, DF Nakazawa and FW Kubo, who played in the Japan national team's match against Ecuador, are absent. MF Oku is also absent due to injury. However, in the Nabisco Cup match against Fukuoka, they made 5 changes to the starting lineup and secured a solid 1-0 victory. They boast a deep squad and are maintaining good form.

　Tokyo, on the other hand, countered with thorough man-marking. Inoha marked FW Marques, Imakawa marked MF Shimizu, Kajiyama marked MF Maglone, and Suzuki and Tokunaga also took measures to mark their respective opponents. The expectation was to prevent goals through tough defense, enhance coordination, and create opportunities in the attack. The match started at 15:02 with Tokyo's kickoff at the away Nissan Stadium.

Faced with Yokohama, who maintained control throughout the match, we were forced into a disadvantageous position.

　Seizing the chance early on from a set piece. Kawaguchi was fouled and won a free kick from outside the left area. Kajiyama sent the ball into the goalmouth and Suzuki made a direct shot, but it went wide to the left. However, as time passed, Yokohama FM began to find their rhythm. Starting from quick and accurate passing, forward Oshima held the ball firmly on the front line and launched an offensive based on a direct play by forward Marques.

　In the 7th minute, FW Oshima and FW Marques stuck in the area, and MF Ueno ran into the goal and shot, resulting in a corner kick. The ball kicked by MF Dudu was punched away by Doi, but Dudu picked it up again and entered the area. However, Mashima calmly cut it off. In the 12th minute, FW Oshima dropped MF Dudu's left cross, and MF Maglone shot. In the 14th minute, from Yokohama FM's throw-in, the ball spilled in front of MF Shimizu in front of the goal, but Imano kicked it out while falling.

　27 minutes, FW Marques bypassed Inoha's mark and attacked from the combination play between MF Shimizu and FW Oshima, broke through into the area and took a shot. In the 29th minute, once again FW Marques broke through behind the DF and took a free shot. Both shots missed the target and no harm was done. In the 33rd minute, a sharp middle shot from MF Tanaka on the right side was saved by Doi. While defending, in the 44th minute, Suzuki, who advanced from the right side through Tokunaga, Kawaguchi, and Kurizawa, took a shot, but it also went wide.

　In the first half, Tokyo was completely dominated by Yokohama, with all plays being on the defensive. However, they managed to maintain focus on "protecting the goal" and were also helped by the opponent's missed shots, resulting in a 0-0 score as they headed into the second half.

In the closing moments, a draw with Masushima's first J-League goal!

　In the second half, Kajiyama was replaced by Miyazawa. However, the momentum was with Yokohama FM. In the 48th minute, midfielder Tanaka dribbled into the goal area from a counterattack, and midfielder Shimizu received the final pass in the right area and took a shot. In the 57th minute, defender Kawai joined the attack from a post-play by substitute midfielder Yoshida. The shot taken in the penalty area was blocked by Mashima, but defender Kawai picked up the loose ball again and passed it to the free forward Marques, who was in the right area. The header shot went over the bar.

　Still, Tokyo waits for a chance and launches a counterattack. In the 61st minute, Tokunaga drops Suzuki's left cross from Miyazawa's development, and Imakawa gets into a shooting position. However, he is blocked by the opponent's defender who quickly closed in. In the immediate aftermath of this chance in the 62nd minute, Yokohama FM takes a right throw-in. Midfielder Tanaka puts it in and midfielder Maguron keeps it. Tanaka, who received the return, charges into the area with determination and swings his right foot. This shot finds the bottom left corner and results in a goal. From the restart, they are caught off guard by the opponent's marking.

　Tokyo, which had no choice but to attack, took risks and created opportunities by moving forward. In the 67th minute, Lucas shook off his head at the perfect timing from Suzuki's cross, but it went straight to the goalkeeper. In the 73rd minute, there was also a scene where Yokohama FW Oshima's looping shot from a close distance hit the crossbar, but in the 74th minute, Miyazawa quickly caught up with a loose ball in the opponent's territory and took a precise middle shot. However, it was blocked by the goalkeeper's save. In the 75th minute, Akamine was substituted for Lucas, and in the 83rd minute, Abe was substituted for Kawaguchi, but the goal was still far away.

　It was just after the start of injury time, when it seemed like the game was going to end like this. Kurisawa dribbled and was fouled on the right side, earning a free kick. Kurisawa himself took the kick and Imano received it with a header, then Mashiya followed up and kicked a powerful volley into the goal! It was Mashiya's joyful first goal in J-League, equalizing the score. Yokohama defended against the subsequent corner kick and the game ended. Throughout the 90 minutes, Yokohama dominated, but with relentless play, they caught up at the end and secured 1 point.

　【Player Comments】《Mashima》"I didn't think about anything when the ball came. I just stretched my leg. The last time I scored in an official match was in the Emperor's Cup during my time at Ichifune High School, against Yokohama F.Marinos, just like today. I wasn't conscious of it, but I thought to myself, 'It would be nice if I could score again.' I didn't want to hear people say, 'We lost because I replaced Jean.' Our defensive strategy was for Masahiko Inoha to mark FW Marques, and for myself and Shigenobu Mochizuki to cover the remaining FW. It's easy for me, but I think it puts a heavy burden on the midfielders. In the second half, we changed our approach by flattening the defensive line during the game and utilizing Miyazawa. I think we are becoming able to make such changes based on our own judgment."《Kurisawa》"We marked the midfielders and fullbacks one-on-one against the opponents. As a result, we ended up being absorbed by our own defensive line in our own half. The distance was too long when we tried to pass to the FW, and we couldn't push up. We were just chasing behind the opponents all the time, and we had few opportunities in the opponent's territory, so we couldn't build momentum. We had to go for the ball even if we had to abandon our marks, carrying the burden of being behind. We just tried to get close to the ball. I think that mindset led to the final goal."

　[Summary of Manager Garo's Press Conference] "From start to finish, it was a game where F.Marinos had the upper hand. There was a noticeable difference, especially in terms of physicality. We had a tough match against Urawa two days ago and we weren't able to fully recover, so our condition was poor. It was fortunate that we scored a goal in the very end, but F.Marinos was the better team in this match. (Regarding player substitutions) Initially, I considered replacing Kurisawa, but crosses started coming in from both sides of Kurisawa's play. So I decided not to substitute Kurisawa and instead replaced him with Lucas, positioning Akamine in the center of the crosses to utilize his height. I replaced Kajiyama because he seemed physically exhausted. In the first half, there was a big gap between the midfield and the forward line, so I wanted to fill that gap by bringing in Miyazawa. I instructed Inoue to play on the right and Miyazawa on the left to fill that gap. However, as a team, our physical condition was poor and we were consistently late in competing for the ball, especially in second balls. Despite that, Suzuki was working hard on the left, but as a team, we couldn't win the second balls."

　[Summary of Yokohama FM Manager Okada's Press Conference] "I am really satisfied with the performance. They played a fantastic game. However, not being able to score when we had the chance was a major factor in the draw. It is common in football, but the problem is how well we can concentrate until the end and earn points. There were about three free kicks at the end, and I think there was a sense of complacency that we could somehow manage. We need to get rid of that in order to get closer to winning. However, it is still early in the league. It was very difficult because this is a crucial moment, but I take it as a warning for us to become a team without such complacency in the future. (Regarding the involvement of defenders in the attack) They were not holding back in going forward, and both Kawai and Matsuda were going forward. The opponents were defensively organized in man-to-man marking, so I told them to be careful of counterattacks and set pieces, but I didn't specifically instruct the back three to not go forward. Kubo and Nakazawa were left out due to fitness issues. As you can see, it wasn't because they were absent that things didn't go well... I don't think that's why it ended in a draw."