Give your best to win the final home game before the break!

　The 5th day of the Nabisco Cup qualifiers will welcome Urawa Reds at home. Although they have suffered 4 consecutive losses so far and have no chance of advancing to the qualifiers, Coach Gallo declared that he will approach the match with the best players in their current condition. The players also stated, "We cannot continue to lose like this" and "We will not waste our time on unnecessary matches in order to improve our level." They aim to achieve victory in the last home game before the break, while maintaining high motivation.

　Suzuki is suspended due to accumulated warnings. Kanazawa, who has recovered from injury, will make his first appearance of the season as a left back. Ozawa will also start for the first time and will play in midfield alongside Lucas. Imano and Inoha will form a double pivot, while Toda and Kawaguchi will lead the attack as a two-striker formation. The team will challenge Urawa with a 4-4-2 formation, with the midfield arranged in a box shape.

　Urawa, on the other hand, has already secured their spot in the final tournament with 4 consecutive wins in the Nabisco Cup. Japan national team's DF Tsuboi, Mitsushu, and MF Ono are absent, and MF Ponte is out due to injury. As a result, the defense consists of Uchidate, Tou, and Horiuchi. In the midfield, Sakai and Hasebe are playing as defensive midfielders, with Hirakawa on the right, Souma on the left, and Yamada as the attacking midfielder. Up top, Nagai and Washington are leading the 3-5-2 formation. The match kicked off at 7pm at the rainy Ajinomoto Stadium.

Lucas, utilizing Ozawa's physicality, rides the momentum

　From the beginning, there was a fierce competition and a back-and-forth battle. Tokyo was the first to seize a big chance. In the 8th minute, Tokunaga on the right passed directly to Lucas in the center, who then sent a through pass to the front line. Ozawa followed and successfully broke through to the right area, but his shot was blocked by the goalkeeper. In the 12th minute, Urawa also had a chance when FW Washington played a post-play and right MF Hirakawa crossed. MF Yamada, who received the ball freely in the left area, took a shot that was saved by goalkeeper Shioda.

　At 15 minutes, Urawa DF Tatsuo TOUROU tried to advance by passing MF Yamada with a one-two inside the Tokyo team, but Lucas quickly returned and cut it off. At 20 minutes, Inoha -> Ozawa's pass, Tokunaga sprinted down the right side with a dribble. There was a collision with the pursuing Urawa DF, and it seemed like a corner kick was obtained, but it was a Urawa goal kick. Although neither team created a decisive opportunity, the intense offensive and defensive continued.

　Among them, utilizing the physicality of Ozawa and Lucas, Tokyo dominated the game. On the right, Tokunaga boldly attempted breakthroughs, while Kanazawa on the left calmly connected passes and joined the attack at the right moment. Up front, Toda received the ball and drew out the movements of Ozawa and Lucas. In the 26th minute, Tokyo launched a wave-like attack with Ozawa, Tokunaga, and Lucas as the starting point, putting pressure on the Urawa area, but the shot was not successful. In the final moments, Lucas took a shot from outside the left area after a throw-in, but it went over the crossbar.

　In the 28th minute, Jean took a direct free kick from about 25m to the right of the goal, but it curved to the left. In the 39th minute, Ozawa took a powerful shot from inside the opponent's half, but it missed to the right. In the 42nd minute, Toda intercepted the Urawa ball and sprinted towards the goal. In a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, the opposing goalkeeper made a save as he came out. However, Lucas picked up the loose ball and passed it to Kawaguchi in the left area, but the shot was once again blocked by the goalkeeper. They couldn't convert their chances and ended the first half with a 0-0 score.

An intense battle full of passion ends in a scoreless draw

　Tokyo, who showed a passionate play in the second half as well. In the beginning, Tokunaga breaks through the right side. He sends a fast ground pass to the front of the goal from a deep position, but it doesn't reach Kawaguchi who was waiting. In the 47th minute, Ozawa heads Tokunaga's cross, but he can't meet it properly. In the 56th minute, Urawa's right MF Hirakawa attempts to dribble into the area, and the ball falls in front of free MF Yamada on the right side. This pinch is saved by Shioda's bold jump, and they successfully defend without losing focus.

　In the 58th minute, Lucas advanced with a dribble and took a shot with speed! He had a precise shot on target, but it was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper and escaped to a corner kick. Tokyo today had a good balance in the midfield, and after winning the ball, Imakano also boldly attacked. In the 70th minute, he intercepted in the opponent's territory, and Imakano sprinted towards the goal! He attracted the approaching Urawa defenders and sent a final pass to Kawaguchi who came up from the left. Kawaguchi took an accurate shot, but once again it was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper... Then, they persistently picked up the loose ball, and Ozawa took a middle shot, but it was right in front of the opponent's goalkeeper. They continued to attack and picked up the second ball well, but they couldn't convert the chance into a goal.

　In the 75th minute, Lucas boldly shot from outside the right area, but it went way over. In the 82nd minute, Imano tried to shoot from the middle with speed, but the opponent's defender closed in on him. In the 84th minute, Lucas -> Kanazawa attacked inside, and Toda sent a final pass, but it was cut off by the opponent's defender. Tokunaga picked up the loose ball and crossed it, Lucas headed it but it didn't hit. In the 85th minute, Toda ran into the ball that was loose in front of the goal and took a daring shot despite the difficult position. It was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper and resulted in a corner kick. Ozawa's right corner kick was cleared by the Urawa defender... We continued our strong attacks until the end, but we couldn't score a goal. In the end, we played a passionate game both in attack and defense, and although Urawa's attack was shut out, we couldn't win the intense battle. We only managed to get 1 point.

　【Player Comments】《Ozawa》"Today, everyone fought harder than in the previous home game. While aiming for possession football, I tried to simply jump into the goal area. I was able to play for a long time as a starter, but my decision-making was still slow and I couldn't fully grasp the rhythm. It's disappointing that I couldn't produce results. I think we need to win at home, so I want to make sure we can win. In order to do that, we need to be able to score even with few chances. I wish I could have been more involved in the chances and taken shots..."《Kanazawa》"I was also playing while being mindful of my injury, but being able to play for 90 minutes gave me confidence. Today, the coach told us strictly to review the basics such as intensity in duels. I think I was able to do that. I tried to receive the ball in a good position while maintaining balance and attack. This season, I aim to value the ball, increase possession, and connect short passes to reach the goal area, and I am making progress in that regard. I have also become more determined to play in the matches, so I will give my all in practice and prepare well."

　[Summary of Manager Garo's Press Conference] "I think we had a good game with both teams playing at a high level. In the second half, we were able to dominate the game and had chances. At halftime, I told the players that this game would be decided by a small margin, so we fought without losing focus and it turned out to be a good game. In the midfield today, we played with a compact formation, marked aggressively against a strong Urawa team, and competed. In addition to the midfield, Toda showed not only plays where he moved into space but also plays where he received through balls in the front line, which was good. (You only used one substitution slot?) We didn't consider making substitutions because we had a good flow and shape. We checked how tired Ozawa was, and although he answered, 'I'm not tired,' we considered it his limit and substituted Akamine. Kanazawa's timing of returning from injury and Suzuki's suspension matched, so we used him. He connected passes without mistakes and showed good covering from a good positioning. Mogi also had good plays. I think he has the ability to be selected for the national team, but the chosen manager must have his own thoughts, so I want to respect that. I had a conversation with Mogi about aiming for four years later, and he seems to have switched his mindset."

　[Urawa Buchwald's press conference summary] "It was already decided that we would advance to the qualifiers, but we wanted to advance as the group leader, so we really wanted to win. On the other hand, FC Tokyo was also not in good shape, so I think they came to challenge us with the intention of winning and getting on a roll. That could be seen from their aggressive and passionate play. A wet field like today's favors the attacking side, but the fact that no goals were scored can be attributed to the efforts of both teams' defenders. If either team had scored even one goal, the game would have become even more aggressive. Although the result was 0-0, it was an interesting match. I am satisfied with the players' performance, but I wanted them to play a little more tightly in the parts where they couldn't fully utilize the counter-attacking opportunities. Today, both MF Ponte and MF Ono were unable to play. I think the absence of MF Ponte, who can score and assist, had an impact. However, Urawa's strength lies in the fact that even if someone is missing, there are players who can fill that role. This was proven when we won the previous Yokohama FM match without Ponte for about 60 minutes. So, although today ended in a draw, the absence of such players cannot be used as an excuse. The lack of scoring opportunities was due to the slower transition between offense and defense than usual. Even if there was space after winning the ball, the transition was slow and the space was closed down. Even when we tried to exploit the space with speed, it was difficult to connect to the attack."