Fireworks Night, aiming for consecutive victories at home Ajinomoto!

　Sec. 16 will be a match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima. It is an important match where we want to show the momentum of the previous match against C Osaka, which we won by a large margin, at our home ground Ajinomoto Stadium and aim for consecutive victories. Lucas and Masahiko INOHA will be suspended due to accumulated warnings, but Kurisawa will be in the midfield and Kawaguchi will be in the left MF position. Kajiyama, who injured his ankle in the C Osaka match, will also be in the starting lineup without any major issues.

　Hiroshima is currently in 15th place with 3 wins, 4 draws, and 8 losses. During the break, they welcomed new coach Petrovic and had 1 win and 2 losses in the 3 matches in July. FW Weslley scored 4 goals in these 3 consecutive matches, and the other FW Sato also scored 1 goal, showing their scoring ability. However, they didn't have any clean sheet matches in the 3 games, revealing their defensive weakness. However, in the previous match against Kofu, although they conceded 3 goals in the first half, they switched from a 3-back to a 4-back in the second half and showed a well-balanced game. Basically, they defend with man-to-man marking against the opponent's attacking line, but how they will play against Tokyo's side attacks will be one of the highlights.

　In response to this, Tokyo needs to keep the front line moving with fluid movements and attack the sides. It will be a test of strength after a big victory to see if they can have a battle like the C Osaka match where "anyone can score from anywhere". The match is being held at Ajinomoto Stadium for the first time since the 12th round on May 6th, and the game started with Hiroshima's kickoff at 18:34.

Unable to show momentum, allowing the opponent to take the lead due to lack of concentration

　The start of the game saw both teams playing with great determination. The attack and defense went back and forth. In the 2nd minute, Imakano jumped out from a free kick and won a corner kick on the right side. Kicker Kajiyama received the ball once and passed it to Jean in the middle. From there, a through pass was made to the front line, but no one was able to connect with it. In the 10th minute, a pass went through to Imakano who had advanced on the inside of the left side. He then crossed the ball, but the opponent's goalkeeper caught it. In the 14th minute, Kajiyama connected with Jean's interception and attacked the goal, but was unable to take a shot.

　Hiroshima is lined up in a 4-4-2 formation on the team sheet, but MF Nakazato is playing as a right stopper in the back three. DF Komano is positioned as a right midfielder, and together with Nakazato, they have been able to contain Tokyo's attacks from the left side. In the center of the back three, Toda, who has just returned from suspension, is placed to initiate counters from the midfield and defensive lines, gradually finding their rhythm. In the 20th minute, a foul by Shigeno on FW Weslley on the left side of Tokyo's defense gives Hiroshima a free kick. Weslley, who fell down, quickly gets up and restarts the play. In response, Tokyo loses concentration and fails to organize their defensive formation. FW Sato jumps in front of the goal and scores, giving Hiroshima the lead.

　In the 33rd minute, Rychely was substituted for Kurizawa, who was unable to get involved with the ball in the front line due to defensive pressure. Bamba was positioned in the midfield to make use of Rychely's speed. However, in the 36th minute, Kajiyama was fouled and a right free kick was awarded, but Bamba -> Konno's header went over the bar. In the 38th minute, Rychely was fouled near the penalty arc and Bamba aimed directly for the goal with a free kick, but it also went over the goal. In the 39th minute, Kajiyama initiated a counterattack and passed to Rychely on the left, but it was offside. Unable to create a decisive chance, they went into the second half trailing by one goal.

The attacking team fails to score, losing additional points...

　At halftime, fireworks were launched during the customary Fireworks Night, and the stands were energized to raise expectations for a comeback in the second half. In the second half, Abe was substituted for Miura as the top player, and Kajiyama was moved to the midfield to change the flow of the game with a two-top formation.

　However, in the 47th minute of the second half, the ball that entered the opponent's territory from Doi's goal kick was taken away, and Hiroshima MF Morisaki Hiroshi → FW Weslley quickly passed it to the front line. FW Sato, who ran into this ball, scored a precise goal, conceding the second goal. Jean tried to chase and stop Sato, but couldn't make it in time. They allowed an additional goal by being caught in a vulnerable position while trying to attack.

　In the 56th minute, Toda was substituted for Kawaguchi. After that, both teams' energy levels dropped and the game became stretched. Tokyo also created a decisive chance. In the 58th minute, Ishikawa received a pass from Rychely on the right and took a powerful shot from inside the penalty area in front of the goal! However, it was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper.

　In the 66th minute, Shigeki Mogi passes a vertical pass to ABE in the right area. ABE traps the ball, turns towards the goal, and takes a shot that hits the opponent's goalkeeper and narrowly misses to the left by just one ball's width... From the resulting left corner kick, Rychely attempts a header but hits the crossbar.

　In the 72nd minute, Rychely shot at the goal as the opponent's goalkeeper came out, but the shot was blocked by the opponent's defender at the last moment and the goal was not scored. In the end, Tokyo took 13 shots but failed to score. Hiroshima thoroughly executed counterattacks from a solid defense and scored 2 goals with 14 shots. It was a game at the home stadium, Ajinomoto Stadium, where they approached with a united effort, but they struggled with an unbalanced battle and unfortunately suffered a defeat. They couldn't continue their winning streak from the previous match.

　【Player Comments】《Kajiyama》"There were many defensive situations and it became a difficult game as we had to chase. It wasn't due to the injury, but in the second half, my legs started to cramp up and I had to stop. The opponents were marking us closely and pressing aggressively, and we couldn't move enough to break through. It would have been better if we had more explosive movements. Even if we were booed today, it was understandable. We need to switch gears and make adjustments during this break."《Miura》"We have been conceding the first goal in the past few games, and the way we concede and the timing of conceding additional goals are the issues. Today, our game management was poor. I should have given clearer instructions to concentrate more during the first goal from a set piece, and I'm reflecting on not being able to control the game. It was after the big victory against C Osaka, and it was our first game at Ajinomoto Stadium in a while, so we talked about not letting our guard down before the game. But we couldn't express that well on the field. The challenge now is to reduce the number of goals conceded. We need to endure when necessary and build momentum when we find our pace. We will regroup in the next two weeks!"

　[Summary of Manager Garo's Press Conference] "Today was a very bad game. It was probably the worst game we've played so far. There were mistakes in various aspects, even though we had good games against Kashima and C Osaka, we couldn't continue that form. All the team's mistakes are my responsibility. Hiroshima was superior in every aspect today. It could have been a game where we conceded more than just two goals. The performance was poor in all positions, including defense, midfield, and forward. The defense couldn't mark well and couldn't deliver the ball from midfield to the forward. We lost against Kashima, but we had 19 shots while the opponent had 12. The game against C Osaka was also a good performance. However, it was a game where we dropped significantly in the fourth consecutive match. (Why was Kurisawa substituted?) First, we couldn't mark well and everything was shut down at Kurisawa's position. As a result, the speed of our attacks slowed down, so I decided to utilize Rychely's speed. (Why stick to the 3-back formation?) It's true that the 3-back didn't work today, but regardless of the 3-back or 4-back, the team didn't function well in all aspects. I repeat, the responsibility for that lies entirely with me."

　[Hiroshima Petrovic's press conference summary] "It was a very difficult game. In July, we had a good start by winning against Nagoya, but we lost to Chiba and Kofu. The most important thing today is that we were able to win and earn points. We dominated the game from the beginning, played good defense, and had good attacks based on that. After taking a 1-0 lead, FC Tokyo put pressure on us and there was a period of time when we couldn't play our own soccer, but the important thing is that we didn't concede during that time. We conceded in the previous two games, so it was good that we were able to get through that period without conceding. At halftime, we talked about continuing what we did in the first half and going for another goal, and it was successful. Today, I think Hiroshima showed great soccer on Tokyo's ground. We lost both home games, but I think we played very good games as a team in these four games. We are very happy about Kazuaki Morisaki's return. He played very well in these three games, but there were parts where his condition couldn't keep up, so we substituted him. The reason we used Nakazato as the right stopper was because we wanted a player who could keep up with the speed of FC Tokyo's top striker and two offensive players."