Always take the initiative and aim for 3 points!

　J1 League Sec. 23 is an away game against Kyoto Purple Sanga. After two consecutive wins, the team has been struggling with three consecutive losses. In all three matches that we lost, we allowed the opposing team to score first, making it difficult for us to catch up. We also need to address our defense as we have conceded 8 goals. In particular, we need to improve our marking and concentration, as we have allowed the opponent to be free from set pieces and have conceded goals from loose balls after clearing them once. Therefore, in today's match, we aim to take the initiative both in attack and defense and strive for 3 points.

　Kyoto, on the other hand, is currently in 16th place with 3 wins, 6 draws, and 13 losses. After a win and a draw in the 18th round, they suffered three consecutive defeats and have not been able to ride the wave like Tokyo. However, despite their lower position, they have lost their last two matches to Shimizu and Kashima by a narrow margin of 0-1 each, so they will surely come to take a victory at home thinking "today is the day". The two top forwards, PAULINHO and ANTONIO, both have scoring ability and their playing style is to quickly bring the ball to the sides after stealing it and utilize the two of them from crosses. In addition, attention must be paid to forward Hayashi, who has speed and is excellent at making runs behind the defense.

　Tokyo has changed the starting lineup from the previous match. Makoto IMANO returned to the midfield. Although he says "there is still fear," coach Kuramata expects him to be fine once he regains his game sense. He is the type who can make decisions and move on his own during the game. He wants him to play as he has been playing so far. In addition, Lucas is positioned at the forefront, Baba at the top, and Kurisawa at left MF. In the midfield, through the passing work of IMANO, Baba, and Kajiyama, they want to utilize Ishikawa's breakthrough power and Kurisawa's mobility to run into spaces that the opponent dislikes and aim for goals. Washington is on the bench, and there are high expectations for his scoring sense in situations where goals are needed.

　In the previous match, the difference in scoring ability greatly influenced the game, but if we can calm down and play in our own rhythm, our attacking power is not necessarily inferior to other teams, so if we fight together as a team and regain momentum, there should be plenty of opportunities to win. The match started at 2:04pm with the kickoff in Kyoto at Nishikyogoku Comprehensive Sports Park Stadium, where a pleasant breeze was blowing.

Although having control, they concede the first goal due to a penalty kick

　Tokyo's attack continues from the start of the first half. In the 2nd minute, Tokunaga picks up the clearance from Baba's kick from the left free kick and takes a shot, but it goes over the bar. In the 5th minute, Lucas cuts into the area and wins a corner kick. In the right corner kick from Baba, Imakawa tries to connect, but it doesn't hit. In the 8th minute, they win a right corner kick from Ishikawa -> Baba -> Tokunaga's attacking run on the right side, and Kajiyama shoots from the loose ball from this corner kick, but it hits the defender and becomes another corner kick. Lucas jumps in with a header from that left corner kick, but it goes over the bar. In the 10th minute, they regain possession from the opponent's counterattack, and Lucas takes a powerful middle shot from the left side, but the opponent's goalkeeper saves it. Up until this point, Kyoto hasn't created any real chances, but they were the ones who scored first.

　From the left corner kick in the 15th minute, there was a scramble for the loose ball, and the pass was given to FW Paulinho who remained in the area. Inoha fouled this Paulinho and gave away a penalty kick, allowing the opponent to take the lead. However, Tokyo started their counterattack without panicking. In the 18th minute, Tokunaga dribbled and cut inside, getting fouled by the opponent and winning a right free kick. Baba aimed directly and earned a right corner kick. From the short corner, Imano headed the ball but it went wide to the left. In the 21st minute, Ishikawa attempted to break through and cross from the right free kick. Jean, who was in the center, headed the ball but the goalkeeper caught it.

　28 minutes, Kyoto FW PAULINHO's dribble is cut by Fujiyama. Tokunaga connects to the area and launches an attack, resulting in a left corner kick. Jahn heads the ball from Baba's kick, but it doesn't hit the target. In the 31st minute, Ishikawa makes a move from the right side and earns a free kick just outside the area. Baba returns it to Kurisawa with a slightly backward pass. Unfortunately, Kurisawa's shot hits the top of the crossbar. In the 39th minute, Kurisawa breaks through to the goal front with a through pass from Fujiyama, but is blocked by the opponent's defender and unable to take a shot. In the 41st minute, Tokyo steals the ball in their own half and launches a counterattack. Ishikawa on the right side dribbles inside and takes a shot, but it goes over the crossbar. Tokyo continued to attack, but their shots didn't hit the target, and the first half ended with a one-goal deficit.

Unable to break through the opponent's solid defense until the end, resulting in a defeat

　Substitute Washington for Ishikawa from the start of the second half and form a two-top with Lucas. Bamba and Kurizawa as left and right MF, attempting a counterattack. In the 49th minute, pass from Imano to Washington, dribble breakthrough and earn a left CK. In the 50th minute, Lucas, who received a right throw-in, keeps the ball in the area, and Kurizawa, who ran into it, boldly attacks and shoots but is blocked by the opponent's DF. In the 57th minute, Jean runs into Bamba's left CK and heads it, but it goes over the bar. In the 59th minute, Imano -> Inonami attacks from the left side and crosses. Lucas, who was inside, fails to hit the header.

　60 minutes, Washington, who entered the right area from Kurizawa's pass, shot and the opponent's goalkeeper saved it, resulting in a corner kick. In the 63rd minute, Abe was substituted for Baba. Then in the 68th minute, Abe timed his run behind the defense perfectly from Kurizawa's pass, but was slightly offside. In the 70th minute, Abe from the left side passed to Lucas through Kurizawa. Lucas took a precise shot from outside the box, but it narrowly missed the right side of the goal. In the 76th minute, Lucas kept the ball on the right side. Before completely getting past the opponent's defender, he crossed the ball and Washington jumped in with a header in front of the goal, but it narrowly missed to the left side of the goal. In the 78th minute, Miyazawa was substituted for Kajiyama. In the 80th minute, Fujiyama sent a long ball to the center. Abe headed it down and passed it to Washington, who took a shot, but it didn't hit the target.

　In the 83rd minute, Miyazawa passed to Tokunaga on the right side. He entered the area after a one-two with Kurizawa, but the cross was cut off by the opponent's defender and resulted in a right corner kick. Washington hit a header from Miyazawa's kick, but the defender cleared it. In the 89th minute, there was a collision between Washington's trap and the opponent's goalkeeper during a counterattack. He received a second warning and was sent off. After that, Jean was brought up to the front line and we tried to score a goal until the end with a power play, but we couldn't break through the opponent's solid defense and the game ended. We dominated Kyoto with 20 shots compared to their 5, but most of them failed to hit the target and we couldn't score. This resulted in our fourth consecutive loss.

　【Player Comments】《Washington》"It was hotter than I expected and physically demanding, but I'm okay. I think my condition will improve from now on. I wanted to be more involved in the attack, but it was difficult without space. I wanted to take the ball further forward and go on the offensive. It would have been great if we could have aimed and made moves from a high position together, but..."《Euan SHOESMITH》"I don't think we were able to play our own soccer at all. It has always been a challenge for us to break down the defense when we are being pushed back. Even though we had many shots, I don't think we had many decisive moments. The aim was for the forwards to make quick movements and receive long passes, but we couldn't create the right situations. It ended up just being aimless crosses. We need to figure out how to make changes when we can't break through. We have to regroup properly."

　[Summary of Manager Kuramata's Press Conference] "Once again, we conceded a goal from a set piece, and although we had chances in attack, we lacked the finishing touch and couldn't score until the end. We had several opportunities from set pieces, but we couldn't convert free headers, and that affected us until the end. (Wasn't the flow of the game also disjointed?) In order to break Kyoto's defensive block, we wanted to make runs from the second line when the ball reached the top, but we couldn't do it and the game ended. (What was the intention behind substituting player Ishikawa?) It was because he couldn't utilize his usual strength of breaking through on the side. Initially, Lucas played as a lone striker, but we switched to a two-striker system by bringing in Washington."

　[Kyoto - Coach Hashitani's Press Conference Summary] "It was very good to be able to earn 3 points in this ranking. It was the first time this season that we were able to keep the opponent at zero, and the defense was very stable. We said at halftime that we absolutely wanted to keep it at zero, and we were able to achieve that result, which gave us confidence. The fact that we were able to keep a clean sheet was because we were able to faithfully adhere to the team's concept. If I were to ask for more, it would have been great if we could have scored a second goal and then aimed for a third goal when the opponent came out. When we had a chance on the counterattack, there were mistakes in the final pass and cross, which resulted in missed opportunities. There were many instances where we wasted chances in the attacking phase, and a little bit of impatience prevented us from making accurate plays. However, I think that we were able to have a reasonably stable game by everyone in the team doing what we are trying to do in both defense and attack. We want to prepare firmly so that we can earn 3 points in the next match."