Surpass Nagoya with momentum and win!

　J1 League Sec. 26 is an away match against Nagoya Grampus Eight. They have finally suffered 6 consecutive losses and are in a desperate situation. However, Shigetani, Jean, Ishikawa, and others have returned from injury and their physical and mental condition has been refreshed. They, along with the team, want to aim for a breakthrough from the losing streak with a new mindset.

　Nagoya, on the other hand, is currently in 11th place with 31 points. They have successfully navigated through 4 matches in September with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss, and their form is improving. In particular, since FW Yong-sun joined, their attacking line has been clicking, and in the previous match, FW Sugimoto scored a hat-trick, showcasing their high scoring ability. Manager Kuramata says, "It is important to contain the tall FW Yong-sun and the speedy FW Sugimoto as our first priority. Especially Yong-sun has great ball retention skills and also chases after the ball from the front line. We want to be thorough in taking care of him and then have Sugimoto and the players in the second row pick up the loose balls and launch attacks."

　Tokyo changed their system to a 4-2-3-1 with Hirayama as the lone striker, and Kajiyama playing as an attacking midfielder. "When playing as an attacking midfielder, I want to stay close to the forward and play without pulling back as much as possible. Hirayama can also connect with his teammates on the ground, so I will try to make penetrating passes. When there is a loose ball, I will pick up the second ball after the challenge and press from the front in defense," Kajiyama also expressed his determination. Furthermore, Toda and Ishikawa on the sides will not be outrun by Nagoya's attacks, and they want to surpass them with momentum without being passive in the duels.

　In the previous match, we took the lead but conceded 4 goals and allowed a comeback. Considering the previous Kashima match where we also conceded 3 goals and had defensive concerns, the return of Shigetoshi Moino is significant. Konno also said, "With Moino joining, my role becomes clearer. Nagoya is also good at counterattacks, so I want the defense line to delay and I want to quickly return." The match started at 2:04pm with Nagoya's kickoff at Nagoya Mizuho Athletics Stadium, where there is strong wind despite the clear weather.

Take the lead with Hirayama's first goal, leading by one point at the end of the first half

　Choose the windward side in the coin toss before the match and start with an offensive. In the 6th minute, Kajiyama -> Hirayama receives a wedge and goes to the left side. Fujiyama gives an early cross directly, but the opponent's GK catches it. In the 9th minute, Doi's kick falls directly in front of the opponent's goal, and Toda runs in and takes a volley shot, but it floats. Up to this point, Nagoya has only been throwing long balls, and the attack has been monotonous, but after 15 minutes, they start attacking from FW Yonsen as a starting point. In the 16th minute, FW Sugimoto shoots from the right area after a persistent post by FW Yonsen, but Shigeki cuts it off. Connecting the loose ball, this time MF Fujita shoots, but Miura cuts it off. In the 17th minute, FW Sugimoto cuts in from the right and Fujiyama cuts it off once, but Fujita runs in freely on the loose ball and takes a decisive shot, but it goes over the bar.

　Tokyo struggled to create attacking opportunities even after winning the ball, and couldn't find their rhythm. However, in the 22nd minute, Hirayama scored his first J-League goal to take the lead. Miura kept the ball in the midfield and passed it to Ishikawa on the right side. Tokunaga made a run from behind and crossed the ball along the ground, which Kajiyama shot freely. Although the opponent's goalkeeper made a save, Hirayama reacted to the rebound and calmly slotted it into the goal.

　Then the team starts to gain momentum. In the 24th minute, Kajiyama aims for a direct left free kick and wins a left corner kick. From that corner kick, Hirayama competes and Tokunaga crosses the ball that flowed to the opposite side. Kajiyama volleys the ball directly over the goal. In the 28th minute, Ishikawa -> Miura takes a long-range shot. The ball hits Kajiyama and Ishikawa tries to score a direct goal from the rebound, but it goes way off target. As time passes, Nagoya mostly dominates the ball and the game progresses in Tokyo's territory. However, with Shigenobu and Jean at the center, the defense organizes itself compactly and prevents any dangerous situations with focused defending.

　On the contrary, in the 42nd minute, Kajiyama chased after Nagoya's ball in the opponent's territory, induced a mistake, and Toda stole it. He boldly aimed for the goal from the left, but it narrowly went over the bar. In the 44th minute, Ishikawa ran up the right side from Kajiyama's through pass and crossed the ball. Toda ran into the center at the perfect timing, but his shot missed the target. The game ended the first half with Nagoya leading by one point.

Ishikawa's winning goal breaks losing streak

　After the start of the second half, Nagoya tried to regain momentum and launched attacks, but Tokyo's concentrated defense prevented any goals. In the 46th minute, midfielder Nakamura took a shot from a counter attack, but Doi made the catch. In the 49th minute, forward Yonson jumped into a right cross from defender Omori, but Jean firmly positioned himself and the header went straight to Doi. On the contrary, Tokyo launched a quick counter attack from here, with Fujiyama sending a through pass to Hirayama, who then passed it directly to Toda on the left side. Toda broke through the defense and took a shot, but it was saved by the goalkeeper. However, although the game flow was not bad, they allowed an equalizing goal by being caught off guard for a moment.

　57 minutes, FW Yon-sen easily allowed the cut-in from the right area to the center and was forcefully shot. The ball flew to FW Sugimoto in the middle of the goal and was kicked into the goal. Although it was a setback, Tokyo switched their mindset and started attacking. In the 58th minute, Ishikawa crossed from the right side and Imakano kept the ball and entered the right area. He carefully passed to the center but it was intercepted. In the 62nd minute, the ball entered behind the opponent's DF and Nagoya GK Narazaki jumped out, but Toda picked it up well and shot at the unmanned goal while losing balance. It was a decisive chance, but it hit the top of the bar.

　Nagoya's MF Honda's powerful left-footed shot, as well as FW Sugimoto's sharp movements utilizing his speed, threatened Tokyo's goal multiple times, but Doi prevented any goals with his determined save. Both teams continued to engage in a back-and-forth battle, but it was Tokyo who scored an additional point. In the 79th minute, from a quick restart, Imakano -> Tokunaga dribbled up the right side and passed to Hirayama in the center. Despite being surrounded by opposing defenders, he forcefully dribbled into the penalty area but was cut off midway. However, the ball hit Imakano's foot as he went to pick up the loose ball, and it deflected to the right where Ishikawa shot with his left foot, and the ball pierced into the net.

　After that, Nagoya launched a counterattack with all players pushing forward. Tokyo also made substitutions, replacing Toda and Hirayama with Abe and Akamine. They thoroughly defended from the front line, preventing the opponent's attacks from gaining momentum. However, in the 85th minute, FW Sugimoto and in the 89th minute, FW Yonson both took shots, but both were off target. In the end, the match ended like this, finally escaping from a losing streak. Furthermore, the most significant factor in the victory was the resilient defense led by the returning Shigeki, which limited the opponents to only one goal, and this result will lead to future success.

　【Player Comments】《Shige》"I had some concerns with my foot, but my voice didn't tire. It may have been an energy-saving play, but we were able to show our perseverance as a team. In the first half, there were moments where we were continuously shot at in the area, but everyone put their bodies on the line and blocked them. I think we showed our Tokyo style. Personally, I'm still playing while deceiving myself, allowing fast opponents to run and skilled players to hold the ball. I was thinking that if we could stop them in the end, it would be good. We conceded one goal, but I think we did our best. I'm also happy that we won in my comeback match and that Hirayama scored. While I couldn't play, I felt like we lacked perseverance... but we are a team with momentum. I think this victory will be a good start for our comeback in the future."《Ishikawa》"It's good that I scored a goal, but my play was not good at all. I should be able to move more and not lose in running. However, if I look back at a year ago, I couldn't even imagine standing on the pitch due to injury. So considering that, I feel very happy. I want to switch gears and do my best to contribute to the team."《Hirayama》"I'm very happy that the team won. The goal came from creating a numerical advantage in the area. Kajiyama's shot came out well. We were dominated by Nagoya at the beginning, but I think we got better as time went on. We were kept in check by Nagoya, but we also held the ball, so I don't think they were able to control the pace. However, our defense did a good job. But we are still in the lower ranks, so it's important from here on out. We want to practice and find our rhythm from the start. I was also happy to hear the support from the fans. Even though we lost at home in the previous match, I'm grateful that they came all the way to the away game."

　[Summary of Manager Kuramata's Press Conference] "For today's match, we focused on how to prevent Nagoya's FW Yonson from scoring. It's good that the results turned out well. (Regarding Hirayama's play?) After regaining possession, we were conscious of putting the ball into the wedge for him, so I think we were able to do that to some extent. However, I would like him to increase his movement a little more and be able to make more movements to get into space."

　[Nagoya - Coach Vergoossen's press conference summary] "Today's game, the first 20 minutes were a good game with a high tempo. The wind was strong, so it wasn't an easy game, but we still created several chances. However, after the 20th minute, we conceded a goal and the game was completely over. The remaining 70 minutes were a game of taking one step forward and one step back. The game lacked tempo. I think one of the reasons was the excellent organization of FC Tokyo, but there were also parts where we made the game difficult due to our own mistakes. It was a repetition of playing well but the next play not being good. There were also several technical and tactical mistakes, and in that state, we couldn't create a good tempo in the game. FC Tokyo played a lot of long balls, and they also won most of the second balls. I think we lacked concentration and aggressiveness. We didn't create any chances in the second half. It was difficult to put pressure on from the front due to the strong wind. It wasn't a game where one person made a mistake, but 8 or 9 players made mistakes. The players played below their usual level. Having worked in soccer for 28 years, I know that we can't win with just 20 minutes of good soccer, so it was a disappointing game."