Break Shizuoka's momentum and secure victory at home, Ajinomoto

　Sec. 26 of the league will be held on Sunday, facing Shimizu S-Pulse. They will be playing at home. In the previous match, they struggled against Yokohama FC's defensive play, but managed to win with goals from Fukunishi and Hirayama. This match will be held at Ajinomoto Stadium, the first time since the Sec. 21 match against Kashiwa. They aim to achieve a fourth consecutive victory with the advantage of playing at home and their strong performance.

　Shimizu, on the other hand, is in 3rd place with 47 points. They have been undefeated since the league break and are currently on a 6-game winning streak. In particular, they have won the last 4 games without conceding a goal, highlighting their defensive strength. The key in this match will be how to break down this solid defense. Tokyo wants to exploit the space behind Shimizu's full-backs, Ichikawa and Kodama, who often push forward. Tokyo also wants to attack from the sides. In the past few games, Tokunaga and Kanazawa have improved their coordination with the forward line, contributing to both attack and defense. They want to create many chances from the full-backs with effective attacking movements.

　The center of Shimizu's attack is MF Fernandinho, but it is necessary to not only control him, but also pay attention to both sides that become the starting point of the attack. We want to win the midfield battle and prevent the decisive FW Cho Je-jin from receiving passes. Win with quickness in both offense and defense, and cut off Shimizu's momentum to achieve victory!

　Tokyo approached the match with the same starting lineup as the previous round. In addition, Noriyuki Suzuki prepared his condition and made it to the bench for the first time in two games. The intense lingering summer heat until yesterday has settled down, and it is a cloudy Ajinomoto Stadium. Before kick-off, Amaral appeared on the pitch and kicked the ball with a lively appearance, encouraging the team in one scene. The match started at 14:03 with Tokyo's kick-off.

Attack from the side, take the lead from Ishikawa's cross, and Akamine adds another goal!

　Both teams started the game with an aggressive attitude. In the early stages, there was a battle for possession of the ball. In the 10th minute, Shizuoka MF Fujimoto moved up the center and received a return pass from MF Fernandinho in front of the goal, aiming for a ground shot. Tokyo attacked from the right with Ishikawa and from the left with Kanazawa, looking for opportunities from the sides. In the 14th minute, Lucas dropped a left cross and Imano, who had advanced in the center, took a shot. However, it was blocked by Shizuoka DF and Ishikawa's shot from the rebound went wide. In the 19th minute, the left side space of Tokyo was exploited, and a through pass was played to MF Fernandinho, who was trying to break through the right front line from Shizuoka right MF Hyodo. He took a shot from the right area, but Shioda made a great save and didn't allow a goal.

　In the midst of a back-and-forth battle, in the 26th minute, Fukunishi passed a through ball to Akamine, but it was offside. In the 29th minute, Shimizu suffered a counterattack, and Yajima broke through into the right area from a feed by MF Fernandinho, and took a decisive shot, but the Tokyo DF held their ground and the ball veered to the left. Just after escaping a pinch with the help of a mistake, in the 31st minute, Fukunishi connected with Inamoto, who played a vertical pass to the front line. Ishikawa, who ran along with it, skillfully broke through and sent a sharp cross in front of the goal. This cross induced an own goal by the Shimizu DF, giving Tokyo the lead! Although it was from the opponent's mistake, they successfully scored a goal with their intended side attack.

　In the 32nd minute, Kurihara persistently connected the loose ball with his head from the left side FK and passed it to Fukunishi in front. Fukunishi's pass initially went to Shimizu DF, but Fukunishi ran into the area again, chested the ball down, and passed it to Akamine with one touch. Akamine, even though falling down, took a direct left-footed shot from a difficult position and skillfully scored the second goal. In the previous match against Yokohama FC, Fukunishi scored from Akamine's pass, and they added another goal in a hot line of Fukunishi-Akamine.

　Afterwards, despite facing Shimizu's counterattacks, Tokyo calmly defended and did not allow any goals. At the end of the first half, Tokyo had 4 shots compared to Shimizu's 6 shots. Although the number of chances was not many, Tokyo made sure to capitalize on the few scoring opportunities and went into the second half with a 2-goal lead.

Suppress Shimizu's counterattack with everyone's focused defense and achieve a fourth consecutive victory!

　In the second half, Shimizu made player substitutions to become more attacking. DF Tohda replaced DF Ichikawa and remained as the right SB, while MF Edamura was brought in to replace MF Fujimoto. However, it was Tokyo who created a chance at the start. In the 51st minute, Lucas, who had stolen the ball from Shimizu in the opponent's territory, rushed towards the goal. He faced the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation and took a shot, but it narrowly missed to the right of the goal, and the third goal was not scored.

　Then Shimizu gradually dominated the midfield. Tokyo would steal the ball after Tokyo kicked it halfway, and then aggressively launch their attack. In the 64th, 65th, and 66th minutes, Tokyo was constantly threatened with corners and throw-ins, but Shioda and Fujiyama defended with their bodies. In the 66th minute, Suzuki Noriyuki replaced Kurisawa for Tokyo. In the 67th minute, Shimizu also substituted Nishizawa for forward Yajima, making their third substitution.

　After that, Shimizu, who had grasped the rhythm, was pushed in, but in the 74th minute, Inoha was substituted for Fukunishi. Despite being pushed in, they did not allow the Shimizu FW team to do decisive work with concentrated defense. In the 78th minute, Hirayama was substituted. They continued to have the intention to attack until the end, and in the 83rd minute, Suzuki Nori on the left side carried the Shimizu ball after cutting it off from Hirayama. Suzuki Nori did not forcefully aim for the goal, but made a through pass to the right front line. Lucas, who received the ball, moved to the right and made a minus pass to the center from there. Ishikawa ran in and took a shot. It was a good shot with momentum, but it was blocked by the goalkeeper's save.

　In the end, we couldn't score the third goal, but we managed to protect the two goals we scored in the first half and finished the game without conceding any goals. At Ajinomoto Stadium, we achieved our first victory since June 20th (Sec. 16 against Kofu) and secured our fourth consecutive win. It should be noted that although we had a five-game winning streak, including a victory in extra time in 2000, this is the first time we have achieved a four-game winning streak in 90 minutes in J1.

　【Player Comments】《Akamine》"In the goal scene, I could see that the opponent's goalkeeper was in front, but I was only thinking about hitting it firmly with my left foot. Fukusan has good ball control, so if I start moving, he will pass it to me at the right timing. I was paying attention to my movement. I was able to do it in practice recently. I was able to do it in the game. It was an own goal, but we were able to take the lead and create a good flow. It was good that we were able to score an additional goal quickly. It's different to end the first half with a score of 1-0 compared to 2-0. However, in the first half, we were able to create quite a few chances by being aggressive, but in the second half, Shimizu came forward. We were able to hold our ground at the back and win the game."《Ishikawa》"Today was a home game, and I didn't want to just defend. I think it was good that we had the attitude of winning the ball in a high position, quickly scoring the third goal, and deciding the game. Personally, I was thinking of competing whenever the ball came to me. If I could beat one player, I would immediately put the ball in and imagine crowding the middle. Even in the scene of the own goal, I was only thinking about putting a low and fast ball in. I think my movements to break through vertically and make plays have improved. It was good to win at Ajinomoto Stadium after a long time, and the atmosphere in the stands was also great."

　[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "Shimizu is currently on a 6-game winning streak with 4 consecutive clean sheets, but the performance doesn't seem to be that good. However, I thought they had the ability to persistently secure victories. Even if FW Cho Je-jin disappears for a long time, he has the ability to score in the end, and there were also contributions from substitute players. DF Toda, MF Edamura, and Takagi Jun came on and immediately made an impact. It wasn't a coincidence, but rather a sense of winning strength that we felt even when playing soccer that wasn't intentional. What was scary was that MF Fernandinho had not been frustrated in previous matches and was playing well. Therefore, we tried to come up with a plan to stop him in practice, but it seemed that it didn't suit us very well, and when we tried it, the balance became a little strange. In the end, we decided to play our usual soccer without fear. Imamura and Fukunishi took turns marking MF Fernandinho, and we tried to bring out our own strengths. However, the previous three players in front of Shimizu, FW Yajima has power and speed, and FW Cho Je-jin also has finishing ability. MF Fernandinho has the ability to pass two or three players. We made it clear who would mark those remaining three players. Considering Shimizu's formation, our fullbacks on both sides should have less pressure and more time to use, so we instructed to utilize that. At first, both teams put pressure on each other and it became a battle of kicks, but as time went on, Kanazawa and Tokunaga would surely find space. Also, the own goal situation, but today Ishikawa created a good opportunity on the side after a long time. If the score was 0-0, I was considering bringing in Rychely for DF Toda, but I chose Suzuki Nori for balance. At the same time, I was concerned about MF Edamura's runs, so I brought in Inoha. The reason we have few goals conceded is because we have been defending from the front. Today, everyone put their bodies on the line until the end. Next, we will face Chiba, who is also on a winning streak, so we want to prepare well."

　[Summary of Shimizu Hasegawa's press conference] "It's frustrating to concede a goal in that way when we had been able to keep a clean sheet up until now. Even on the second goal, Akamine was skillful, but there were also defenders marking him... I thought second balls would be crucial in today's game. The performance was better than the previous matches, but we couldn't recover mentally from conceding the first goal by the opponent, which ultimately affected the result. In the second half, we brought in defender Toda and midfielder Edamura, and we had more opportunities to push forward, but we couldn't score a goal. It was a painful defeat in our pursuit of the top-ranked Reds. However, we still have 8 more matches, and we want to switch our mindset and continue to believe in ourselves until the very end."