Surpassing the momentum of Chiba, aiming for a 5-game winning streak!

　Sec. 27 is an away game against JEF United Chiba. In the previous match against Shimizu, it was a tough game at the beginning, but we managed to overcome it and scored two goals to win. Although the performance was not great, the fact that we were able to secure 3 points shows the current momentum of the team. In addition, Kono mentioned, "We have been communicating and making adjustments together, even for small points that we used to overlook. This is also a factor for our victories during the matches," highlighting the impressive comeback after the 4 consecutive losses in August.

　Chiba, on the other hand, is in 11th place with 34 points. In the last 4 matches, they have scored 12 goals and conceded 2 (Tokyo has scored 12 goals and conceded 1), showing a balanced attack and defense. Their counterattacks, which quickly come from the midfield and defense after winning the ball, are threatening. As for Tokyo, they not only need to clarify their marking and passing, but also want to regain possession through aggressive pressing and aggressive defense. It is also important to avoid "strange ways of being taken (Manager Hara)" with half-hearted plays.

　And in this match, the key will be the transition between offense and defense. If Ishikawa and Kurisawa can exploit the spaces on the sides of Chiba's 3-back formation with even faster transitions than before, they should be able to create plenty of chances. Akamine, who starts moving quickly, will be the catalyst, and Fukunishi and Konno will also coordinate their movements to disrupt the opponent's defense, aiming for a fast and powerful attack.

　Shiota calmly analyzes the battle so far, saying, "Recently, everyone has been working hard and there has been a seamless coordination between offense and defense. However, we can't just aim for the same level of play. We want to aim higher and achieve results." He is also highly motivated. One step ahead of the opponent. Following the Shimizu match, they aim to achieve victory with soccer that surpasses Chiba's momentum. The match started with Chiba's kickoff at 19:02.

No way to stop Chiba's fierce attack. The first half ends with a 2-point deficit.

　Tokyo attacks from the start of the match. In the 1st minute, Ishikawa on the right side boldly cuts in and crosses. It didn't reach Lucas, but Imano, who closed in on the opponent's defender's clearance, took a middle shot. He showed an aggressive attitude, but the shot didn't hit. To the goalkeeper. In the 2nd minute, they approached Chiba's goal and won two right corner kicks. Imano in the far post dropped Ishikawa's kick, and Akamine, who jumped in from the right, aimed for the goal but was blocked by the opponent's defender. They continued to attack rhythmically and pushed Chiba back, maintaining their momentum.

　However, after that, Chiba took control. In the 4th minute, Chiba FW Niino broke through Tokyo's right side and sent a ground cross. Chiba right MF Mizuno ran freely into the area and took a powerful shot, but Shigeki blocked it with his body. However, in the 9th minute, Chiba took the lead on a counterattack. The ball that FW Maki and FW Niino competed for from MF Mizuno's feed reached FW Niino, who dribbled and shot from the left outside the area, scoring to the right of the goal.

　Contrary to expectations, Chiba kicked the ball to the front line, causing the defensive line to drop back and allowing the ball to be picked up between the midfielders and defenders. They lose in the competition and are unable to take the ball at all. Even if they seize the chance from free kicks or corner kicks, they are countered and unable to create decisive attacking opportunities. Then, in the 30th minute, the defenders are one step behind in response to Chiba's counterattack. Shaken by midfielder Mizuno's pass on the right side, they are connected to forward Sato in front of the goal. Although they initially cleared it, midfielder Kudo, who closed in on the area from the front, took a shot. It was scored in the left corner, conceding the second goal.

　Immediately after conceding a goal, Ishikawa moves up the right side, cuts inside, and takes a shot while carrying the opposing defender on his back, but it is saved by the goalkeeper. However, the flow of Chiba's game remains unchanged. A powerful shot from Chiba's midfielder Mizuno's free kick is saved by Shibata, and a shot from close range by defender Nakajima from a corner kick hits the post. It could have easily been another 1 or 2 goals conceded, but somehow they manage to finish the first half with a 2-goal deficit and look forward to the second half.

The determination to win pushes Chiba to the end, but falls just short

　At halftime, Coach Hara told me, "We are losing to Chiba in both competitiveness and physicality. We can't end the game like this for the fans who came to support us." So I went back to the pitch. And unlike the first half, we took control from the beginning. Akamine suddenly made a run to the front line and fell down in a challenge inside the box, but there was no foul. In the 46th minute, Ishikawa broke through the right side and crossed. Kurizawa closed in from the opposite side, but the trap failed and the opponent's goalkeeper caught the ball. We persistently responded to the one-on-one challenges and regained possession of the ball, launching 2 or 3 subsequent attacks.

　In the 51st minute, Rychely and Noriyuki SUZUKI were substituted for Ishikawa and Kurisawa, further accelerating the momentum. In the 54th minute, Rychely evaded the opponent's DF in the area and took a decisive shot, but it went over the upper right corner. In the 55th minute, Fukunishi from the right area was in shooting position from the restart. However, it was blocked by the DF and resulted in a right corner kick. In the 56th minute, Rychely carried the ball up on the right side and crossed it. The opponent's DF cleared it and resulted in a right corner kick. Norio SUZUKI kicked the ball again from the loose ball and crossed it. Lucas and Akamine jumped into it with their whole bodies, but narrowly missed. In the 58th minute, Rychely cut inside from the right and took a powerful shot. However, it was saved by the opponent's GK.

　However, in the 60th minute, Chiba took advantage of a momentary gap and quickly passed the ball to the front line on the counterattack. Chiba's forward, Shingai, dribbled and rushed towards the goal, but Tokunaga brought him down inside the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick and conceding the third goal. It was a painful goal to concede considering the good momentum in the attack, but Tokyo continued to attack without giving up or getting discouraged. In the 65th minute, Hiraoka was substituted for Kanazawa, forming a two-top with Akamine. Lucas moved to the left, and Noriyuki Suzuki took care of the side-back position, creating an ultra-attacking formation.

　Then in the 68th minute, Suzuki's left FK is cleared in front of the goal, but Tokunaga picks up the loose ball on the opposite side and crosses it again. Shigekiho crosses it back, and Imakano heads it into the goal. They get one point back. After that, Hirayama and Akamine break through behind the defense and dribble into the area, but they are caught by a CK. In the 74th minute, Akamine competes and quickly Imakano passes through to the front line. Fukunishi breaks through in front of the goal and shoots with his left foot, but it is blocked by the goalkeeper. However, in the 77th minute, Motonii, who stole the ball, moves up to the front line and sends a well-timed through pass. Once again, Fukunishi breaks through in front of the goal and gets fouled from behind, earning a penalty kick. Lucas confidently converts it, bringing the score to a one-point difference.

　There are still more than 10 minutes left, and the fans are getting excited. In the 82nd minute, we get a free kick in the front of the central area. Noriyuki Suzuki swings his left foot with all his might, but it is blocked by the wall. In the 86th minute, Lucas passes to Hirayama on the left. Fukunishi, who has moved up to the sideline, crosses the ball. Chiba's defender clears the ball over the line, resulting in a corner kick. Noriyuki Suzuki's left corner kick goes to Hirayama, but he fails to control it. The attack continues into injury time. First, Hirayama skillfully escapes from the defender in front of the goalpost and shoots from the front of the area. However, the ball curves to the right of the goal. Next, Hirayama drops a long feed from Imano, and Akamine traps the ball and shoots. It was a good opportunity, but the distance was slightly far and the ball curved to the left. Finally, from Tokunaga's long throw, we connect the clearance and Tokunaga crosses from the right again. Hirayama in front of the goal tries to shoot with a difficult posture using his right heel, but the goalkeeper catches it. We pushed Chiba to the limit until the very end, but fell short. It was a defeat.

　【Player Comments】《Konno》"The team was different in the first half and the second half. In the second half, we had more energy and were more motivated. I regret the first half battle. Today's game was not what we expected from Chiba. We couldn't connect passes and they were able to bypass our press and kick the ball forward. We couldn't respond and our defense was stretched out. I was paying attention to space marking, but I kept getting kicked and thought, 'This is strange...' and ended up playing the first half like that. They picked up the loose balls and when we tried to defend, they were able to connect passes and move around, making it difficult for us. In the second half, we clearly wanted to turn the game around with our pace, but...we didn't have enough strength."《Suzuki Norio》"I wanted to break through the sides with Rychely and score a goal. We were down by two points, but I believed that if I played my usual style, it would be okay. We had chances, but not being able to score there is something we need to work on. If I can score from free kicks or in the flow of the game, I should be able to become a starter. I think we are starting to play Tokyo-style soccer. It's really frustrating that we couldn't win in front of so many fans who came all the way in the rain. We lost to Yokohama FM at Ajinomoto Stadium in the Nabisco Cup, so we want to win and erase that bad image."

　[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "For the first five minutes, we were able to go forward as planned and had chances for shots. However, JEF unexpectedly kicked the ball to FW Maki earlier than we anticipated. MF Sato and FW Arata picked up the loose ball, and the rhythm changed. JEF marks closely, so I instructed the players to aim for spaces instead of connecting with short passes. However, the opponent had a good start, and Ishikawa was dispossessed while trying to keep the ball inside, resulting in many counterattacks. That's when JEF gained momentum. In fact, we conceded the second goal in that manner. JEF's quick counterattacks made it difficult for us to respond. In the second half, I instructed the players to play more simply on the same side to avoid being countered when trying to connect with short passes. However, it didn't change much, so I brought in Suzuki Nori and Rychely, who are fast players. Rychely's breakthrough and Suzuki Nori's left foot gave us control. We thought if we could score one goal... but then we conceded a penalty from a counterattack, making it tough. However, everyone worked hard from that point, and there were scenes where we thought we could catch up. I want to commend the fact that we never gave up until the end, even with this kind of situation. However, we should have done that from the beginning. I think we were overwhelmed by JEF's strengths from the middle of the first half. However, Hirayama and Rychely, who came on as substitutes, also performed well. We have seven more matches left, and we want to fight with fresh players."

　[Summary of Chiba Amaru's press conference] "It's unfortunate that September only has 280 days. The next game will be in October. Let's see what happens. (We won 5 consecutive games and became 10th place?) We want to earn 5 or 6 more points to stay in J1 next year. We must not forget where we were a month and a half ago. It's the same coach and players. (The first half was perfect, but the second half was tough?) I think it was a good game for the spectators. However, it was a tough game for me. What's disappointing is that we couldn't control the second half as well as the first half. In the interview a few days ago, I said, "The Tokyo game always has a lot of goals. It will be that kind of game." And it actually turned out that way. Of course, Tokyo, who had such momentum, changed their lineup in the second half, so I think it can't be helped. What was exposed in today's game is that JEF is not yet a mature team. If it were a mature team, even if it was 3-0, we would score more goals and win. But we can't do that. I think that's the difference between us and Gamba Osaka and Kawasaki Frontale. (Why were you able to control the opponent in the first half?) We were playing soccer for the first 60 minutes, so we were able to control the opponent. The remaining 30 minutes, we were playing rugby. That's why the momentum shifted to the opponent. It's an exaggerated way of saying it, but Tokyo can actually play games like rugby. In that kind of game, we can't respond. In that sense, Tokyo was better in the last 30 minutes. It wouldn't have been strange if we conceded a third goal."