Never lose, surely achieve the first victory at home!

　Sec. 5 will be a match against Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. Despite suffering their first loss of the season to Yokohama FM in the previous match, they want to switch their mindset without lingering on the defeat. They aim for their first home victory of the season. Although it is the last match of a three-game stretch, the immediate priority is to rebuild the defense, which has conceded 6 goals in the last two matches. However, Shigetaka Mogi injured his right shoulder in the Yokohama FM match and will be absent from the team, with Bruno QUADROS starting in this match. He will partner with Sato, who made his first appearance in the previous match, in central defense. At the same time, Kanazawa will be on the left side back, and Asari will be in the midfield, aiming for defensive stability in a 4-3-2-1 formation. Akamine, who missed the previous match, will also make a comeback and be on the bench.

　Sapporo, who will compete in J1 from this season, has a strong defense and fast counterattacks. They have conceded a total of 9 goals in the league, the same as Tokyo, but in Sec. 3, they successfully executed a counterattack from a solid defense and won against Kashiwa. In this match, GK Takagi is suspended. FW Davi is absent, so Crichton has been deployed as FW. First of all, they want to contain FW Crichton, who has both attacking and scoring abilities, and prevent their strong counterattacks.

　To do that, it is most frightening to lose the ball halfway and be countered. However, Coach Jofuku has no doubts, saying, "I don't want to be afraid of Sapporo's press and just kick the ball without connecting. In order to prevent Sapporo from showing their strengths, we will evade the opponent's pressure and fully demonstrate our own strengths." We aim to break through Sapporo's solid defense and achieve victory.

　The match started at 14:04 with Sapporo's kickoff at a sunny and warm Ajinomoto Stadium.

Quickly switching from defense to offense, Cabore takes the lead!

　1 minute into the game, Sapporo took a heading shot from a right-side free kick by DF Sota. In the 2nd minute, they were pushed into the goal area and conceded a short clear, resulting in a shot from the middle. Sapporo had consecutive shots in the early stages of the game. However, all of them missed the target, and Tokyo began to find their rhythm. With a compact formation, they quickly switched from defense to attack, and in the 11th minute, they launched a dynamic counterattack with Otake, Hanyu, and Kabore pushing forward. From Otake's dribble, Hanyu took a shot and won a corner kick. Bruno QUADROS headed the ball from Otake's left corner kick.

　This could not be captured, but in the following 12 minutes, Tokunaga throws from his own territory. Hayashi in the opponent's territory connects to Asari, who has risen in the center. Asari passes a floating pass to the front line. Cabore, who broke through, skillfully shakes off the opponent's DF who was marking him and shoots freely in front of the goal! The bouncing ball hits the goal and takes the lead. After that, they immediately turn the tables by snatching the ball from Sapporo, who is trying to attack, and create chances with Cabore and Otake as the starting points.

　20 minutes, Sapporo.CK, FW Clayton's kick is loose and DF Sota is momentarily left free, but Asari blocks. In the 24th minute, Sapporo is taken once, but they regain possession in the midfield and counterattack. Otake, who received a pass just outside the area, skillfully cuts back against the opponent's DF and shoots. However, it is blocked by the GK. In the 28th minute, they launch a quick attack from the midfield, Cabore -> Kajiyama passes to the right. Tokunaga sends a cross from a deep position, but it narrowly misses Cabore's run and goes to the far side.

　In the 34th minute, Cabore became a wedge and Inamono in the area persistently connected, and Cabore shot again from the left area. However, the goalkeeper saved it. In the 39th minute, Tokunaga connected from a free kick. He picked up the loose ball, passed it, and passed it to Otake in the area. Otake dribbled and sent a cross in front of the goal from a close distance, but it was blocked by the opponent's desperate clearance. They avoided Sapporo's press and created a chance, but they couldn't score an additional goal and ended the first half.

Successfully defend 1 point and secure the first victory of the season at home

　In the second half, we maintained our rhythm from the beginning. In the 46th minute, Imakano moved up to the left front line and crossed the ball. It hit Kabore's head near the goal, but he couldn't finish it. Then, from Kajiyama's through pass, we got a right corner kick. Sato tried to score from Otake's kick, but the goalkeeper saved it. In the 47th minute, Hayu's shot from inside the box missed the target. In the 53rd minute, Imakano, who had advanced to the left side of the penalty area, was fouled and we got a free kick. Tokunaga aimed for it, but the kick was blocked by the defense wall.

　As time passed without being able to score the second goal, in the 61st minute, Sapporo FW Clayton crossed from the right, and MF Nishi made a sharp header in the center, but it was saved by Shibata, and it escaped to a corner kick. After surviving the pinch, in the 62nd minute, Cabore dropped Bruno Quadros' long free kick, and Ohata entered the left area. The shot he took was blocked by the post at the top left corner... Then, in the 65th minute, Sapporo replaced DF Sota with FW Ishii, moved FW Clayton to the midfield, and changed to a 3-back formation. Tokyo, whose physical strength had decreased, also replaced Cabore with Akamine in the 67th minute. However, immediately after that, from Sapporo's free kick, MF Sunagawa's right cross was headed by MF Zheng in the center, creating another dangerous situation.

　In the 71st minute, Nagatani was replaced by Nagatomo in an attempt to change the flow, but they were unable to calm down and connect, allowing Sapporo to counterattack. They were pushed back to the front line one after another and had to defend. In the 81st minute, Kanazawa escaped from Sapporo's throw-in and turned it into a corner kick. From the corner kick, DF Shibata's header was blocked. In the 89th minute, Sapporo pressed Tokyo's goal with multiple players, and DF Nishijima took a shot. However, Tokyo blocked it with their bodies. Shioda, Bruno Quadros, who made his first start of the season, and Sahara defended in the final line and held on until the end of the game. They secured a clean sheet and achieved their first victory at home this season. It was their first victory at Ajinomoto Stadium in half a year since the Yokohama FM match on October 6th last season in the league.

　【Player Comments】《Cabore》"I received a good pass from Asari. The situation was evenly matched with the opponent, but I used my body to shake off the defender. Technique is important, but power is also crucial. I was able to break away with power and bring it to a shot, which was good. Of course, I wanted to score a second goal if possible, but the most important thing is that we won. This goal was also scored by the team."《Bruno QUADROS》"I'm happy that I was able to have a good game and produce results. I started the season late due to injury, but God gave me a chance. Last match, we conceded 3 goals and it was a tough situation, but I realized that we can do it if we work hard. Today, we connected the ball and the defense kept the opponent from scoring. I believed that the result is the most important, so I'm glad we won. I could hear the voices calling my name and the names of all the other players from the stands, and it made me happy. In the next match, we will face a rival team in the same city. It's an important game, so if I have the opportunity to play, I will do my best to win."

　[Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "We haven't won at Ajinomoto Stadium for about six months, so today we really wanted to give the supporters three points. We approached the match with a strong determination to win. Last match we lost, so this season's goal is to avoid consecutive losses, and I think we were able to maintain our focus for the full 90 minutes. However, there were moments when we could have passed the ball more and calmly established our rhythm, but instead we ended up kicking long balls and returning the ball to the goalkeeper instead of kicking it forward, which resulted in giving the ball away to Sapporo. So there are still areas to improve. However, I want to acknowledge that we were able to keep the opponent from scoring and that our concentration didn't waver for the full 90 minutes. (What changes did you make from the previous match?) Conceding goals is not just a problem with the defense, but a team problem. We saw that our ball retention was poor and emphasized that point strongly. Another thing is to clearly assign individual responsibilities and make players aware of who lost their mark or who didn't go for the ball and therefore received a pass. (Why were Asari and Nagatomo not included in the starting lineup?) Asari is a player who is good at maintaining balance, so the intention was for him to participate in the midfield while maintaining balance and also contributing to the build-up play. Nagatomo, considering his condition with playing four matches in two days including the Olympic team, was left out of the starting lineup. He is a player who can adapt to various situations, so today we expected him to chase after the ball up front and pick up loose balls that Cabore and Akamine competed for."

　[Summary of Sapporo Miura's press conference] "Until about 15 minutes into the first half, the start was not bad, including set plays. However, it was bad after that. The ball couldn't be controlled in the attack, and we easily gave the ball to the opponent, unable to establish our own pace. As a result, we conceded a goal, including individual skills. As for the second half, we were conscious of connecting passes, and there were more chances with crosses from the sides. We had chances to equalize, but I think the badness of the first half affected the game until the end. It was a problem of individual skills and tactics, where Tokyo players would kick the ball if they were under pressure and dribble if it didn't come naturally. On the other hand, even if there was or wasn't pressure, we would kick the ball vertically without thinking and get dribbled past when surrounded. The only player who could play at the same level as Tokyo was Clayton, I think."