Tama River Clasico, Suppressing Kawasaki's Momentum and Seeking Revenge from Last Season!

　Sec. 7 will face Kawasaki Frontale, and Sec. 13 will welcome the 3rd Round Tama River Clasico at home. In the Nabisco Cup match against Iwata, we were able to show our own soccer but ended up with a draw at the end. In this section, we will stick to our desired soccer and aim for victory in a tenacious battle. However, Hayu will leave the team due to injury. With an increasing number of injured players and considering the consecutive matches, we will face the match by replacing the members from the Iwata match. Sasaki and Fujiyama will be the center backs, Asari will be placed in the central midfield, and Akamine will also start. Kurizawa will take charge of the midfield.

　Kawasaki, on the other hand, is currently in 10th place in the league with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses. They have not been able to get into a good rhythm since the start of the season, as coach Takashi Sekizuka has been absent due to poor health. However, under the guidance of coach Tsutomu Takahata, they finally seemed to have found their groove in the last match against Kashiwa in the Nabisco Cup, with forward JUNINHO scoring a hat-trick. The combination of JUNINHO and Zheng has both speed and power, so it is important to prevent these two from gaining momentum. It is also crucial to restrict the playmaking abilities of midfielder Nakamura, who provides passes, as well as MF Yamagishi and Mori, who are key players on the wings.

　Kawasaki match, which has been a fierce battle since the time of JFL affiliation. Coach Hiroshi JOFUKU also strongly declared, "Every game is worth 3 points, but I am fully aware of the feelings of the fans and players. I want to express those feelings on the pitch and make it an intense battle." By controlling the midfield battle and suppressing Kawasaki's powerful attacking lineup and momentum, we aim to achieve revenge for last season's defeat and secure victory!

　The rain from yesterday has stopped, but it is still cloudy and windy at Ajinomoto Stadium. The match started with Kawasaki's kickoff at 16:04.

An intense development of scoring points, Cabore, and Akamine's goal to start over

　A speedy and intense attack and defense unfolded from the start. In the 4th minute, Cabore from the right side brought the ball into the area from Redmine's post and took a shot, but it curved to the left. In the 7th minute, Nakamura from Kawasaki drifted to the right and made a big side change to the left front line. It reached Yamagishi, who had moved up to the goal area, perfectly, and he got into a shooting position. However, Fujiyama quickly covered and escaped with a corner kick. In the 9th minute, Nagatomo ran up the left side, challenged the Kawasaki DF, and crossed persistently. Redmine at the far post returned the ball, but Cabore in the center failed to connect. In the 12th minute, Kajiyama crossed from the right and Cabore tried to head it, but it didn't hit.

　The exchange of offense and defense was fast, and both teams tried to attack, but still, they held each other in defense and there were not many shooting opportunities. However, in the 19th minute, Sasaki stopped the opponent with a foul inside the Tokyo team's territory and received a warning. With this, Kawasaki was given a free kick, and midfielder Nakamura's kick was dropped by forward Zheng inside the area, and immediately behind him, forward Juninho floated a pass again. Forward Zheng reacted immediately and turned around to shoot. He scored a sharp goal and allowed the opponent to take the lead by taking advantage of the gap in the set play.

　Still, without rushing, Kajiyama and Nagatomo as starting points, the two top players also received the ball well and counterattacked. In the 25th minute, Nagatomo broke through and won a free kick on the left front line. From this free kick, Kurisawa kicked a low ball and Cabore pushed it into the goal as it bounced in front of the goal! They equalized. However, immediately after in the 26th minute, Tokyo gave Kawasaki another free kick in the center of their own territory, and FW Juninho and Tokyo DF competed for MF Nakamura's kick to the front line, and FW Zheng in the right area returned it to the goal with a ground pass. Tokyo couldn't clear this and MF Taniguchi scored from the loose ball... Once again, they lost the lead from a set piece.

　However, Tokyo maintained their rhythm and launched attacks by utilizing the speed of their front line. In the 36th minute, Kurisawa broke free on the left side thanks to Kajiyama's feed, and passed to Cabore in front of the goal, who then connected with Akamine behind him. However, they were quickly closed down by the Kawasaki defenders. In the 42nd minute, Sato stole the ball and Kajiyama, Cabore, Akamine, and Kajiyama again linked up. Although the ball was initially loose, Imakuno regained possession and passed it to the right. Tokunaga's cross drifted to the far side and went out of bounds, but they managed to maintain their attacking shape by connecting passes directly.

　And in the 43rd minute, Kajiyama from their own half sends a long ball to the left side. Nagatomo catches up with it and crosses from the sideline. The ball goes over Cabore in front of the goal, but Akamine immediately turns to the right and skillfully moves past the Kawasaki DF to take a shot! He scores to the left of the goal, bringing the game back to a tie and ending the first half.

Otake's first goal puts us ahead, and we achieve a come-from-behind victory with our own style of soccer!

　The second half also started with a speedy exchange of attacks. In the 50th minute, Kawasaki MF Ohashi made a through pass to FW Juninho, who broke through to the front line, but Fujiyama persistently closed in and prevented the shot. In the 53rd minute, Kawasaki quickly switched to a counterattack from their own half. MF Nakamura sent a through pass to FW Zheng on the left front line, but Sasaki ran to catch up and escaped with a throw-in. Tokyo gradually took control of the game with tough defense. They calmly passed the ball and looked for opportunities, and in the 58th minute, Nagatomo, who had moved up from the left, took a shot after a combination play between Asari and Konno. However, the shot curved to the right.

　Kawasaki also launched a quick attack, and in the 62nd minute, FW Zheng was intercepted by Fujiyama and cut inside to take a shot, but Shioda made a save. In the 63rd minute, Ohata was substituted for Kurizawa. And then, just after that, Kawasaki took the goal kick and connected it to Cabore, who drifted to the left and crossed. The ball was cleared by the Kawasaki DF once, but Kajiyama followed up on the ball that spilled in front of the area. Ohata snatched the loose ball again from the melee and advanced to the right area. He aimed for a shot with a looping touch kick that passed through the gap between the defenders and was sucked into the goal. Ohata, who had just entered the field, marked a splendid first goal and succeeded in taking the lead!

　Tokyo, which has completely grasped the rhythm, creates a decisive goal from a flowing pass play in the 70th minute. In the opponent's territory, Kajiyama and Cabore persistently connect, and then Imano passes to Cabore and runs forward. Cabore passes to Akamine on the left side, and this time to Otake in the center. Otake without hesitation, sends a through pass to Imano running up on the right side. Imano neatly pierces it into the left corner with a ground shot! Tokyo this season scored the 4th goal in a form that embodies the "Moving Football" they aim for.

　After that, Kawasaki also gathered the ball to the forward FW Zheng and JUNINHO in the front line, and the intense attack and defense continued. In the 76th minute, from Kawasaki's right corner kick, the header aimed at FW Zheng -> FW JUNINHO was saved by Shioda with one hand in the upper left corner. In the 86th minute, FW JUNINHO went up the left side and a sharp shot was taken by FW Kurotsu who ran into the middle, but it was also saved by Shioda and resulted in a corner kick. Shioda concentrated on defense, especially in the DF line, and held on until the end of the game. In the second half, they achieved an exciting comeback with their planned soccer and won the Tama River Clasico, marking their third consecutive victory in the league.

　【Player Comments】《Otake》"I received the ball and became the starting point, and was instructed to play tough defense when I entered the pitch. I was subbed in when the score was tied, but I thrive in those situations. I went into the game with the intention of scoring. The goal was exactly as I planned, but I didn't expect it to go in so I was surprised. When I had the ball, I was surrounded by the opposing defenders, so I thought the only option was to shoot high. I'm good at looping shots. (What about the through pass that led to the 4th goal?) I saw Imakano going up, so I just passed it to him. But it wasn't just about scoring, I think we were able to play the kind of soccer we wanted to as a team. Everyone was moving and it felt like we were practicing. With each game, we are able to play the soccer we want to play and we want to continue playing well and winning. We want to work hard to make it 4 wins in a row."《Kajiyama》"We lost badly last season, so today we talked about not falling apart even if we were scored on first and playing our usual soccer. We wanted to play a game with a lot of emotion with the home fans. Kawasaki has players who can give good passes if they are given space, so we focused on being strong in the ball. We conceded a goal in the first half, but I think we were able to continue with our team's plan and connect to a good attack in the second half. We want to extend the amount of time we can play soccer like we did in the second half. It was a good game in terms of revenge, but we want to improve on the good parts and fix the things we need to work on for the next game."

　[Summary of Manager Shirofuku's Press Conference] "Kawasaki's strong attack starts from building up in the midfield, so our approach was to prevent their attacking players from freely moving around by not allowing them to create opportunities in the midfield. In the first half, there were 1-2 through passes from MF Nakamura to FW Juninho, but other than that, it was mostly set plays and restarts. I think we didn't let them do much else. However, it was really frustrating to concede 2 goals from those restarts. I believe the opening goal was also Kawasaki's first shot. Although we didn't feel like we were being attacked, we conceded goals in that situation. But we didn't let ourselves get discouraged, maintained our pace, defended patiently, and when we won the ball, we moved it forward by connecting passes... I think that's what led to the 4 goals. At halftime, I told the players not to get impatient and disrupt our balance, and that we wouldn't change our approach. We made some minor adjustments to the defense, such as the positioning of Akamine and Cabore, and raising the defensive line a bit, but overall, I told them to continue as we were. I said that if we did that, we would definitely have scoring opportunities. The fourth goal was a play that we have been practicing throughout the season. It was really good that we were able to finally materialize our intention to score and break through in that way. I think it was a shot that the players could have confidence in. I believe it was a goal that we were able to score as a team. (Regarding the three consecutive wins) The league has just started, and we are still not at our full potential in terms of what we really want to do and the kind of attack we want to have. Today's win was certainly important, but it also gave the players confidence in what they have been building. It has meaning beyond just the three consecutive wins. Winning is great, but the joy is even greater when we see that our efforts are leading to results. In the future, we will continue to strive to create more scenes like the fourth goal today."

　[Summary of Kawasaki Takahata Coach's Press Conference] "In the first half, we were able to score a goal early on, but we were caught up and the game turned into a back-and-forth battle. We wanted to correct the unfavorable flow in the second half and turn things around, but unfortunately, we ended up conceding two goals in the second half. It was a disappointing result to be overwhelmed by FC Tokyo's momentum. However, I would like to express my gratitude to the players who gave their all until the end and the supporters who supported them. (There was an impression that the defense was struggling. Did you have a hard time dealing with Nagatomo?) In the one-on-one situations, I felt that we were losing a bit, so at halftime, we emphasized the importance of not losing in one-on-one situations and being strong in those areas. In response to Nagatomo, we positioned FW Zheng slightly to the right and had MF Mori as a backup behind him. I don't have the impression that we were being reactive in that situation."