Win at Ajinomoto Stadium at all costs!

　Sec. 24 will be a match against Omiya Ardija, played at home. There has been a break of more than 2 weeks since the previous match, but we aim for a consecutive victory following the Kashiwa match. Especially in the league, we have not won at home Ajinomoto Stadium since the Oita match on April 29th, so we must obtain 3 points by any means necessary. We have now completed 2/3 of the league, and from here on, it will be an important match in terms of keeping up with the top teams in the final stage.

　During the break, the World Cup qualifiers for the Japan national team were held. Nagatomo and Imano participated and both prepared their condition, and today they are starting. On the other hand, Sasaki is suspended due to accumulated warnings, so Imano is in the center back position, Asari is in the defensive midfield, Nagatomo is on the right side back, and Tokunaga, who has recovered from injury, is on the left side. In addition, Suzuki Tatsuya, who joined during the break, also made his first appearance in the squad.

　Omiya, who is currently 9th with a 1-point difference from Tokyo. In July, they suffered 4 consecutive losses, but in the last 5 matches, they have shown strength in winning games solidly through strong defense and set plays, with 3 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. In the first half of the season, they won convincingly by taking 3 goals with skillful counterattacks while allowing Omiya to dominate. However, Omiya's defensive strength is high and can be considered a "tough opponent". How to break down their solid defense will be a major point. Additionally, Omiya's midfielder Fujimoto is suspended, but the goal-scoring forward Dennis Marques has served his accumulated warnings and will return to the starting lineup. He has been playing in a formation with tall forward Lafrič, forming a two-top system. It is expected to be a challenging battle, including set plays, but the key to victory will be not giving them space with a compact formation. Ideally, we want to take the lead and disrupt Omiya's solid game plan to gain an advantage in the match.

　Furthermore, Tokyo has currently marked a total of 399 goals (with 398 goals conceded) in the J1 League. This record started with TUTO player's goal in the opening match of the 2000 season, and they are just 1 goal away from achieving 400 goals. The match, which attracts attention even to this memorable goal, started at exactly 18:00 with Tokyo's kickoff in the humid Ajinomoto Stadium, amidst the annual Brazil Festival.

Allowing a lead from Omiya's favorite formation...

　Tokyo pushed forward at the start. However, in the 13th minute, Omiya's left throw-in was returned by left back Hatodo to MF Saeki, and DF Hatodo broke through the line by avoiding Nagatomo. From there, a cross was lifted and FW Barbaric, who was left free in the far area, headed the ball in forcefully. Despite being cautious, Omiya allowed Tokyo to bring the game into their favored style and conceded the first goal.

　However, without panicking, they launched a counterattack with quick attacks to make use of Cabore. In the 21st minute, Cabore cut inside from the left side to the area and boldly aimed for a goal from an angleless position, winning a corner kick. The left corner kick taken by Tokunaga was initially cleared, but Asari connected the loose ball inside the area and passed it to Imano, but the shot was not cleanly hit. In the 24th minute, they gave Omiya a chance for a free kick, and a shot was taken by the left area defender Tomita from the loose ball dropped in the front line. It was a dangerous scene, but it missed to the right and avoided a crisis.

　28 minutes, Kajiyama connects on the left side and Tokunaga crosses. The ball passes perfectly to Cabore just before the goal area, and he heads it! It was a decisive shot, but it was saved by the one-handed fine save of the Omiya GK and turned into a corner kick. In the 34th minute, the whole team quickly advances, Hayashi -> Emerson floats a pass into the area. Cabore runs smoothly into the area and takes a decisive shot, but it hits the crossbar...

　Unable to score a chance, the attack and defense continued to go back and forth, but in the 36th minute, FW Dennis Marques' shot from the right area after a quick attack by Omiya was saved by Shioda and resulted in a corner kick. From this corner kick, MF Kobayashi on the right and DF Tomita on the left were wide open, but somehow Nakano in the center managed to avoid the corner kick and prevent an additional goal. They went into the second half trailing by one point.

Shingo Akamine scored 2 goals and Daichi Otake scored a free kick to secure 3 goals in the second half, leading to a come-from-behind victory!

　In the second half, Ishikawa was substituted for Emerson. Ishikawa, who utilized his energy and speed well, became a good starting point and grasped the rhythm. In the 50th minute, Ishikawa broke through the right side and delivered a cross with shooting potential. The opponent's GK made a save, and from the rebound, Akamine and Kajiyama took consecutive decisive shots from close range, but all of them were blocked by the GK's excellent play... In the 54th minute, Otake was substituted for Hayu, who had injured his foot. In the 59th minute, from Otake's dribble, he connected with Akamine, who ran to the left area, and played a floating last pass to the center. Ishikawa jumped in from the right, but was caught by the GK a step ahead.

　In the 64th minute, Imakawa, who was left attacking from a set play from Ishikawa's cross, headed the ball and Kabore chased after it, earning a corner kick. Ishikawa took the corner kick from the right, and Akamine scored with a header! They equalized the score and also achieved Tokyo's 400th goal in J1. In the 70th minute, Ishikawa, who pressed the opponent's defender, received a foul while trying to switch to an attack and earned a free kick. Kajiyama's kick was initially blocked by the wall of defenders, but they got another free kick due to a handball violation. In the 72nd minute, Otake, who came on as a substitute, aimed directly from just outside the penalty arc on the left, and the ball curved into the right net! They successfully turned the game around with a brilliant free kick!

　In the 74th minute immediately after, Suzuki Tatsuya, who made his first appearance after transferring, replaced Kabore. In the 80th minute, Suzuki Tatsuya broke through the left side using his speed. He sent a strong and fast cross, and Ishikawa jumped in the center. Akamine closed in with a sliding tackle on the far side, creating a decisive opportunity, but Akamine couldn't finish and the ball went well wide of the goal. In the 75th minute, Omiya also made a substitution, replacing MF Kanazawa with FW Sakurai, and aimed to counterattack by increasing the number of players in the front line. However, in the 83rd minute, the shot from MF Kataoka, who ran into the left area from Omiya's right SB Murayama's early cross, was saved by Shioda! In the 86th minute, Omiya's left MF Kobayashi quickly turned around and shot at the goal in front of FW Rafferty, but it went over the bar.

　There were moments when Omiya's FW Rafuricchi was targeted and attacked, but we persevered and turned the tables, launching speedy attacks from both sides. In the 89th minute, we quickly counterattacked from a goal kick, with Ishikawa catching up to Nagatomo's pass to the front line and making a final pass to the center. Akamine pushed it in, scoring the third goal! With Akamine's two goals and Otake's free kick, we secured three goals in the second half and defeated Omiya, leaving them behind and achieving a consecutive victory. We also earned 3 points at Ajinomoto Stadium for the first time since the 9th round against Oita in the league.

　【Player Comments】《Akamine》"The first goal came from a good ball from Ishikawa. I was able to time it well and score. For the third goal, Ishikawa made a good run and I just had to push it into the goal. Although we allowed the lead in the first half, we talked about not getting flustered and staying focused. At halftime, we confirmed that we would continue to press from the front and play our own style of soccer. Today, we scored two goals from set plays, which were the result of our hard work. It gives us confidence. We haven't been able to win at home, so we are genuinely happy with the victory and want to continue winning at home and accumulating points to move up in the standings. I want to work hard to make the most of our chances and score more goals."《Ishikawa》"We started the game well, but after conceding the first goal, we showed some passivity. What I can do is take actions like making bold runs. In that sense, I think I was able to give the team rhythm in a good way. When the flow is bad or even when the team is in a good state but the rhythm doesn't come together, I think the flow can change with one play where you put your body on the line and give it your all. I was conscious of that. As a result, it led to goals and chances, so it was a learning experience for me."

　[Summary of Manager Shirofuku's Press Conference] "I apologize for not being able to win at Ajista and for constantly making the fans feel frustrated, but today we were able to make up for that. The players were able to stick to their roles and their style of play under pressure, and it was good that we were able to win because of that. In the early stages, we calmly moved the ball and created chances while making our own time, but our response to Omiya's crosses was not good. Nagatomo was responding, and the players inside were careless, thinking that the crosses would not come up. We conceded a goal from a good cross and panicked a little. Cabore's positioning and Emerson, among others, were also a little impatient in the process of playing the soccer we aimed for. I think the last 15-20 minutes of the first half were not as good as the beginning of the game. However, towards the second half, we didn't lose sight of what we wanted to do and tried to connect instead of just kicking. We confirmed that if we continue to believe in that and send it to the pitch, we will eventually score. It was very good that we were able to turn the game around as a result. (Were you being held back on the sides?) Today, because Cabore was playing quite wide, Omiya set up wider than expected. Omiya plays zone defense, so they lean towards the ball side and the opposite side becomes open. We thought that if we kept the ball well, the fullbacks could overtake... but they focused on preventing that. However, if the sides are held back, we tried to connect using the spaces in the middle. We talked to the players about identifying where the spaces are and entering the game, and they did a good job of identifying them and connecting in the middle. However, there is still room for reflection on whether we could have connected more and carried the ball to the attacking third in 1-2 touches. Nevertheless, we saw efforts from the defenders to actively receive the ball from the goalkeeper even when it was tough, and to minimize loose balls."

　[Summary of Omiya Higuchi's press conference] "In the previous match, we suffered a frustrating defeat with a score of 0-3, which felt like self-destruction. We wanted to take revenge somehow, but unfortunately, we ended up losing. We had a hard time winning second balls, and our defense had to stay on for a long time. That was one problem. At the same time, I think not being able to possess the ball well was also a factor that prevented us from playing well. In the end, we couldn't fully demonstrate our strengths and felt frustrated. Along with that, I felt that there are many things that the team needs to do in the remaining 10 matches. We will do our best to grow as a team while fighting each game carefully."