Aiming for the first victory of the season, heading away

　The second match of the league is against Urawa Reds, and they will be heading to Saitama Stadium 2002 for an away game. In the opening match, they suffered a heavy defeat of 4 goals at home. It is urgent to improve their defense, but at the same time, they were frustrated by not being able to convert scoring opportunities during periods of good rhythm in the attack. They want to address the challenges they have identified while taking on new challenges and use them as a stepping stone for the next match. In this match, Sato and Ishikawa have returned from injury and will be on the bench. Kabore and Suzuki have been included in the starting lineup since the previous match, with Kono and Kajiyama playing as defensive midfielders. The full-backs will be Tokunaga on the right and Nagatomo on the left.

　Urawa, who lost to Kashima in the first match. This match will be their home opener, and they will surely approach it with a strong determination of "absolutely cannot lose". Under the new coach Volker FINKE starting this season, they are aiming to transform their style of play into an attacking football that focuses on ball possession. On the other hand, Tokyo's key will be how much they can take control and create decisive chances. Since Urawa's central defenders are known for being solid, Tokyo will aim to create opportunities from the sides and take the initiative in the game.

　Since September 2004, there has been no victory in the Urawa game. Moreover, the away game and the harsh conditions overlap, but we aim to overcome the weak consciousness, calmly express a strong feeling that surpasses Urawa on the pitch, and aim for victory. Under the unstable spring weather, it was raining cold rain at Saitama Stadium. The match started at 2:02 PM with a kickoff in Tokyo.

Despite conceding the first goal, Tokunaga and Cabore's combination equalizes the score

　Pushed back by Urawa's speedy attack from the start. In the 4th minute, Urawa FW Tatsuya TANAKA broke through on the left front line and sent a strong cross in front of the goal. Gonda saved it, but the ball crossed the line, giving Urawa a right corner kick. Then, Urawa MF Ponte's low trajectory kick was directly kicked into the right area by MF Abe, once again conceding the first goal from a set piece.

　However, in the 13th minute, Yu Hanyu boldly inserted a wedge pass, and Cabore in the center → Nagatomo crossed from the left. No one could match in the center, but then, persistently connected, and immediately after that, Tokunaga → from Kajiyama who moved up to the front line, to Tokunaga who attacked the right side again. Cabore jumped into the near side with a low cross from here, and the ball went into Urawa's goal. It induced Urawa's own goal and caught up with the same score by surely taking advantage of the few chances.

　In the 23rd minute, Shigeki sent a high pass to the front line, and the opponent's defender cleared it to Hayu just outside the penalty area. Hayu tried to shoot directly at the goal, but it didn't hit well. It fell to Kabore in front of the goal, and he took a shot, but it was caught by the Urawa goalkeeper. However, this seemed to be the only chance, and Urawa continued to dominate the rhythm afterwards. In the 43rd minute, Shigeki and Urawa defender Tatsuya fought and collided. It became an intense match where both players were injured and temporarily went off the pitch, but no additional goals were allowed. We hope for a comeback in the second half and ended the first half.

終始浦和に主導権を握られ、苦しい敗戦

　In the 48th minute of the second half, despite the quick passing play by Urawa, they struggled to regain possession of the ball. Finally, Konno managed to steal the ball and launched a counterattack, but was stopped by the opponent in the midfield and fell down. The game seemed to momentarily pause, but the ball ended up with Urawa's defender, Tatsuya Tanaka. From there, the ball was played out to the right and crossed by midfielder Ponte, perfectly finding forward Edmilson, resulting in the second goal being conceded...

　Once again, we allowed the lead to slip and found ourselves chasing one point. However, we were unable to connect our attacks even when we managed to regain possession as Urawa, riding on their momentum, swiftly passed the ball around. Our counterattacks were ineffective. In an attempt to change the rhythm, we made substitutions: Otake replaced Suzuki in the 58th minute, Akamine replaced Kondo in the 60th minute, and Ishikawa was brought on for Hayu in the 66th minute. However, in the 71st minute, Ishikawa received a pass from the left side and took a powerful shot in the right area, only for it to hit the bar and bounce back...

　83 minutes, Urawa DF Tsuboi allowed the attacking advance to the left front line, and a pass was made to the center. Urawa MF Naoki Yamada calmly attracted the Tokyo DF and made a last pass to the right MF Ponte. This was decisively scored, and Urawa's sharp counterattack broke the defense, resulting in the third goal conceded... In the midst of a tough away pressure, a bitter defeat with a lack of brilliance in both offense and defense. It became the second consecutive loss.

　【Player Comments】《Cabore》"I started the game, but unfortunately, it ended up like this. (Regarding the goal scene) a good cross came in and I jumped to it. It ended up being an own goal, but it was good that I was involved in the goal. However, the opponent's goalkeeper was also fantastic, and even when there were chances afterwards, it was difficult to score. We have conceded 7 goals so far this season and still haven't won. I definitely want to win at home next time."《Suzuki》"I had the intention to show my strengths and aggressively move forward... However, I spent a long time being passed around by Urawa, and there was no coordination in attack and defense. In both the opening game and today, we conceded first and when we tried to counterattack, we were counterattacked... It was a situation where the opponent had us figured out. If we can't possess the ball more, it will be difficult. However, even so, this season we are aiming to play a style of soccer that can break down the opponent even when they sit back. We have suffered consecutive losses, but we want to see it as pain for growth and align everyone's direction. We want to keep fighting without giving up."

　[Summary of Coach Jofuku's Press Conference] "Since we couldn't win the opening match, we approached today's game with a strong determination to earn 3 points. Although it was an away game, many fans came to watch, but unfortunately we couldn't meet their expectations. We need to consider individual plays as well, but overall, we were dominated by the ball. We lost the ball immediately after winning it and should have held onto it firmly. As for the reasons, first, Urawa took advantage of our defensive positioning and moved the ball forward. At the same time, they controlled the ball in the front line, accelerated near our final line, and it caused significant damage. We spent too much time chasing Urawa's ball, which led to fatigue. There were problems not only in defense but also in our attack, as we needed to create more opportunities for ourselves. It's a very frustrating overall performance, but the result was fair. We want to extract our own issues, switch gears, and move on to the next game."

　[Summary of Urawa・Finke's press conference] "This is our first home game of the season, but when I visited Urawa three months ago, the supporters were fantastic and supported the team until the very end. Unfortunately, we lost that game, but I wanted to achieve a good result in today's match. So the 3 points we earned today are very valuable. We were able to score an early goal and the team showed a very good performance. However, we conceded an equalizer in a disappointing manner. After that, our team's play was not satisfactory for about 10-15 minutes, and at the same time, FC Tokyo showed great play. The quality of our play improved from the middle of the first half. Ball possession and the players' transitions improved, and the movement also improved compared to before. At halftime, I felt that if we could continue the play towards the end of the first half, we could achieve better results in the second half. (Did the defenders perform well in the attack?) In my opinion, I want players in each position to create scoring opportunities and score goals themselves. I believe it is important for defensive players to participate in the attack in order to aim for combination play."