A crucial match that cannot be lost in pursuit of the top

　Sec. 16 of the league, we will play against Vissel Kobe away. We achieved two consecutive victories in the previous match against Shimizu, and climbed to our highest position of 7th place this season. Returning to a balanced record of 7 wins, 1 draw, and 7 losses, Coach Hiroshi JOFUKU said, "I absolutely don't want to regress from here. It was a tough start to the season, and it won't mean anything unless we start with a win from here on out." He is looking ahead to a new battle.

　Kobe, on the other hand, has been unable to ride the wave with two consecutive losses while MF Okubo, a representative of Japan, returned from Germany's Wolfsburg. Coach Caio Junior resigned and Masahiro Wada, the team's general manager, took over as the concurrent coach from this round. However, Coach Jofuku strengthens his vigilance, saying, "The more accidents there are, the more they contribute to the team's strength. I think the hurdle to win has increased." MF Okubo, the key player in both offense and defense, MF Botti, and FW Mogi, who has scored 6 goals in the league, are the core players of the team, so it is "difficult to imagine a big change" (Coach Jofuku). Therefore, Kanda emphasized the need to stick to their style and said, "If we just react to the opponent's situation, the game will become even more difficult. It is important to play our own soccer from the start of the game."

　Tokyo will face the same lineup as last week. In particular, Cabore, Hirayama, Ishikawa, and the attacking unit have been in good form. We want to increase the time of ball possession by improving decision-making, technical precision, and coordination, and increase the number of times the attacking unit's weapons are utilized in the attacking third. Hanyu said, "We want to efficiently circulate the ball and enter the dangerous area. The opponent should be uncomfortable when there are many people in dangerous areas." Nagatomo said, "We have gained confidence in our own soccer. If we do it properly, we don't feel like we will lose."

　In June, we won all official matches. The only way to join the top group is to continue riding the momentum. In order to embody the "summer of counterattack," Coach Shirofuku expressed a strong desire to "turn our struggles into results from here on out. I want to approach the matches with a strong determination." We want to secure 3 points even in enemy territory, aiming for victory and chasing the top. The match started at 19:04 with a kickoff in Tokyo at the Homes Stadium Kobe.

Unable to create scoring opportunities, the game ends in a 0-0 draw

　In the early stages, Tokyo was unable to demonstrate its Tokyo-like style and the game progressed. In the 4th minute, Ishikawa aimed for a goal with a free kick from outside the central area. This became the team's first shot. Perhaps due to the influence of the long turf, the ball did not stick to the foot and there were also scenes where it was stolen by the opponent from a pass miss and the defense was chased. Even if the ball was carried to the attacking third, they were unable to create a chance just a step away.

　After 20 minutes, Tokyo gradually begins to find its rhythm. In the 22nd minute, Ishikawa dribbles through the center after stealing the ball from the opponent. He passes to Hirayama, who has moved to the right, and takes a shot, but the opponent's goalkeeper makes a great save, resulting in a corner kick. In the 32nd minute, Kabore on the right side passes to Yonemoto, who overlaps into the area. Kabore receives the return pass and takes a shot, but the Kobe defender throws himself to escape and it becomes a corner kick. From that right corner kick, the ball goes to Kajiyama on the opposite side, who sends a cross, but it is also cleared and becomes a corner kick.

　In the 41st minute, Tokunaga -> Hirayama -> Ishikawa from the counter. He turned around from a difficult position and volleyed with his left foot. However, it was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper's great save and did not result in a goal. In response to the opponent's attack, they defended the goal calmly. The DF team, centered around Imano, cleared FKs and sharp passes from MF Botti to the front line. They also successfully defended against the aggressive attacks of FW Mogi and MF Okubo, and ultimately ended the first half with a score of 0-0.

Ishikawa, Cabore's goal gave us a valuable 3 points away from home.

　The game started moving in the second half. Early in the game, Ishikawa swung the ball well from a long pass from Konno. Although it didn't result in a goal, Tokyo continued to connect the ball in their characteristic style, also incorporating side changes while looking for a goal. Then, in the 50th minute, Uchida received a ball that was connected by Hirayama and Cabore, and passed it to Ishikawa who ran into the center. Ishikawa brought the ball into a tight space with one touch and skillfully controlled the lobbed ball with his left foot for a shot! The ball pierced into the top left corner of the goal, scoring a superb goal to take the lead. With this, Ishikawa has scored in four consecutive matches.

　Tokyo, who has completely regained momentum, launches a wave attack. In the 51st minute, Cabore → Hirayama shoots from a counter. It hits the defender but is connected by Yamamoto, who then takes a shot from the middle but it goes over the crossbar. In the 53rd minute, Hirayama heads away Nagatomo's left throw-in, and Cabore in front of the goal tries to score directly but is blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper. Then in the 55th minute, Hayashi passes through from near the center line. Cabore reacts to it, calmly evades goalkeeper Enomoto who came out, and slots it into the unguarded goal for an additional point.

　Kobe, on the other hand, tries to regain the momentum by making successive substitutions, but Tokyo calmly passes the ball rhythmically and does not give up the initiative. In the 62nd minute, Hayu, in the 67th minute, Nagatomo, and in the 69th minute, Ishikawa each attack the Kobe goal, but thanks to GK Enomoto's excellent save, there is no additional goal. The game ends 2-0 as it is. The final number of shots is 19 for Tokyo against 4 for Kobe. With stable defense and a calm game in the second half, Tokyo wins their third consecutive league match and their fifth consecutive official match, including the Nabisco Cup, and rises to 5th place.

　【Player Comment】《Yone Moto》"I was very nervous because many acquaintances such as my senior in high school, club activity friends, and classmates from junior high came to watch, but I'm glad we won. Recently, I've been able to exchange passes with Kaji-kun (Kajiyama) and we have formed a good combination. It's become easier to play because trust has deepened. I want to support the team with even better combination. Now, Nao-san is in great shape, so if we defend well and connect passes, I think he will score for us. We want to carry the ball firmly to the front of the goal and pass it to the FW, and from there, we can score in a good way, so I want to continue this flow. As the coach says, I want to make it a "summer of counterattacks" and I think the supporters also want that, so I want to do my best to aim for the top. (Were you conscious of the match against Kobe?) Rather than the fact that the opponent was Kobe, I was nervous because many acquaintances came to watch (laughs). Kobe came with high motivation and I think it was a very difficult match. I'm not satisfied with winning today, I want to keep winning."

　"I wanted to score early in the first half, but the opponent didn't allow it. It was a difficult start, but I think we were patient and calm in the second half. One good thing about Tokyo recently is that even if we score in the first half or get scored on, we are able to approach the second half very calmly. That's what we have built up. So there was no pressure at all. (What about the goal scene?) First of all, Hayashi-san was watching me closely, and also, in the first half, there were chances but my traps were a bit off, and I couldn't make traps that would lead to my shooting. So I focused on trapping first. It stopped exactly where I wanted it to, so I just swung my leg. I knew the opponent was closing in and there was no space, but I think my decision to shoot directly or stop and shoot was good. There were scenes in the first half where shooting directly would have been better, so it was good that the image came to mind. (The team has won three consecutive league matches, right?) We finally got back to a draw, so we didn't want to go back to square one in terms of our progress. We have finally been able to play our football for a longer period of time, so right now we are only thinking about building up results. We want more wins and more goals. I think Tokyo's attack has power. Everyone can take action even with just one movement of the ball, and we can connect from the defense. As attackers, we are able to take action well when the ball is moved and take it to the shot, so I think we are doing well as a team. (You are currently tied for the top of the goal scoring rankings with your goal today, right?) I'm not really conscious of it, but if the team can win with my goal, then that's a good thing. It means that the people around me are working hard. I think it's my goal as a result of that. Personally, when I looked at the number of shots I took after the game, there were 7. I absolutely have to score one of them. I'm still not satisfied. There were also chances in the second half. It's good that we were able to score and turn it into a victory, but there are also many things to reflect on. I want to use those points of reflection in the next game. We still have a long way to go."

　[Summary of Coach Jofuku's Press Conference] "It will be the same as the previous match, but we had a very difficult start in March and April. We returned the stars to half in the previous Sec. 15, and we told the players that when we return the stars to half, we should have the power to win consecutive games, and we have been working under that motto. Finally, we returned the stars to half, and the players stood on the pitch with the desire not to stop here, not to go back, and not to experience that difficult feeling again. I think it was very good that we were able to achieve results today and celebrate together with the fans who have come a long way without stopping. (In terms of taking the initiative in offense and defense, how was today's match?) Strictly speaking, I think there are offensive and defensive aspects to taking the initiative, but basically, I think our time is when we have the ball. With our current skills and judgment, I think we were able to increase that time more today. In the second half, there were scenes where we could have gone for a shot for about 20 minutes, but I think we could have done more with our skills. In terms of defense, we aimed to make the opponent pass or kick the ball in a state that is not their intention, but there were still times when the midfield was left free for a long time, so we need to reflect on the fact that we need to defend more rigorously for the next match."

　[Summary of Kobe Wada's press conference] "We only had three days until today's match, so we needed to make defensive adjustments as a team. We focused on zone defense based on last year's 4-4-2 formation as our training task for this week. Since most of the players have been with us since last year, I believe they have absorbed the tactical aspects well. Regarding today's match, I think we had a solid response, especially in the first half. However, we gave the opponents a chance when they picked up the loose balls from Cabore and Hirayama's long balls, which put us in a slightly difficult situation. We managed to reach halftime with a 0-0 score, and in the second half, we entered with the determination to do our best from the beginning. Unfortunately, we conceded a goal in the 5th minute of the second half. If we had calmly continued to play in a similar manner, we could have held on with a 0-1 score for a little longer. However, after that goal, our defense couldn't coordinate well, and we ended up creating situations where we wanted to go for the ball or were vulnerable to counterattacks. I also think we couldn't create good opportunities in the attacking phase in the second half. This week, we instructed the players to move forward once they regained possession of the ball, and I believe they had the desire to do so. We focused on the role of the first defender in defense, but sometimes the players were too eager to go for the ball, which led to a lack of coordination and exposed weaknesses. We suddenly changed tactics, and although the players absorbed it and approached today's match, it would have been better if we had achieved better results. I think the first half was the best we could do against a strong team like FC Tokyo. We want to train for the next week to ensure that the same level of performance continues for the full 90 minutes."