Focused on earning 3 points despite being away

　In the 22nd round of the league, we will play against Montedio Yamagata away. In the previous round against Yokohama FM, despite being forced to make substitutions, we showed unity and resilience and earned 1 point. This round will have a tight schedule with only 2 days in between, but Coach Jofuku said, "The efforts from the previous round will only be rewarded if the players who play in this round earn 3 points." He vowed to use the draw as motivation and turn it into a victory.

　Yamagata, on the other hand, is currently in 14th place with 24 points. Although they have not been able to achieve victory in their last three matches, Coach Jofuku stated, "We can have a close match against any team and have the possibility of earning 3 points. They are particularly well-prepared in both offense and defense, and have a clear understanding of crucial moments and battles." Yamagata has a unified consciousness among all players and quickly transitions between offense and defense. In their attack, they utilize the sides as a starting point and their tall forward, Takumi Hasegawa, and the powerful forward, Kitamura, who has breakthrough ability, are their strengths in counterattacks.

　Tokyo, in addition to Kajiyama, who has returned from a suspension, Bruno QUADROS and Nagatomo have returned to the starting lineup after conditioning. Suzuki has replaced Ishikawa in the lineup. Nagatomo declared his strong return, saying, "I didn't rest for a long time, so there are no issues with my condition. While regaining my game stamina and match sense on the pitch, I intend to play for 90 minutes. I want to aggressively push forward and switch on when the ball enters the field, while also being conscious of defense." Yamagata's defense is proud of its strength in one-on-one situations and is solid. We want to break them down with Tokyo-like passing and combinations.

　Coach Jofuku said, "It's not easy to break down a team that defends deep. Therefore, we need to engage in one-on-one battles and also think about creating chances." From the 19th round match against Hiroshima on July 25th, we have not been able to achieve victory in the last four matches. Today, even though it is an away game, it is a match where we must go for not just 1 point, but "3" points. We will show an aggressive attitude in both offense and defense, aiming for goals and victory! The match started at 19:04 with the kickoff in Tokyo, at NDsoft Stadium Yamagata, which is visited for the first time in the J1 League.

Focused on earning 3 points despite being away

　In the 22nd round of the league, we will play against Montedio Yamagata away. In the previous round against Yokohama FM, despite being forced to make substitutions, we showed unity and resilience and earned 1 point. This round will have a tight schedule with only 2 days in between, but Coach Jofuku said, "The efforts from the previous round will only be rewarded if the players who play in this round earn 3 points." He vowed to use the draw as motivation and turn it into a victory.

　Yamagata, on the other hand, is currently in 14th place with 24 points. Although they have not been able to achieve victory in their last three matches, Coach Jofuku stated, "We can have a close match against any team and have the possibility of earning 3 points. They are particularly well-prepared in both offense and defense, and have a clear understanding of crucial moments and battles." Yamagata has a unified consciousness among all players and quickly transitions between offense and defense. In their attack, they utilize the sides as a starting point and their tall forward, Takumi Hasegawa, and the powerful forward, Kitamura, who has breakthrough ability, are their strengths in counterattacks.

　Tokyo, in addition to Kajiyama, who has returned from a suspension, Bruno QUADROS and Nagatomo have returned to the starting lineup after conditioning. Suzuki has replaced Ishikawa in the lineup. Nagatomo declared his strong return, saying, "I didn't rest for a long time, so there are no issues with my condition. While regaining my game stamina and match sense on the pitch, I intend to play for 90 minutes. I want to aggressively push forward and switch on when the ball enters the field, while also being conscious of defense." Yamagata's defense is proud of its strength in one-on-one situations and is solid. We want to break them down with Tokyo-like passing and combinations.

　Coach Jofuku said, "It's not easy to break down a team that defends deep. Therefore, we need to engage in one-on-one battles and also think about creating chances." From the 19th round match against Hiroshima on July 25th, we have not been able to achieve victory in the last four matches. Today, even though it is an away game, it is a match where we must go for not just 1 point, but "3" points. We will show an aggressive attitude in both offense and defense, aiming for goals and victory! The match started at 19:04 with the kickoff in Tokyo, at NDsoft Stadium Yamagata, which is visited for the first time in the J1 League.

Unable to score until the end, defeated with no points

　Entering the second half, in the 50th minute, Tanabe was substituted for Suzuki. However, Tokyo was intercepted while attacking, and Yamagata continued to counterattack. Still, in the 60th minute, Cabore aimed for a shot from the loose ball but it went over the crossbar. In the 64th minute, Hayashi rushed into the area from a typical Tokyo combination play. He evaded Cabore with a one-two pass and took a decisive shot, but... it was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper's excellent save. In the 65th minute, Kanazawa was substituted for Hayashi as the left full-back, and Nagatomo moved up one row to join the attack.

　In the 67th minute, Cabore received a vertical pass from Tanabe to Yonehara, entered the center and shot with his left foot, but it went wide. In the 76th minute, a right corner kick was awarded from Cabore's shot. Kajiyama grabbed the loose ball from Tanabe's corner kick near the area, turned past the opponent's defender, and took a shot, but the goalkeeper made a save. In the 77th minute, Akamine replaced Cabore. He tried to break through Yamagata's deep defense by crossing from the side.

　However, taking advantage of the opportunity to attack, in the 85th minute, Yamagata's left SB Ishikawa broke through the left side. Kanazawa cleared the cross, but it ended up with the opponent's right SB Kobayashi. From here, a right cross was lifted and pushed into the center by FW Hasegawa, resulting in a goal... After that, Bruno QUADROS and Imano also pushed forward and launched a fierce attack with more players in the front line. In the final stages, Tanabe and Bruno QUADROS took consecutive shots, but none of them were able to score a goal. The team fell behind by one point and suffered a defeat with no goals scored.

　【Player Comments】《Nagatomo》"I had the image of moving up one line and then spreading out wide for crosses. However, since we were trailing, I really wanted to score, so I tried to not only spread out but also exploit the opponent's blind side. Especially after Shingo-san came on, I also tried to go for loose balls... but it didn't work out well. I played for 90 minutes, and my condition is fine. As for game sense, it's something that can only be obtained through actual matches, but I think I was able to regain that as well."《Kajiyama》"In the first half, we tried to launch fast attacks before the opponent's defense regrouped, or when they dropped back, we tried to connect passes through Sota and break through. We were able to create chances and I don't think our game flow was bad either. However, in the second half, it felt like whenever we tried to play vertical passes and face forward in the front line, we were targeted. Even so, we were able to create some good opportunities a few times... If we had scored one goal, I think the situation would have been completely different."

　[Summary of Coach Shirofuku's Press Conference] "First of all, I would like to apologize to the fans who came to support us despite the long distance on a weekday. As for the content, I think we have to accept the result of 0-1. We should not judge the game based only on the scenes in the last few minutes, and we need to analyze it calmly. Just because we were doing well until we were broken, it doesn't mean that it was a game where we could comfort ourselves. We need to firmly understand that not having players who can shake the goal net is the level of our team and we have to do something about it. However, I don't want to judge the content of the game based only on the last few minutes, and I want to stay calm about that. (How did you respond to player Hirayama's change in the second half?) We are not building up the game relying only on Hirayama, but it is our position to be said that we couldn't respond if we couldn't score, and it is our position to be said that we couldn't break even if we were trying to break."

　[Summary of Yamagata Kobayashi's press conference] "In the first half, Hirayama dropped back and had a vertical relationship more like a lone striker. We were exploited in that area. It was difficult to execute the passing and marking effectively in the first half. In the second half, the defensive midfielder caught on and when the ball was passed, one of the center-backs followed and the full-backs squeezed in. I think it worked a little better. Hirayama was a threat in aerial battles, but our defense stood firm and made the opponent's shots rushed, resulting in off-target shots. Regarding our attack, compared to the previous game, I think we had more time to circulate the ball ourselves. However, there were many cases where we lost the ball when trying to use the defensive midfielder to push forward or when the defensive midfielder tried to turn. We need to fix that. Once the opponent crossed the forward line and midfield, I think Kitamura and Hasegawa were able to do what they intended because the final line of defense was a bit weak. If we could feel that a little earlier, I think we could have done it calmly. Kim got injured midway, so we had to substitute the player quickly, and it was tough in the end. However, I think the players gave their all and fought hard until the end, even when the opponent had a power play. They did a good job of expressing the fact that we had lost to FC Tokyo in both the league and Nabisco Cup and showed the lessons from those two games through videos and discussions. Finally, I'm really glad we were able to get 3 points."