A match that wants to make use of each team's strengths and restart the league

　Sec. 26 of the league will be held, facing Gamba Osaka at home. In the previous match against Kyoto, we lost 2 points due to mistakes and suffered a defeat. It was a rough start after the league resumed, but based on that reflection, Manager Jofuku said, "I realized that if we don't approach it without looking at our feet, the results won't come. I want to go back to our original starting point and restart." This match will be a crucial one where we must take 3 points at home and keep up with the top teams.

　G Osaka, on the other hand, is currently in 5th place. In early July, they suffered three consecutive losses, but they have since recovered and maintained a good form with 6 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in the last 8 matches. Additionally, FW Leandro transferred before the 23rd match, leaving the team, but immediately after, FW Pedro JUNIOR joined from Niigata. There are also other talented forwards such as Cho Jae-jin, Hashido, and Yamazaki. In this match, FW Pedro JUNIOR is absent. They have been playing with a front two of FW Cho Jae-jin and FW Lucas, but the midfield talents that support them are all present, and the team boasts an overwhelming attacking power with a current total of 45 goals, ranking first in the league.

　Tokyo, this time HIRAYAMA is suspended. Therefore, AKAMINE and SUZUKI will form a two-top formation. The players all say, "We want to take advantage of the benefits of changing the lineup" and aim to launch a powerful attack by utilizing the movement of SUZUKI, HANYU, ISHIKAWA, etc. starting from AKAMINE. If they can fully demonstrate their respective strengths, persistently continue their own style of soccer, they should be able to find a chance to win. They want to show a strong attitude of focusing on the game and achieve victory while demonstrating growth.

　Ajinomoto Stadium, which gives a cool feeling under the cloudy sky, started the match with G Osaka's kickoff at 16:05, while the annual "Brazil Festa" is also being held.

Grasping the rhythm, took the initiative but couldn't make the most of the opportunity

　Immediately after the start of the match, G Osaka FW Lucas brought the ball in from the left side and took a shot with speed to MF Endo who had moved up in the center. However, this shot missed above the bar, and Tokyo had a big chance. In the 2nd minute, Nagatomo passed Suzuki with a one-two and attacked the left side, and Akamine -> Suzuki broke through behind the G Osaka DF in the left area and crossed. Ishikawa, who had closed in from the far side to the right area, took a free direct volley! He created a decisive opportunity, but the shot did not hit the target...

　In the 4th minute, G Osaka's left back Shimodaira was targeted, and in the 6th minute, midfielder Myojin was targeted from the middle range, but Tokyo gradually grasped the rhythm by moving the ball with the fluid movements of Suzuki, Ishikawa, and Hanyu, as well as the attacking runs of both fullbacks. In the 9th minute, Suzuki became the starting point in the right area and created a chance. Kajiyama's shot from the center, which came loose, was blocked, but Hanyu connected the ball that fell into the left area and launched a thick attack. In the 16th minute, Ishikawa was fouled near the corner of the right area and won a free kick. However, neither chance was fully utilized.

　In the 21st minute, Yonemoto and Kajiyama exchanged passes in their own half. The momentum of this pass was weak and it was cut off by the opponent, but Imano quickly controlled it and Tokyo launched a counterattack. From the quick attack, Hayu went up the center freely, but the distance from the goal was far and he couldn't take a shot. Suzuki brought the ball into the area line on the right and crossed it, but there was no player to connect with it in the far side... In the 25th minute, Ishikawa ran through the center and trapped the floating ball from the left rear, then confidently shot from just outside the right area! It seemed to have skimmed the defender and gone out, but it resulted in a goal kick for G Osaka.

　In the 30th minute, Nagatomo went up the left side and received a return pass from Hayabusa in the opponent's half. He then sped towards the center and took a shot, but it went wide. G Osaka quickly switched the play and the game continued at a fast tempo. In the 44th minute, the left corner kick was cleared, but Imakano intercepted G Osaka's attacking play. He dribbled up to the right front line and delivered a low and powerful cross to the center. Ishikawa ran in from behind Akamine and made a direct shot, but missed the target... Despite having control of the game, they couldn't convert their chances and the first half ended with a 0-0 score.

Despite losing momentum in the second half, they managed to keep a clean sheet with solid defense and earned 1 point

　In the second half, which was expected to score. In the 48th minute, Nagatomo ran into the left area after receiving a through pass from Douglas, but the opponent's goalkeeper jumped out one step ahead and couldn't shoot. In the 51st minute, Ishikawa → Nagatomo tried to send a last pass to the center by running behind the DF in the left area, but it was dealt with perfectly by the G Osaka DF and was blocked. In the 55th minute, Suzuki slid into the goal area in response to Nagatomo's ground cross, but the timing was off.

　In the 63rd minute, Akamine, Hanyu, and Kajiyama quickly connected passes and advanced on the attack from the right area corner, with Kajiyama taking a shot. However, it was blocked by the defender, and although they tried to follow up on the rebound, Nagatomo, who had advanced from the right front line, was pushed and lost the ball. As time passed, the players' energy decreased and mistakes started to occur, making it difficult to connect passes. While G Osaka controlled the pace, in the 71st minute, they brought in the attacking duo of forward Hayato and midfielder Sasaki. They gained momentum and came to score.

　Tokyo replaced Hanyu with Tanabe. In the following 76th minute, Mukuhara replaced Suzuki as the right full-back. Ishikawa moved to the forward position, and Tokunaga moved up to the midfield to aim for a goal, but towards the end, the line dropped and G Osaka continued to push them back. Nevertheless, they launched a counterattack, and in the 81st minute, Ishikawa dribbled the ball from Akamine's post to the left area, and Tokunaga followed up. Akamine in the center took a ground shot, but it slightly curved to the left...

　On the other hand, in defense, they did not lose focus. In the 83rd minute, a pass was connected from the right side of G Osaka, and FW Yamazaki, who had jumped out to the center of the goal, was shot with a decisive shot in a free position, but Gonda made a save with his left hand! With this great play by Gonda, they calmly defended against G Osaka's strong attack and kept a clean sheet. As a result, the match ended in a scoreless draw.

　【Player Comment】《Bruno QUADROS》"We wanted to secure all 3 points in the match, of course. However, G Osaka is also a team fighting for ACL qualification, just like us. I think it wasn't bad to share 1 point in a tough match. G Osaka has a strong front line, with quality players like FW Lucas and speedy substitute FW Hayato. Not only in the front line, but as a team as a whole, they have a slightly different rhythm compared to other teams, and I believed it was important to take care of the entire team. In the end, both teams had their chances today, and especially in the second half, G Osaka created more opportunities, but we were able to hold them back. The Brazil Festival is a traditional event that I was looking forward to, and it was great to see many Brazilian people in attendance. It was a wonderful exchange."《Gonda》"I think one of the challenges for the future is that the pace dropped in the second half, but it was good that our defense held strong and kept a clean sheet. G Osaka attacked vertically earlier than we expected. Even so, we were able to respond calmly and handle it well. Everyone was focused, and we gave our all until the end. In the second half, G Osaka made attacking substitutions one after another, which initially posed some danger, but our defense did a solid job marking them, so there were no issues from that point on. (Was there a good save?) In that particular situation, our defense marked the other players tightly, making it easier to anticipate their intentions. (What improvements did you see compared to the away game in the first half?) Rather than improvements, I think we were able to maintain a strong defensive focus. If we had conceded early, our attacking performance would have suffered. By not conceding, we were able to create the level of attack we wanted."

　[Summary of Coach Jofuku's Press Conference] "The result was 0-0, and whether we can say we 'earned 1 point' or not, I'm not sure about the expression, but the players prepared well and confidently stepped onto the pitch, trying to give everything they had. We need to reflect on the difference in quality between the first half and the second half as a learning opportunity, but considering that we had fewer players and couldn't even have a practice match, I want to take a positive view on the fact that we tried to play the style of soccer we aim for. We want to continue the good aspects and prepare to earn 3 points in the next match. Regarding the decision to substitute Muhara and move Tokunaga one row forward, we wanted to contain G Osaka MF Sasaki, who is good at dribbling. Another reason is that FW Hato and other fast players were coming forward, so we wanted Muhara to cover Bruno Quadros. Also, not only in terms of defense, but also in terms of preparing to score in Kodaira, we were doing it as a preparation for Tokunaga's mid-range shots or the development after winning loose balls, so there were intentions for both aspects."

　【Summary of G Osaka Nishino Coach's Press Conference】"I felt it was heavy in the first half. We have had good starts recently, so I was hoping that we could start today by pulling the rhythm ourselves. Tokyo also had a good start and came aggressively, so it was a halftime where we had to control how to bring this game closer to a high point. Gradually, some switched players activated, but we couldn't play the good tempo soccer that we had been doing lately today. There were also few scoring opportunities. We had prepared well, so I had high expectations, but the result is very disappointing. However, we were not good either, and I felt that Tokyo was good today. So we defended firmly and then tried to move on to the attack, and I think we were able to do that in that aspect."