Show your daily growth and aim for victory at home

　Sec. 27 will be a home game following the previous round, facing Júbilo Iwata at Ajinomoto Stadium. In the G Osaka match, we took control in the first half but couldn't convert our chances, and in the second half, the opponent gained momentum, resulting in a scoreless draw. However, Coach Tsuka stated, "We improved on the issues from the Kyoto match. We want to resolve the challenges from the G Osaka match and aim for victory, steadily growing along the way."

　Iwata, who is currently in 11th place with 35 points, will face Tokyo. They suffered three consecutive losses from the 23rd round, but they had a convincing victory over Kyoto in the previous round. In this round, if they can defeat Tokyo, their points will surpass them and their rankings will be reversed. They would definitely want to win and build momentum. Their attacking power is particularly threatening, with a total of 40 goals scored so far. Among them, FW Maeda and FW Iguinho, who are leading the goal-scoring rankings, have scored 23 goals. FW Maeda is skilled at both pulling out the ball and post-play, and he is also good at scoring goals from headers after crosses. FW Iguinho has speed and strength, and they can also score goals through their combination.

　Therefore, the first condition for victory is to not let them play freely. We want to thoroughly challenge and cover the ball holder with coordinated defense. On the other hand, Iwata's total of 46 goals conceded is the worst in the league (tied with Kashiwa and Thailand). Even if there are continued situations where we can't finish, we want to continue our own soccer patiently and not lose in the battle of patience against Iwata and score goals.

　Tokyo, Ishikawa had been practicing with a separate menu due to a right foot injury, but he made a determined adjustment and started the game. In addition, Hirayama, who had finished serving his suspension, and Suzuki formed a two-top formation. For Iwata, goalkeeper Kawaguchi left the team due to injury. Goalkeeper Hatta started for the first time this season. It was a sunny day with lingering humidity at Ajinomoto Stadium. The match started with Tokyo's kickoff at 16:04.

In a cautious development, both sides failed to capitalize on their chances...

　The start of the game saw both teams pressing each other to prevent the opponent from gaining rhythm, resulting in a cautious development. In the 14th minute, Iwata's midfielder Okada delivered an early cross from the left. Gonda punched the ball while competing with forward Iguho, but the ball floated into the goal area, allowing forward Maeda to head it. The shot lacked power and went wide to the right, but this was the first shot for both teams combined.

　However, in the 16th minute, Tokyo created a chance from their combination play. Yonemoto passed to Suzuki on the left side, Suzuki advanced to a high position, and then found Yonemoto again in the center. Yonemoto sent a through pass to the central area, and Nagatomo ran in from the left to take a shot! However, the shot from just outside the goal area was blocked by the goalkeeper's save. In the 17th minute, Hanyu crossed from the right side, and Ishikawa made a through pass in the center. Immediately behind, Hirayama took a shot but it was blocked by the defender.

　Tokyo dominated the ball as time passed, but Iwata also quickly returned and couldn't break through the defense easily. Iwata also tried to break the deadlock with strong plays from FW Igor, but Tokyo concentrated and defended well. In the 44th minute, Hirayama cut off Iwata's ball in the opponent's territory, and Ishikawa on the right and Suzuki on the left launched a quick attack, but Ishikawa's breakthrough was stopped by Iwata's DF. Then Suzuki ran up the left side and aimed for the goal after entering the area, but his shot was saved by the goalkeeper, and the score remained 0-0 as the second half began.

Despite allowing the opponent to take the lead, a dramatic victory was achieved with goals from Nagatomo and Akamine!

　In the second half, it was Iwata who first had a big chance. In the 54th minute, left midfielder Murai created an opportunity on the left side, and the ball fell to forward Maeda who was free in the area. Maeda took a decisive shot at the goal, taking advantage of Tokyo's defense being caught off guard, but it hit the crossbar and bounced down... avoiding a crisis. Immediately in the 55th minute, Tokyo created a decisive opportunity. Hirayama pressed in the opponent's half, stole the ball from Iwata, and entered the area, attracting the attention of the defenders and passing to the free Ishikawa in the center. Ishikawa swung his right foot, but... missed the target by a wide margin.

　In the 62nd minute, Kajiyama -> Ishikawa developed to the right side of Hayabusa, who missed the chance together. Kajiyama runs into the pass sent by Hayabusa to the area, and passes it to Ishikawa from Hirayama in the center. Ishikawa dribbles the ball into the goal, scoring the long-awaited opening goal from the well-coordinated passing work! However, in the immediate 64th minute, giving a left corner kick to Iwata, DF Komano's kick slips from Gonda's hands and goes to FW Maeda. Yonemoto tried to block it with a sliding tackle, but the ball was kicked in again and a goal was conceded... And in the 70th minute, Tokyo DF blocks Iwata's left MF Murai's shot, giving another corner kick. From this left corner kick, Ignno in the center is left free and scores a powerful header. Defensive mistakes are made in set-piece situations and 2 goals are conceded. They allowed the opponent to take the lead.

　However, never giving up, in the 72nd minute, Akamine replaced Hanyu, followed by Suzuki and Ishikawa being replaced by Mukuhara and Nakamura in the 75th minute. Mukuhara moved to the right full-back position, Tokunaga moved to the left, and Nagatomo moved up one row, aiming for a goal from crosses starting from the sides. This strategy paid off, as they launched a speedy and powerful attack to counter. In the 82nd minute, Yonemoto passed to Nakamura, who was speeding down the right side and delivered a fast cross. The ball bounced in front of the goal and Nagatomo reacted to the opponent goalkeeper's fumble. He calmly finished with his right foot and equalized the score.

　In the final stages, Tokyo made a power play with Inamoto as the attacking midfielder, and Murohara, Bruno, and Tokunaga as the back three. As Iwata also aimed to take the lead, it became a back-and-forth counterattack. In the 84th minute, Iwata's left midfielder Murai made a strong attack and delivered a decisive shot to forward Maeda in the center, but it was saved by Gonda!! It escaped to a corner kick and was defended. And in the 4 minutes of stoppage time, Tokyo launched a strong attack, with Kajiyama dribbling up the center and expanding to the left. Nagatomo, who had moved up to the midfield, sent a cross, and Akamine, who was free in the far post, headed the ball! The ball was sucked into the net for a dramatic lead! With the goal that showcased Akamine's strength as a "Júbilo killer," they secured a victory and earned 3 points in the league for the first time in 3 matches since the 24th round against Oita.

　【Player Comments】《Nagatomo》"When playing as a full-back, I tried to maintain balance, and when playing as a winger, I tried to go for goals myself. I think I was able to show a greedy attitude. Regarding the goal-scoring scene, I was aiming for loose balls like that, so I think it became a goal like that. There was a possibility of scoring even before that. It was just a matter of precision in the end. We conceded 2 goals, but mentally, each and every one of us has become stronger, and I myself had the feeling of moving forward without any hesitation. That feeling led to the third goal. Today, I felt the direction that everyone is aiming for in the game. I want to carry this victory over to the next match."《Akamine》"For the winning goal, Sota collapsed near the goal and I was able to become free. I could see the goalkeeper's position and the goal well. I thought there was no other option but to aim for that spot. I have been away from scoring for a long time, and the team has also been unable to get 3 points recently. I think this goal will give me momentum and I hope the team can ride the wave. I am not particularly conscious of Iwata being a Jubilo killer, and on the contrary, I haven't scored many goals against other opponents. I want to do my best to score in other matches as well."

　[Summary of Coach Jofuku's Press Conference] "Our current position is in the middle, but we really wanted to show our attitude towards this season's league matches and what we are aiming for this season, and we wanted to leave that as a result. The players' feelings were reflected. Everyone, including the bench, showed that we still have goals in the league matches. In the first half, we were quite cautious about the opponent's top two, but we were too focused on that and it dragged on a bit. It would have been good if we could have been more compact and pushed up the defensive line. We made adjustments towards the second half. I think the start of the second half was good until we scored a goal. We have to reflect on the goal we conceded from a corner kick, and there were situations where we shouldn't have given away a corner kick. Mistakes happen, but we need to reflect on the fact that there are still gaps. However, in the end, we were able to turn the game around because everyone gave their all for the team. I want to cherish this kind of victory and I think it's meaningless if we don't take all 3 points in the next match in order to carry it forward. (In training leading up to this match, were there various position changes attempted?) This season, we focused on raising the level of the team, including pushing up the backup players, but there were difficult times when that didn't quite work. So, we thought about things other than just bringing in attacking players when going on the offensive. The idea that the newly introduced player doesn't necessarily have to be attacking. By pushing the players at the back forward, it becomes a common understanding for the team to be attacking. We also thought that it would increase options. However, of course, it is best to have that kind of power as an option when we are winning. We don't want to play every game in the version of being behind and having the same development as today."

　[Summary of Iwata-Yanagishita's press conference] "First of all, in the first half, there was a moment when Nagatomo broke through behind us, but other than that, our defense was reasonably stable. As for the attack, we held onto the ball too much and didn't move after passing, so we couldn't create chances. In the second half, the players started to move and we were able to create chances. The condition is better than when we had three consecutive losses. In the second half, it turned into a counter-attack battle between both teams, and we lost the second ball in a slightly prolonged situation, or our first pass after winning the ball was intercepted, leading to a goal against us. We need to position ourselves more balanced and develop the game. At the same time, we need to mark firmly in front of the goal. We want to make adjustments in those areas. If we could have held on to the 2-1 lead, I think the players would have had confidence for the upcoming games, but unfortunately, we suffered a comeback defeat. However, the content is not bad, so we want to fight with confidence in the remaining 7 matches."