A match to regain confidence and overcome adversity

　On the 21st (Saturday), the 20th round of the league was held. Returning home, they faced Sanfrecce Hiroshima. In the previous match against C Osaka, Morishige was sent off. Unable to overcome the numerical disadvantage, they lost by 4 points. The team has not won in the last 5 matches and is in a difficult situation. Nevertheless, the players look forward, confirming their strong determination. Coach Jofuku also said, "There was a difference in aggressiveness in the match against C Osaka. That is a difference in confidence. When there are no wins, the mentality tends to weaken, but I want to give the players confidence and let them stand on the pitch." They want to seize the opportunity to rise up and gain confidence in this match, but Morishige is suspended for 2 matches, so Murohara is used as a center back in this round. Imakawa is in the defensive midfield, and Tokunaga is the left fullback, with Hirayama and Okubo in the front line. On the other hand, Hiroshima is in 10th place. They are currently missing MF Mikic and MF Yamagishi due to injuries, and are currently on a 3-match losing streak. However, Hiroshima is also expected to aggressively attack in order to escape from this difficult situation. They move the ball from the defensive line, switch the play from the sides, and FW Sato's movement and runs behind the defense are sharp. In response to this, it is important to maintain a compact formation and defend by coordinating with each other. Giving away the first goal will make it difficult, so they want to achieve the opening goal by any means necessary. They need to be careful about the start of the match, be aware of the speed of switching, and attack with confidence. As evening approaches, the scorching heat of the past few days has eased slightly, but the humidity remains at the Ajinomoto Stadium. The match started at 18:34 with Hiroshima's kickoff.

広島にリズムを掴まれたが、よくしのぎ、スコアレスで前半を終了

　In the early stages, both teams attacked each other. In the 2nd minute, Ishikawa cut inside from Nakamura's right throw-in and attempted a goal, but lacked power and was caught by the goalkeeper. In the 8th minute, Hiroshima's midfielder Takahagi received a vertical pass from defender Makino and passed it into the area. Midfielder Morisaki Hiroshi timed his run well and took a shot. However, the ball went across the goal, avoiding a dangerous situation. In the 9th minute, Hiroshima's right midfielder Moriwaki advanced to a high position and crossed the ball. Forward Sato headed the ball, but it went wide. In the 11th minute, Konno won a midfield battle and Daigo moved to the right. Ishikawa accelerated and sent a cross, but no one was able to connect in the center. In the 17th minute, Ishikawa intercepted the ball near the edge of the area after Matsushita's corner kick, but his shot hit an opponent and resulted in another corner kick. Despite having three corner kicks, they were unable to take a shot. In the 18th minute, Tokunaga switched the play to the right side and Hirayama dropped the ball for Daigo to jump in near the goal, but the goalkeeper cut it off and it resulted in a corner kick. After that, they tried to create chances starting from Ishikawa's right side, but Hiroshima gained control gradually with their movement and quick transitions. However, they remained focused in defense and effectively contained Hiroshima's attacks from the second line. In the 35th minute, Hiroshima's right midfielder Moriwaki dribbled up the side and evaded Tokunaga, who was marking him, and took a shot, but it was saved by Gonda and resulted in a corner kick. In the 40th minute, Hiroshima's forward Sato created space and Makino made a strong run into the left area from a skillful post-play. He sent a final pass into the center. It was a decisive moment, but they were saved by a mistake and avoided a dangerous situation. However, from the middle of the first half, they were unable to bring the ball into dangerous areas and create opportunities even when they had possession. The first half ended scoreless.

Unable to create an attacking shape, lost two points, and suffered a complete defeat...

　After the start of the second half, Ohtake was brought in to replace Matsushita, aiming for a goal. In the 56th minute, Ishikawa received a right throw-in, turned towards the center, and took a shot. However, this was the only shot in the second half... Just after that, in the 57th minute, a quick attack was initiated from Hiroshima's DF Stoyanov. A pass was sent from right MF Moriwaki to the center, which Kim Yong-gun failed to clear, allowing central MF Takahagi to spread the play to the left. Left MF Hattori struck from the area, and the shot found the net on the opposite side... Once again, we conceded the opening goal. In the 58th minute, Shigematsu was brought in to replace Hirayama, but we couldn't change the bad flow. In the 65th minute, from Hiroshima's switch of play, left MF Hattori sent a ball to the center, and Mukuhara attempted to clear it, but it hit his foot and spilled in front of FW Sato, who scored with certainty, putting us two goals behind... Still, in the 66th minute, Ricardinho was brought in to replace Daigoku, and we aimed to counterattack, but the leading Hiroshima solidified their defense. In the 70th minute, Ohtake made a move into the area from a pass from Konno to Ishikawa, but was blocked by Hiroshima's DF. After that, Shigematsu and Ohtake tried to make bold moves, but they were all blocked by Hiroshima's DF in the area, failing to finish. In the 88th minute, Ohtake and Shigematsu made a move in the area, earning a left corner kick. Ohtake connected with Ricardinho for a short pass, but the pass to Shigematsu did not go through. In the 90th minute, Ohtake passed to Shigematsu in the right area, who entered a shooting position, but was quickly closed down by Hiroshima's DF and blocked. Throughout the 90 minutes, we couldn't grasp our rhythm or create attacking shapes. In that process, we conceded two goals and ended in a complete defeat. 【Player Comments】《Konno》 "We tried to play our football while nullifying Hiroshima's strengths, but we couldn't bring it to our pace, and the time of patience became long. I wanted to fight aggressively, but we were passed around, and our press didn't work well. We thought about attacking from the sides as a team, but I don't think we could execute effective plays. We couldn't take the opponent's ball. If we can't take it, our attack won't start. The balance is not good. The opportunity for us to rise is something we have to grasp ourselves. It's a tough situation, but I want to overcome it." 《Mukuhara》 "In the first half, we started from defense, and I think it wasn't bad. In the second half, we went for goals, but we couldn't create a flow and conceded. When we concede first, unpleasant images come to mind. We had the desire to win, but it went in a bad direction. Right now, it's not fun and it's tough, but that's why we have to work hard." 【Coach Jofuku's Press Conference Summary】 "The players showed a fighting spirit and fought until the end as long as their stamina lasted. It's disappointing that the results didn't follow, but we also saw issues and the gap with the opponent in terms of content. For example, the quality of our attack. I feel that the quality of our judgment and technique was a bit lacking. This led to an increase in the energy used for defense after losing the ball, entering a negative cycle. Despite being tired from consecutive matches, we couldn't use the remaining energy in a good state. However, I have strong reflections on myself for the effort the players put in. We received boos after the match, but I want to take it all on myself. The players fight on the field, on the stadium pitch. I want them to focus on the next match. Right now, as a team, we are in a situation where we desperately need points, so I want the players to regain their confidence. I want them to stand on the pitch with a mental state and clarity that allows them to bring out each other's maximum performance. Of course, we must not concede goals, and we cannot take three points without scoring. I believe it's important to stand on the pitch with confidence first." 【Hiroshima Coach Petrovic's Press Conference Summary】 "Tokyo is a wonderful team. We were able to control the game in both offense and defense and achieve victory. However, from the outside, it may seem like we had a wonderful victory, but it was close until the very end. We had a similar game against Omiya in the previous match, where we took the lead but were equalized and then lost due to an unfortunate goal. We created many chances but couldn't score and lost. In contrast, today we were able to score. Originally, if we are a team that can create many chances, we should win by leading by three or four goals. The fact that we couldn't do that means there is still room for growth. (Recently, we had been conceding from the right side, but today we were able to defend.) Today, we were crossed about ten times from the right side, but there is no team in the world that can defend without allowing crosses. Personally, I think it's easier to defend when the opponent crosses from near the corner area. The most dangerous and unpleasant thing is the runs of today's FW Sato, MF Takahagi, and MF Morisaki that lead directly to goals, and the passes that come to them. The sides are secondary. If we concede from a cross, it becomes a matter of not being broken down from the sides, but whether we were broken down from the sides or not is not a directly interesting topic in football. Even when looking at strong clubs in the world, they firmly suppress the areas where they are vulnerable in the center. They place players who can clear the ball in the center-backs and defend properly. After all, football is about going towards the goal, so the center becomes the most dangerous area.