GAME RESULTMatch Results

Sec. 3 2012/3/24 (Sat)
観衆 11,839人 
Weather: Sunny, with a temperature of 12.4 degrees Celsius and humidity of 51%. 
Referee: Yudai YAMAMOTO Assistant Referee: Hisashi NAKAI / Takanori SAKUMOTO Fourth Official: Ryosuke MURAI

J1 Sec. 3

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Vissel Kobe

0-2

Match ended

First Half0-1

Second half0-1

AWAY

FC Tokyo

Vissel Kobe FC Tokyo
Scorer 32' Naohiro ISHIKAWA
90'+6 Kazuma WATANABE
47' Kitamoto Kunie → Masatoshi Mihara
61' Takayuki Yoshida → Ken Tokura
83' Hashimoto Eiro → Keijiro Ogawa
Player substitution 46' Yohei KAJIYAMA → Tatsuya YAZAWA
71' Naotake HANYU → Kazuma WATANABE
77' Naohiro ISHIKAWA → Kenta MUKUHARA
8 Shoot 8
8 CK 2
22 FK 27
69' Ken TOKURA
Warning 56' Ariajasuru HASEGAWA
86' Ariajasuru HASEGAWA
Expulsion 86' Ariajasuru HASEGAWA
Vissel Kobe starting lineup
GK 30 Kenta TOKUSHIGE
DF 2 Kondo Taketo
DF 4 Kitamoto Kunie
DF 22 Takamichi Takagi
DF 3 Soma Takato
MF 19 Masahiko INOHA
MF 18 Hideo Tanaka
MF 8 Takuya Nozawa
MF 27 Hashimoto Hideo
FW 17 Takayuki YOSHIDA
FW 10 Yoshito OKUBO
Vissel Kobe substitute
GK 1 Yuki Uekusa
DF 25 Ryo OKUI
MF 7 Park Kangzo
MF 24 Masatoshi MIHARA
FW 9 Ken TOKURA
FW 13 Keijiro OGAWA
FW 21 Mogi Hiroto
FC Tokyo Starting
GK 20 Shuichi Gonda
DF 2 Yuhei TOKUNAGA
DF 3 Masato MORISHIGE
DF 5 Kenichi KAGA
DF 6 Kosuke OTA
MF 4 Hideto TAKAHASHI
MF 8 Ariajasuru HASEGAWA
MF 18 Naohiro ISHIKAWA
MF 10 Yohei KAJIYAMA
MF 22 Naotake HANYU
FW 49 Lucas
FC Tokyo Substitute
GK 1 Hitoshi SHIOTA
DF 33 Kenta MUKUHARA
MF 7 Takuji YONEMOTO
MF 27 Sotan TANABE
MF 39 Tatsuya YAZAWA
FW 11 Kazuma WATANABE
FW 13 Sota HIRAYAMA

[Player and Coach Comments]

A match where we give our all and aim for a 3-game winning streak with our own style of soccer


 Sec. 3 of the league, we will play against Vissel Kobe away. In the ACL Ulsan Hyundai match on the 20th (Tue, holiday), we scored 2 goals in the lead throughout the game, but unfortunately drew as we were caught up near the end. From there, this match, which will be played in 3 days, will be the 3rd consecutive match and fatigue will reach its peak, but the team atmosphere is not bad. We will address the issues that arose in the Ulsan match as a team and "it is important to take a step forward and grow even in a short time (Coach Ranko POPOVIC)" and aim for 3 consecutive wins in the league with our own style of soccer.

 Kobe, on the other hand, has maintained a good start to the season and is currently on a two-game winning streak. This season, MF Hashimoto, Nozawa, FW Tashiro, DF Takagi, and DF Inoha have joined the team through transfers. Although the team now only has Korean players as foreign players, under the guidance of coach Masahiro WADA, they have further enhanced their speedy and powerful style of soccer that they have built up until now with even more sharpness and precision. Coach Popovic also warns, "Kobe has strengthened their squad and shown changes as a team. They are an attractive team that can 'fight'. They have a group of players who can fight tough battles."

 Tokyo will change the starting lineup from the Ulsan match, with Hasegawa and Takahashi forming a combination in the midfield, and Hayabusa, Ishikawa, and Lucas playing as the left and right midfielders. Hasegawa said, "It is important to be able to express our own soccer firmly rather than focusing on the opponent's countermeasures. Moreover, we must continue to concentrate for 90 minutes, even though fatigue from consecutive matches remains, and continue to challenge for the ball and cover."

 In last season's Emperor's Cup, Tokyo won by winning the extra time. In past league matches, they have not lost in 15 matches, so it can be said that they have a good compatibility with the opponent, but the data will no longer matter against the newly reborn Kobe. It will be a decisive match for Popo Tokyo to see how much they can surpass and challenge their own soccer in various situations and time zones. They will make every effort to aim for a 3-game winning streak in the league. The match started with Kobe's kickoff at 14:04 at Home's Stadium Kobe.

Ishikawa scores a difficult shot from the counter and takes the lead! Leading as we turn around


 Tokyo launches an offensive from the beginning. In the 3rd minute, Hayashi intercepts in the opponent's territory. Lucas at the back passes to Hasegawa, who breaks through the CBs and enters the area, but his shot is weak and saved by the goalkeeper, missing a great chance. In the 5th minute, Hayashi forcefully turns towards the goal from Lucas' post and takes a shot from the center of the area, but it goes wide. Although they create big chances in the early stages, afterwards both teams compete with compact formations.

 In the 17th minute, the ball was intercepted inside the Tokyo area after a pass mistake, and Kobe FW Okubo on the left side carried it inside and took a shot, but Gonda made a save. In the 25th minute, Tokunaga went up the right side and passed it inside. Lucas, who received the pass, took a direct shot but the goalkeeper saved it. Tokyo can pass the ball in the defensive line, but they are having trouble moving it forward. On the other hand, Kobe kept picking up second balls and launching thick attacks from crosses, but... they didn't allow a shot in the end.

 Then, in the 32nd minute, Ishikawa dribbled up the right side from a counter attack and passed it to Kajiyama in the center. From here, it was developed to Lucas who was open on the left side, and he sent a direct cross. Ishikawa jumped in from the far side and stabbed it in from an angleless position, GOAL!! Although they couldn't create many chances from their intended form, they took the lead with a short counter attack and turned around with one goal in the first half.

Despite enduring a period of frustration with players being sent off, the team managed to secure a third consecutive victory with Watanabe scoring his first goal since transferring.


 In consideration of the condition of his legs, Tanizawa was substituted for Kajiyama as the right midfielder in the second half. Kobe started attacking from the beginning. In the 5th minute, a free kick from the left side by Kobe was cleared by Takahashi with a header, resulting in a corner kick. From the loose ball of a sharp left corner kick by midfielder Nozawa, a decisive shot was taken by midfielder Tanaka in the area, but it went wide. In the 12th minute, a long feed from Kobe was received by forward Okubo, but Kaga closed in, and Morishige covered him to hold him back tenaciously. In the 17th minute, a pass sent to the left area by breaking through Tokyo's defense was received by forward Okubo, and from here, the final pass to the goal was cut off by Takahashi, who ran to cover, resulting in a corner kick.

 Kobe's FW Okubo is the starting point for the formation and set plays, and they are gradually being attacked. In the 25th minute, Watanabe was substituted for Hayu, and Lucas entered as an attacking midfielder. However, Kobe's momentum did not stop, and in the 28th minute, they were intercepted and quickly attacked from inside Kobe's territory. The long feed was dropped by FW Tokura in the central area of the box, and a scoring opportunity was created for FW Okubo on the right side, but Kaga responded tenaciously. The shot cut across the goal and went wide.

 Substituting Mokuhara for Ishikawa, who showed signs of fatigue at the 32nd minute, as a side half. Despite the introduction of a fresh player, the flow still favored Kobe. Tokyo was unable to connect their passes, but they continued to concentrate and display their tenacity, preventing the opponent from scoring. In the 86th minute, Hasegawa received his second warning and was sent off. Despite being in a desperate situation of playing with 10 men for the remaining time, the defense, led by Kanda, persevered and repelled the opponent's attacks. Then, in the 6th minute of stoppage time, Watanabe contested the ball with the opponent and dropped it forward with a header after Kanda kicked it to the front line. He then confidently scored in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, sealing the victory. This was Watanabe's first goal since his transfer and Tokyo achieved their third consecutive league win. 

 【Player Comment】《Ishikawa》"(About the goal) First of all, I passed the ball to Yohei because at that moment, I wanted to create a starting point on the opposite side rather than trying to break through myself. Lucas has been the starting point as the lone striker for a long time, and there is space on the side because of that. I also think that I have to play the role of a striker. (Do you have a strong consciousness of scoring?) That's also thanks to the support from my teammates. And with that, I feel like I have to score."

 One chance, a few chances, but we made the most of them, and we had numbers in those situations. The numbers may not be many, but I think it will be necessary to continue not to miss the opponent's gaps in that way in the future. We were defeated in the Ulsan match, but today, including the long injury time, I think our reflection from the past was effective in finishing the game. Overall, the opponent came aggressively more than expected, and we responded to that. In the future, we want to surpass them in all aspects."

 "Mori Shige" "I don't think there was a player who was genuinely happy when the game ended. It was good that we were able to get 3 points in the end, but in terms of performance, it was the worst game of the season. We couldn't connect more when we brought the ball to the midfield and ended up playing soccer that suited the opponent. It might still be a good thing that we didn't end up in a situation where we conceded a counterattack from Kobe due to our own mistakes."

 (Kobe was targeting our back quite a bit from the beginning?) We reflected on the Ulsan match, so we were conscious of making adjustments there. While communicating, I think we were able to defend with a good sense of distance and balance. Especially after we took the lead, the opponent was coming forward to take the ball, but we made sure to have enough players at the back and created a situation where someone like Hide would drop back. I think if we could connect a little more, we would be able to have a stable game."

 [Summary of Coach Popovich's Press Conference] "First of all, I am satisfied with the result of winning. I am also satisfied with the players' never-give-up attitude and their feelings towards victory. However, compared to previous matches, there are parts of the performance that I am not satisfied with, and I cannot be 100% satisfied considering our true potential. Of course, one of the reasons for this is the tight schedule. Kobe had a precise counter-attack, and I am satisfied that we were able to hold them off without conceding a goal, even against such opponents. I think we only allowed them to create one decisive chance."

 We are trying to play fair, but we felt there was no respect for that. I think you will understand when you watch the video, but the opponent's number 9 was fouling every time in the ball contest, but only received one card. And Hasegawa received two cards. I would like you all to watch this game again and make a judgment. Overall, I think the referee's judgment today was good, but I believe that reviewing such aspects will contribute to the development of Japanese soccer. I want us all to think again about fair play, and sincerely consider what is fair play and what is not.

 [Kobe Manager Wada's Press Conference Summary] "Thank you for your hard work. First of all, I think we had a very impressive game. The fans and supporters really created a great atmosphere and gave us a boost. I also think the players ran until the end. In that sense, it was a very frustrating defeat. However, I saw improvements in the team in various aspects, so I want to think positively. I think not being able to score when we should have scored in games like this becomes the reason why we couldn't win."

 The first half had a very good period, and even when it was cleared, we were able to pick up second and third attacks. In the second half, the opponent was also leading, so we were aiming for counterattacks. We were pushing forward, but I felt that our way of fighting after taking the lead was good. We wanted to try to get back one goal without giving up. I want to praise and thank the players for fighting with that kind of mindset. I don't want to dwell on this defeat, but rather prepare well for the next game."