Facing winless Kashima at home

　Sec. 6 of the league will be held, facing Kashima Antlers at home. In the previous match, despite being in a numerical disadvantage, we fought tenaciously and Morishige successfully capitalized on a set piece chance to secure 3 points. After a break of about 1 week, we will approach this match aggressively at home, aiming for consecutive victories with a superior performance over the opponent. However, Hasegawa, who was sent off in the previous match, will be suspended for the second time this season. Kajiyama is also still unable to return, so Yonemoto will start as a defensive midfielder.

　Kashima, on the other hand, is still winless and in last place in the league this season. They have only scored one goal so far, which was scored by FW Okazaki in the previous match against Urawa. However, they have won two matches in the Nabisco Cup, so they cannot be underestimated. They are a team with a long tradition. Coach Popovic says, "We haven't been getting results, but we are playing good football. We still have players who have experience winning titles, and they haven't forgotten how to play football."

　FW JUNINHO, MF Dudu and others who have newly joined Kashima Antlers seem to not have fully fit in yet, but they have the ability to change the flow of the game as substitutes. Also, FW Okazaki and Osako are players who have been made to taste bitter defeat many times in the past. We want to prevent them from exerting their power on the front line.

　In Tokyo's attack, they aim to score by improving the accuracy of each play through fluid positioning as usual. Above all, because it is a home game, they want to surpass Kashima with a strong commitment to victory and experience joy at Ajinomoto Stadium. Despite the cold weather that is unexpected for April and the pouring rain at Ajinomoto Stadium, the match started with Kashima's kickoff at 13:04.

Maintaining control and not losing focus even when Kanda gets injured

　Tokyo dominated the ball from the start. In the 11th minute, Takahashi took a shot from Lucas' drop, but it was blocked. Yonemoto then connected the loose ball and showed a decisive wave attack. In the 17th minute, Ishikawa pushed forward from Tokunaga's attack and sent a precise cross. In the 22nd minute, Yonemoto advanced again towards the goal with a vertical pass from Ishikawa.

　Although there were no clear chances, we took control of the game. However, in the 23rd minute, Kashima made a speedy attack and sent the ball into the area for forward Okazaki. Gonda made a quick save, but collided with Okazaki in the process. This accident resulted in a strong blow to the knee, preventing him from continuing to play.

　Therefore, in the 31st minute, Shoemith was substituted for Shioda. Immediately after, Kashima launched a counterattack from Tokyo's mistake, and FW Okazaki broke free from MF Endo's through pass and took a decisive shot from the area, but Shioda made a sharp dive to save! This rebound was passed to Kashima FW Osako, who brought it to a shot, but it was blocked and escaped as a corner kick, and they defended with concentration.

　In the latter half of the first half, Kashima also connected passes and both teams moved the ball, looking for opportunities. However, they both defended without creating any openings, and the first half ended with a scoreless draw, including 8 minutes of stoppage time.

Despite catching up with a tie with Tanabe's first J1 goal... we allow a winning goal at the end of the game

　The game intensified in the second half. In the 46th minute of the early stages, Ishikawa → Lucas took a shot. Then, in the 47th minute, Morishige came forward and stole the ball, sending a long pass to Hayabusa on the right front line from a well-judged pass, and Ishikawa took a shot, launching an offensive. However, although they started by carefully connecting and moving the ball forward, scenes where Kashima gradually gained rhythm from their mistakes began to increase.

　56 minutes, FW Osako broke through behind the defense with a perfectly timed pass from Kashima DF Arai, but his shot went wide. In the 59th minute, Takahashi's attempted clearance seemed to graze the opponent, but the ball flew into our own goal. Shioda was judged to have caught the back pass with his hand, resulting in an indirect free kick for Kashima from the goal area. It was a tense moment, but we concentrated and successfully blocked the free kick to defend our goal.

　However, in the 66th minute, Hanyu → Ota's side was targeted and suffered a counterattack from Kashima due to a pass miss. Unable to stop MF Endo's dribble, it was connected to FW Osako on the right front line, and a last pass sent from here was perfectly matched with FW Okazaki, resulting in conceding the first goal. In the 69th minute, Tanabe was substituted for Ota and left as the left fullback. Kashima brought in FW Juninho. Tokyo then substituted Ohtake for Tanihara. They played their third card.

　Tokyo regained their rhythm with this. In the 71st minute, from Yonemoto's vertical pass, Lucas dropped the ball and the Kashima DF cleared it. Kashima GK Sogahata caught it, and this time Tokyo earned an indirect free kick just outside the goal area. Amidst intense attacks and defenses in front of the goal, in the 84th minute, Ishikawa -> Lucas's kick was blocked, but Lucas shot again from the loose ball. Tanabe reacted to the ball that spilled into the right area and stabbed it with a left-footed volley, GOAL!! Tanabe's first J1 goal equalized the score.

　With this, Tokyo gained momentum and in the 88th minute, they made a dynamic move. Otake passed to Hayabusa on the right side, who took a step inside and boldly aimed with his left foot... but it hit the crossbar. As the mood for a comeback grew, they continued to attack aggressively. However, in the 5 minutes of stoppage time, they tried to intercept Kashima's ball but couldn't fully take it away. Yamamura, the left side midfielder for Kashima, passed to forward Juninho who broke through behind Tokunaga. They couldn't contain this and he dribbled into the penalty area. Saltada made a save on the shot, but the rebound was tapped in by the far side midfielder Endo... In the final moments, they allowed Kashima to take the lead and suffered a painful defeat.

　【Player Comment】《Tanabe》"I reacted instinctively when the ball came to me for the goal. I don't even remember where it went. However, I strongly feel that we lost 1 point. We should have at least taken '1'. Of course, it would have been great if we could have turned the game around, but we ended up conceding a goal because we were too aggressive, including myself. We were too focused on '3 points' and ended up with zero. Because it's a league game, it was necessary for us to calmly take the points in this kind of match. We need to make adjustments and carry this fighting style into the next game."

　"I am very sorry that I couldn't produce results. It was my first time coming on as a substitute, so I was a little nervous, but the bench gave me a lot of support and the players on the field created an atmosphere that made it easy for me to get into the game. Both goals we conceded were poorly taken. There were many opportunities to pass the ball, but especially towards the end when it became a back-and-forth counterattack, it was necessary to unify the team's consciousness. I want to make adjustments to our defense on the back and sides. The ACL Beijing Guoan match and the Sendai match are both important games. I want to firmly accept today's defeat and use it as a stepping stone for the next game."

　[Summary of Coach Popovich's Press Conference] "Before the game, I myself felt a little anxious. It's not that our team is weaker than Kashima, but considering Kashima's strength, our current ranking is unrealistic, and it's strange that we haven't won any games in the league so far when you look at the game content. On the other hand, I think our naivety showed today. It's disappointing that we couldn't get any points, but the overall performance was not bad. However, our naivety showed when it came to how to finish the game. We always take risks because we control the line high. Most of the time, we were able to focus on how to dominate the game."

　However, it is true that we conceded a goal by being caught off guard in the back. There are things we need to learn from that and there are also parts where we assisted the opponent ourselves. Throughout the game, we were able to take control and dominate. It can be evaluated that we were able to create chances from good build-ups, and what I always say is to "go for the win in every game in front of us." I mean to be attacking in order to score more goals than the opponent. However, even after equalizing, we became too aggressive in our attack. Considering the flow of the game, weather conditions, and remaining time, we were not able to manage the risk and finish the game at worst with a 1-1 draw. I think it showed the youthfulness and naivety of the team that we couldn't fight smartly like Kashima."

　[Summary of Kashima Antlers' Coach Ailton's Press Conference] "(Did you have a different game plan because the opponent was FC Tokyo?) We need to secure points. In our previous matches, we often went forward even when it wasn't necessary, giving the opponent space and allowing them to score. Today, our focus was on solid defense. We have been creating chances, so if we defend well and avoid conceding goals, we can win. That's how we started. We wanted to start from scratch and do what we should do. By doing so, we can also maintain possession of the ball. Tokyo often has both central midfielders pushing forward and their defensive line maintaining a high position, which gives us a lot of space. If we quickly transition from defense to attack, our speed can be effective."