Aiming for a 3rd consecutive league victory, grab 3 points away

League 18th round, Shimizu S-Pulse played away. The team had temporarily suspended activities due to national team duties, but during that time, they held a friendly match with CE Sabadell on July 23. There are no issues with conditioning for the Shimizu match. Tokunaga, Morishige, Takahashi, Gonda, and Hyun Soo JANG, who participated in the East Asia Cup, have also joined the team in good spirits. Coach Popovic also emphasized that it is pleasing that they have returned with high motivation. However, it is important for them to continue to establish themselves in the future. Therefore, they must not neglect their play in Tokyo, as there is the national team ahead of their team performance.

Shimizu, on the other hand, is currently in 11th place with 22 points. During this break, FW Vale left the team, while MF Honda joined. In addition, MF Sugiyama and DF Yoshida will be suspended for this match. In the 12th round, Tokyo won at Ajinomoto Stadium, but since then, Shimizu has made changes to their lineup, so it can be said that they are a different team from last time. Particularly, caution is needed against FW Ito, who has speed and technical ability. MF Muramatsu and Honda in the midfield have both ball retention and defensive ability, as well as the willingness to make aggressive attacks. If they are caught off guard by the short passes of MF Roppei and MF Kawai, and the movement that breaks through the defense, it will be a difficult situation where they lose control from a solid defense and struggle to create a rhythm.

Tokyo, considering Kaga's foot condition, is out of the squad. Morishige and Hyun Soo JANG will play as center-backs. Watanabe says, "If we can score the first goal, it should be easier, but even if we concede first, we want to fight without panicking. The game is decided over 90 minutes. In that time, I want to show my own style and score goals that lead to victory." In addition, if it becomes a stalemate, set plays will also be key. Ota says, "It's been two years already, so I don't have the feeling of playing against my former team, but if there are chances for Tokyo's victory, I want to aim for them and actively fight, not just in set plays."

We want to compete with tenacity and aggressiveness, and aim to secure 3 points even as the away team. The match started at 19:05 in Tokyo with a kickoff at IAI Stadium Nihondaira.

Both teams continue to play at a fast pace, but the first half ends with no goals

Tokyo showed a good start to the game from the beginning of the first half. In the 4th minute, Lucas broke through with a long pass from Tokunaga and won a right corner kick. Higashi connected with a short pass and followed by Yonemoto, who entered deeply into the right area, but Shimizu cleared the ball towards the center. In the 9th minute, Lucas received a long pass from the left side and passed it to Watanabe from the right front line. Watanabe changed his body position and took a first shot from outside the area, but it went straight to the goalkeeper. Both teams pressed each other with compact formations, resulting in a tight match.

17 minutes, Watanabe received a wedge slightly to the left inside the opponent's field and immediately expanded to the left side. Ota broke through to the left front line and grounded it in the center. East, who received it in the center of the area, shot in a shape close to free, but it was saved by the goalkeeper. Tokyo passed the ball with the defensive line and tried to switch the attack from a vertical pass, but Shimizu's defense was also tough and they couldn't create a scoring opportunity until they entered the area. In addition, they couldn't seize the opportunity as the opponent cleared the ball first in the set play.

Then, in the 38th minute, Taku SHIMIZU's pass was intercepted by Higashi in the opponent's central area. Immediately, he passed the ball to the front line, and Watanabe broke through to face the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation, but was closed down by the Shimizu DF from behind and the ball was cut off with a sliding tackle, ending up with the goalkeeper. It was the first scoring opportunity of the first half, but it was not capitalized. Both teams raised their defensive lines and pressed each other, maintaining a fast-paced game until the end, but neither team was able to create a shooting opportunity. The first half ended with no goals.

The league match ended in the first scoreless draw.

In the second half, Shimizu takes control of the pace. In the 49th minute, midfielder Kawai advances with a middle shot from a right throw-in. The shot that caught the lower right corner was saved by Gonda and resulted in a corner kick. In the 50th minute, a left free kick was directly aimed at midfielder Ishige, but Gonda caught it. On the contrary, in the 55th minute, it seemed that Tokyo's Higashi was brought down by Shimizu's defender near the area after receiving a through pass from Lucas on a counter attack, but there was no foul. Tokyo continues to struggle without connecting passes. Shimizu dominates the ball and launches powerful attacks.

In the 67th minute, Ishikawa was substituted for Lucas to change the flow of the game. Then, in the 69th minute, Watanabe in the center reacted to the loose ball from a pass exchange on the left area. He took a direct shot, but it was saved by the goalkeeper. In the 72nd minute, the opponent's pass reached Hasegawa. He dribbled up and made a through pass behind the defense. Watanabe reacted to it, but the goalkeeper blocked the ball just before reaching it. In the 75th minute, Hirayama was substituted for Watanabe.

80 minutes, Hirayama lured Ishikawa who ran into the area and passed to the space on the left front line. Takahashi made a run and crossed from the edge of the line. The ball flowed to the opposite side, and Hasegawa from the right area took a looping shot, but it went over the bar. In the 85th minute, Shimizu DF Ikije received a second warning and was sent off. In the 88th minute, Nemanja VUCICEVIC was substituted for Higashi.

Then, in the 90th minute, Tokunaga, who went up the right side, crossed to the center. Vucicevic, who met in front of the area, shot but hit the left post corner and did not score a goal. In the end, Shizuoka's persistent defense with 10 players prevented them from breaking through until the end. The league match ended in a scoreless draw, and they only gained 1 point.


[Player Comments]
《Tokunaga》
"Shimizu was aiming for through balls and long passes, so I didn't have many chances to shoot, and maybe I didn't make the decision to shoot enough. It's meaningless to have good defense if we can't connect it to the attack. However, there were a few chances to score. If we had scored even one goal there, I think the game would have taken a different turn."

"Watanabe"
"We defended from the front line and were able to create our own pace in the first half. We were also aiming for counterattacks and we had to score when we had the chance. I regret not being able to do that. However, even though we controlled the ball in the first half, I feel like we didn't have many opportunities against Shimizu's defensive block. They were able to intercept our vertical passes and we couldn't take shots. We needed to find ways to penetrate from the sides and dribble into the penalty area. But we can take it as a positive that we didn't lose, and we will work hard to win the next match and score goals for that purpose."


[Coach Popovich's Press Conference Summary]
"It was a game where we lacked goals. We were able to take control from the first half and maintain control, but we were lacking in terms of precision, attitude towards scoring goals, and decisiveness. However, in the flow of the game, the opponent also stopped us with physical challenges and borderline fouls. There were a few plays where cards were shown, so if there had been a proper judgment, I think the opponent would not have been able to stop us with fouls."

There were times when things didn't go well and the opponent took control, but we were able to regain control afterwards. I think Shimizu is a very tough and well-organized team. I believe we were able to show our strength in this kind of match, but we lacked goals. In the next match, we want to improve and make adjustments in that aspect."

[Summary of Taku SHIMIZU and Afshin GHOTBI's press conference]
"I think our performance in the second half and the soccer itself were good. Of course, I thought it would be difficult to fight without key players. And today was MF Honda's first game. I think he still lacks the sharpness I was looking for in the front line. Despite the difficult situation, such as being reduced to 10 players, I think the players did well. Of course, we wanted to win 3 points, but we were able to earn 1 point. I hope we can recover from this point forward."