Despite dominating the second half, the team failed to convert their scoring opportunities and the match ended in a goalless draw.

Tokyo creates chances by bypassing the opponent's press in the second half. In the 48th minute, Higashi, who was trying to receive Ota's vertical pass, was fouled and awarded a free kick from the left side. Ota sends this left free kick to the front line, and Hyun Soo JANG heads it, but it goes wide. In the 55th minute, Tokunaga from the right front line connects with Lucas, and Hasegawa runs into the right area and receives a vertical pass from Watanabe. Watanabe turns around and gets into a shooting position, but it is blocked and results in a corner kick.

In the 58th minute, Hasegawa, who was trying to go around the inside after a pass exchange on the left side, was fouled and awarded a free kick from just outside the area, slightly to the left. East directly aimed for it but hit the left post. The rebound was connected, and Watanabe in the front line dropped it, and Ishikawa broke through in front of the goal, but was held back by the opponent's defender and defended. Against Iwata, whose energy gradually began to decline, they calmly connected the ball and seized the momentum.

Then, in the 65th minute, a free kick from the left side goal line was played by Higashi to the center with a ground pass. It was passed to Ishikawa, who dribbled past one defender and took a shot, but it went slightly off target and was ruled offside. In the 71st minute, Nemanja VUCICEVIC was substituted in for Higashi and played as an attacking midfielder. Furthermore, in the 76th minute, Takahashi was substituted in for Ishikawa. Hasegawa and VUCICEVIC changed positions.

Reacted to a loose ball in the front line in the 90th minute. Vucicevic calmly passed to the left area space, and Watanabe ran into it, but couldn't finish in front of Iwata's defender. In injury time, Hasegawa -> Vucicevic timed their run well from the right side throw-in by Tokunaga and took a shot, but it hit the opponent's defender and resulted in a right corner kick. Furthermore, from this corner kick, Watanabe sent a header towards the goal, but was blocked by the opponent's defender. In the second half, they regained their rhythm and created numerous chances, but the match ended in a scoreless draw. They only managed to earn 1 point.


[Player Comments]
《Watanabe》
"In the first half, I focused too much on defense. The ball didn't come forward and I couldn't keep it myself. I tried to drop back and receive the ball, but Coach Popovic instructed me to pull forward against Iwata's defenders and let Keigo use the space created there, but I couldn't create opportunities. In the second half, we were able to create our own time, but we can't win if we don't score. (There were some close chances, right?) We can't win if we can't convert those chances. My finishing accuracy was also lacking. I want to raise everyone's awareness of shooting, but more than "someone," I want to fight with the determination to definitely take it myself."

《Gonda》
"We were able to keep a clean sheet in the end, but with this defensive approach, we couldn't go on the attack. In the second half, Iwata dropped back and created space, which allowed us to connect with our attacks. We practiced this week to 'win the ball in a better shape and go on the attack', and this is the result. Even though we didn't concede, it can't be considered a very good result. We couldn't put pressure on the ball holder and, on the contrary, we wanted to push up the defensive line but couldn't do it. On the other hand, Iwata used MF Matsura as a number 10 against our back four, which allowed them to find space."


[Coach Popovich's Press Conference Summary]
"There was a significant difference in performance between the first half and the second half. I am not satisfied with the first half, but I think we showed a good performance in the second half. However, because the first half performance was poor, we ended up with this result. The game lasts for 90 minutes, so it is not enough to have only one good 45-minute period. Of course, it is not easy to maintain control throughout the entire 90 minutes, but we are aiming for that and we want to continue playing that kind of soccer in the future. Due to Hyun Soo's injury and the substitution, we couldn't follow the game plan we had for the second half, but I think we showed what we wanted to do in the second half. It is very important to continue playing our style without breaking it even when things don't go well. We will continue to prioritize that and do it in the future."


[Iwata - Takashi Sekizuka's Press Conference Summary]
"It was the first time we didn't concede any goals in defense, but it was very disappointing that we couldn't break through Tokyo's goal. However, in terms of content, it was very good and the 11 players fought with a sense of unity. In that sense, we will continue to play based on this, and we want to fight firmly. Today, many supporters came and created a good atmosphere. We are grateful for their support and belief in us until the end for one point. We also want to prepare diligently to earn 3 points. (We had more than 10 shots in the first half, but did you want to score in the first half?) Yes, that's right. I think it would have been very good if we could have scored the opening goal in the first half."