Striving for a victorious battle as the league resumes

The league resumed and Sec. 23 was held. They will face Vissel Kobe at home. In the 4th Round of the Emperor's Cup, they lost due to poor timing of conceding goals and losing the ball. As a result, the only remaining tournament this season is the league. Also, the team's undefeated record in official matches was interrupted at 10 games, which is undoubtedly a damaging defeat for the team. However, the players are looking forward and saying, "If we can't switch gears from here, there will be no growth."

Coach Massimo also emphasized, "Rather than starting from a state of '2 draws and 1 loss' based solely on recent results, I want to further enhance the team's strength and continue to grow while aiming for victory based on the accumulation of the past few months."

Kobe Univ, which is currently in 5th place with 35 points, will be the opponent. Kobe Univ has a strong attacking lineup and utilizes pressing and high intensity as their weapons. The key to winning will be how to withstand their momentum from the beginning and prolong the period of keeping the goals conceded to a minimum. Especially since it is a home game. We want to increase the time of ball possession by avoiding Kobe Univ's pressing and convert it into goals. It is also a match where we aim to surpass Kobe Univ in fighting spirit and "win decisively".

Tokyo's Nozawa and Nakajima left the team for the activities of the U-21 Japan national team, but Morishige, Muto, who just returned from the Japan national team, and Ota, who missed the Emperor's Cup, also start in the starting lineup. On the other hand, Kobe is without DF Iwanami of the U-21 Japan national team. In defense, Kawamoto is used, and FW Tashiro is also starting, forming a near 2-top with FW Marquinhos. They have approached the match with MF Moriooka and Edamura on both sides.

Ajinomoto Stadium, which had been enduring the harsh lingering summer heat during the day, began to calm down in the evening. The match started at 18:34 with Kobe's kickoff.

Although Kobe controlled the pace from start to finish, we patiently endured and withstood.

1 minute into the game, Kobe's left back Hashimoto delivers an early cross, which is met by midfielder Morioka in the center. The ball is chested down and heads towards the goal defended by Gonda. Moriweight, who was contesting for the ball, clears it just in time, escaping the danger and resulting in a corner kick. However, this marks the beginning of "Kobe's time". In the 12th minute, Tokyo's midfielder Kono skillfully traps a long feed from their own half and distributes it to Muto on the left. Muto tries to return the ball directly to Kono, but it is intercepted by Kobe.

In the 15th minute, Hayu's right early cross was dropped by Edu in the area, and there Muto ran in, but he couldn't stop it in front of Kobe's quick approach. Up to this point, it was a back and forth battle, but gradually Kobe created opportunities from long balls and picked up the second ball, passing it around. Therefore, they tried to counter by placing Takahashi in the central defense and increasing the number of defenders. However, even if they won the ball in their own half, they struggled due to mistakes in the build-up play.

In the 38th minute, Yamamoto, who was on the right side, stole the ball in his own half and made a long feed to the front line. Mutoh made a run, but the opposing goalkeeper caught the ball first. In the 42nd minute, Ota, who overlapped, was fouled and earned a free kick just outside the left area corner. Ota sent this free kick to the front of the goal, and it went to Takahashi on the far side after passing through the crowded center, but it was offside.

While Kobe managed to withstand the opponent's pressure and prevent any goals due to their lack of precision in the final play, they were unable to advance their attack. Tokyo ended the first half with zero shots and the score remained tied at 0-0.

Change the flow with Edu's PK to take the lead! However, immediately after, we conceded a goal...

In the second half, we tried to regain control by stealing the ball from the front line and creating rhythm. In the 48th minute, MF Simplício, who was left free in front of the goal, was hit with a perfect header from a right cross from Kobe, but it hit the post. After avoiding the pinch, Tokyo also tried to create chances by attacking from the side. In the 54th minute, we stole the ball from Kobe and quickly switched to the right side, where Yonemoto went up with a long cross. Ota on the opposite side took it forward and sent a low, fast ground cross to the front of the goal. Muto jumped in here, but his timing was just slightly off...

Around the 60th minute, Edu, Muto, Ota, and Hanyu attacked the area, and in the end, Edu dropped the vertical pass from Muto to Kono, but it was cleared by the committed Kobe DF. In the 61st minute, Kobe counterattacked by cutting off Yone's pass. They quickly connected vertically and Morioka, the MF just in front of the area, took a decisive shot, but Kanda made a save! Both teams attacked with momentum, and in the 63rd minute, Edu took a middle shot. In the 64th minute, Yone continued to shoot consecutively, and scenes in front of the goal increased.

In the 68th minute, Muto, who received a pass from Ota, sprinted down the left side. He entered the left area, attracted the attention of the defender, and made a last pass to Edu, who was free in the center. Edu's shot was blocked by the hand of the opposing defender, Masukawa... as a result, a penalty kick was awarded. Edu scored this penalty kick with a powerful kick that deflected the opponent's goalkeeper's hand... GOAL!

In the midst of a tough situation, we were able to take the lead as planned. However, right after that, Kobe connected the ball from their kickoff and passed it to FW Marquinhos on the right front line. Ota and Kono responded to this, but it resulted in a right corner kick for Kobe. And from MF Choong Woon's corner kick, DF Masukawa made a high-heading shot from above Morishige. The ball that was dropped in front was headed in by FW Marquinhos, who jumped out to replace Yonezawa... Following the Emperor's Cup Shimizu match, we once again conceded a goal right after scoring...

In the final stage, both teams stretched their lines and created space, resulting in a counter-attacking battle. Tokyo also launched quick attacks with Muto as the focal point. In the 90th minute, Muto broke through on the left side and sent a perfect last pass to Edu in the center, but Edu's trap was slightly off and he couldn't finish. In the 92nd minute, Kajiyama replaced Hayu, and immediately after, Watanabe replaced Kono. They continued to push for a winning goal, but in additional time, Muto was fouled and won a free kick just outside the penalty area, but Ota's kick went over the bar and the game ended. Despite taking the lead and changing the momentum, Tokyo ended up with a draw, their third consecutive in the league, as Kobe caught up.

[Player Comments]
"Edu"
"I can't be satisfied with just 1 point at home, but Kobe is also a strong team. It was not a bad result, at least. I couldn't kick the penalty kick as planned, but I think it was good that I was able to score by imagining kicking it strongly. However, there was a scene where my trap was off and I couldn't shoot afterwards. I have to improve on those small plays myself."

"Hanyu"
"We had to finish it with a 1-0 score. Our immaturity was shown by conceding a goal there. We couldn't show the attitude of moving forward again. Personally, there were things I couldn't express as an experienced player. That's very disappointing. We needed to work more carefully."

[Summary of Coach Massimo FICCADENTI's Press Conference]
"In the first half, we struggled a lot because we couldn't keep possession of the ball. It didn't feel like Kobe completely dominated us, but in the second half, we were able to start in a completely different way. Not only in terms of mentality, but also by aggressively pressing from the front, we didn't allow the opponents to play freely. Kobe had some scoring opportunities with midfielder SIMPLICIO, but we also had many chances. I told the players that the second half was good. I am proud that the players gave their all, showed their strong mentality."
It was a performance worthy of a win, but the result did not turn out as expected. However, I am satisfied with the players."

[Kobe - Coach Ryo Adachi's Press Conference Summary]
"The impression is that we could only get 1 point in the end. It's frustrating. In the first half and the second half, overall, we were able to do what we wanted to do, but it's frustrating that we conceded a goal first. However, we were able to catch up, so it would have been good if we could have scored a second goal. The precision, ideas, and power to go for the second goal were lacking. It became a very disappointing match."