The league resumes, showing the results of the break period with goals and victories

After a break of about two weeks, the league match resumed. Sec. 5 against Nagoya Grampus.
During this break period, Ha DAESUNG, Riku HASHIMOTO, and Komano have recovered from their injuries. Under the new competition, they have been working to improve the team. It is also a match where they want to show the results they have built up and turn it into a victory.

Tokyo, Ha DAESUNG's first appearance since the ACL playoff against Chonburi, and his first J-League start. Maeda and Higashi as the two forwards. Abe on the left side, Kono on the right, starting with this formation.

This season, Nagoya has welcomed new coach Ogura and has 2 wins and 2 draws in the league. They are in 4th place without a loss and in good form. In this match, DF Oman is on the bench and DF Otake is starting as center back. MF Myojin and Taguchi are the double pivot in midfield. MF Nagai and Furubayashi are on both sides. FW Simovic and FW Noda are the two forwards. In order to defend against Nagoya's attack led by the 199cm tall FW Simovic, we want to take control and play in our own rhythm.

It is April, but under the weather with no sunshine, the coldness of winter can be felt. The game started at 16:03 with Nagoya's kickoff.

Although conceding the first goal, Morishige won a penalty kick

Early in the game: Nagoya was pushed back by the fast-paced play. However, they responded well to the plays initiated by FW Shimobich and the runs by MF Nagai, as well as the crosses from the sides. Tokyo also gradually connected passes at a fast tempo and tried to attack.

14 minutes: In the midfield, Ha DAESUNG cuts Nagoya's pass and passes it to Higashi -> Abe on the left area. Yonemoto follows and passes to Anderson in the right area near the corner. Higashi cuts back the opponent and tries to move forward, but lacks momentum for a goal.

17 minutes: Nagoya clears the ball and gives a right corner kick. Nagoya midfielder Taguchi's corner kick is cleared by Yonezaki in front of the goal, but it goes to Nagoya forward Noda. From here, he is feinted and a shot is taken. The ball hits the feet of Nagoya defender Takeuchi in the left area in front and changes direction, going into the net. They allowed the first goal from a set play.

Despite that, without being shaken by the conceded goal, they continued to attack without slowing down the pace. However, mistakes kept happening, and Nagoya had a continuous opportunity for a counterattack.

41 minutes: In the midst of a fierce exchange of attacks and defenses, a left corner kick situation. Mori Shige, who was trying to advance inside the penalty area, was fouled and awarded a penalty kick.

43 minutes: Mori Shige himself calmly kicked this penalty kick to the right and equalized. The game returned to the starting point and we will face the second half.

Shun HIRAYAMA scores a goal after 2 seasons! Mori Shige raises 2 points and achieves a come-from-behind victory.

The second half also continued with a fast-paced development where both teams were approaching the opponent's goal.
58 minutes: As the game dragged on, Tokyo substituted Ha Daesung with Hashimoto. They picked up the second ball and took control.

65 minutes: From Abe's side change, Ogawa, who came up from the outside of the left area, sends a short negative pass. Kono, who broke through, made a scoring opportunity, but the shot went wide.

69 minutes: Hirayama replaces Kawano. This immediately proved to be successful.
70 minutes: Maeda drops Ogawa's pass with one touch, and Abe sends a through pass to Hirayama on the right area. Hirayama, despite being marked by the opponent's defender Takeuchi, dribbles inside and shoots with his left foot from the outside, shifting the timing of defender Yano who came to cover. It goes into the bottom left corner! Hirayama scores his first goal since the Sendai match on July 27, 2014, and succeeds in taking the lead!
However, Nagoya does not give up and the game becomes even more open.

76 minutes: From Nagoya's right side MF Furukawa, allowing Yano's overlap, the cross from here is met by FW Nagai in front of the goal. The ball is headed from above by Tokyo DF, and the floating ball is sucked in just above the bar, losing the second goal.

81 minutes: Abe tenaciously chases after the ball from a side change and earns a left corner kick. From Ogawa's corner kick, Morishige in the center scores a perfect header! The shot is deflected by the opponent's goalkeeper's hand and Tokyo takes the lead again.

86 minutes: Nagoya advances and midfielder Taguchi tries to dribble from their own half, but Morishige slides in. This play results in a red card decision, and Morishige is sent off... Tokyo is forced to play with 10 men for the remaining time. At this point, Tokyo substitutes Takahashi for Hirayama as center-back. Nagoya also brings in forward Gustavo, but Tokyo defends as a unit and withstands Nagoya's counterattacks until the final whistle. Despite the struggle, Tokyo secures 3 points through a collective effort.

[Player Comments]
《Hirayama》
"Regarding the goal, I received a pass from player Abe and was able to bring it into my position after the first touch. I was aiming for a timing that would not hit the opponent's defender, so I thought about shooting immediately. The team's victory is the most important, but it would be meaningless if we can't build on this. As a first step, I am happy to have scored on the Ajinomoto Stadium pitch, and I want to work harder to score goals for the team's victory."

"Ha DAESUNG"
"I am happy to have won my first J-League appearance. To be honest, I still feel like I lack match experience. I made a lot of mistakes overall. I think if I can eliminate those mistakes and grasp the flow of the game, I can perform better both individually and as a team. Japanese soccer puts a lot of pressure on the midfield. I want to work on how to navigate through that pressure and break down the opponent as a challenge."

[Summary of Hiroshi JOFUKU's press conference]
"We conceded a goal in the first restart, but it was a scene that should not have happened considering our goal for this season. The fact that we allowed the second goal was also due to our lack of control in the game. We must reflect on our performance precisely because we won. It was thanks to the players' hard work that we were able to earn 3 points in such a difficult situation today. It was good to share the joy with the fans and supporters, but we want to use this reflection as a source of motivation to play a more mature game in the future."
（The player substitution function worked and the team situation improved, but...?)
It was proven that no matter which player came on as a substitute in a prolonged development by the opponent, the game could be controlled. The challenge is how to avoid conceding goals when the opponent is compact and how to extend our own time. At least in the first half, we must hold them off without conceding any goals. How can we control the game and put the opponent in a situation where they become prolonged quickly? In order to score early in the game, we need to improve our skills and decision-making. I think that a high level of competition within the team is necessary for that."

[Nagoya - Takafumi Ogura Coach's Press Conference Summary]
"Honestly, I'm frustrated. In terms of content, there were parts where I was able to achieve what I aimed for and felt a sense of accomplishment. There were scenes where we were able to break down the opponent and we fought tenaciously, so it was a wasted game. It's a challenge for my management that we couldn't win against FC Tokyo with this performance. I told the players that this is not a game where they should hang their heads."