The 16th round of the 2016 Meiji Yasuda J3 League was an away match against Fujieda MYFC.

J3 League also enters the second half of the season from this match.
In the previous home match, Insoo YU scored the opening goal, but they were equalized with a penalty kick, resulting in a 1-1 draw.
Tokyo Starting Eleven has GK in goal. The DF line consists of Yanagi, Yamada, and Okazaki as the three backs.
In the midfield anchor position is Nozawa. Sasaki as the inside half, and Tanabe who made his first appearance and first start in the J3 League.
Both outside positions are held by Mizunuma and Ogawa, with Hayashi and Insoo YU in the front line, forming a 3-5-2 formation.
Fujieda, on the other hand, was listed as 4-5-1, but in reality, it was 3-4-3.
There have been changes to the system since the last match, but the team's approach remains the same, with short passes including the goalkeeper and an aggressive press from the front line.
The game started with a kickoff in Tokyo amidst some humidity, possibly due to the rain the previous day.
 

[First Half]

Take control of the game from an aggressive start.
First shot is Fujieda.S.
Two minutes into the start, Fujieda.S aimed for the bottom left corner of the goal with a middle shot, but the goalkeeper stretched out his hand desperately and touched the ball, which was then deflected by the post.
Furthermore, calmly catch the opponent's cross ball and prevent them from scoring.
Tokyo's first shot is 4 minutes after that.
When Sasaki receives the ball in the midfield, he moves diagonally from the left side towards the center and takes a shot, but it goes wide of the goal.
After that, both teams tried to connect the ball and break through, but they couldn't easily evade the midfield press.
As a result, they conceded a goal from that passing connection.
15 minutes, when the ball was stolen from our own field by Tanabe's pass, they advanced through the center and conceded a goal from a mid-range shot.
Tokyo allowed the first goal, but gradually started to possess the ball and move it in small increments.
In the 24th minute, Okazaki made a breakthrough with a coordinated movement and passed a vertical pass to Insoo YU, who then ran up to the front line.
Insoo YU drops the ball to Ogawa and connects it to Okazaki, who jumps out behind the opponent, but gets caught by the opponent's defense.
Furthermore, in the 31st minute, a diagonal ball was played into the penalty area to Insoo YU from the right side, and it was connected to Mizunuma who jumped into the penalty area from the diagonal right side.
However, Mizunuma's left-footed shot is blocked by the opponent's GK's excellent defense.
Tokyo continues to threaten Fujieda's goal, mainly through Ogawa on the left side, but they are unable to score.
On the contrary, in the 39th minute, the right side was penetrated, and a cross was made in the center in front of the goal. The defense closed the distance with the opponent and bravely blocked the ball.
With a big save from the goalkeeper, they prevented the opponent from scoring an additional point, and the first half ends with a score of 0-1.
 

【Halftime】
Coach Yasuma's comment
"To turn the game around from here, let's use the sides effectively and keep it simple in our attacks. Let's review how we approach crosses."
In defense, not only should you be in front of the opponent, but also make sure to close in on the ball.
Let's continue what we are doing now with confidence.
 

【Second half】
Both teams entered the second half without making any player substitutions.
The second half also became an active start for both teams, leading to an overall open development.
Both teams create scenes that threaten the goal, but Fujieda also allows the next goal.
53 minutes, when a cross from the left side was put near the goal, it was directly scored and allowed an additional point.
Tokyo, which had a difficult situation with shots just outside the frame in the 56th minute, also raised the signal of a counterattack.
59 minutes, Mizunuma who held the ball on the right side, connects it to Yanagi who broke through behind.
Yanagi enters the penalty area diagonally and plays a low ground cross to Tanabe, who then slots it into the goal.
Tokyo, who closed the gap to one point, substituted Sasaki for Koyama and placed Koyama at left full-back.
Switch the willow to the right side and change to a 4-4-2 formation with Yamada and Okazaki as center-backs.
Tokyo, which is increasing its offensive pressure, welcomes a chance in the 66th minute. Insoo YU steals the ball from the opponent's mistake and faces the GK one-on-one, but is blocked by Fujieda.S GK's excellent defense.
Furthermore, in the 71st minute, Tokyo switched from Hayashi to Hiraoka to further increase the speed of their attack.
As the press in the midfield becomes more difficult, the game becomes more open, and a chance comes in the 75th minute.
When Yagi cut off the opponent's pass on the right side of the midfield, he immediately passed the ball to Mizunuma, who broke through to the back of the right side.
Insoo YU and others run in the center, but Mizunuma's shot goes over the frame.
In the 77th minute immediately after missing a chance, Fujieda.S was passed a through pass behind the DF line, and Yuin chased from behind and competed, resulting in a foul.
Yanagi, who was shown his second yellow card of the day, will be sent off, but the free kick in front of the PA is blocked by the wall, and no additional points are allowed.
Tokyo drops Nozawa back to the center of the backline and switches to a three-back formation with Yamada and Okazaki to counterattack, but Yamada's leg cramps and Ito is substituted in.
Leave two cards of Nozawa and Okazaki.
Push out the left hill and right stream to a high position and counterattack with all our might.
In the 89th minute, Hiraoka runs out to the left side and crosses the ball, but fails to take a shot.
Cross from Mizunuma from the right side in the 90+1 minute.
In addition, in the 90+2 minute, Ogawa made a vertical pass to Insoo YU in front of the penalty area, but Ogawa aimed for the dropped ball and it went straight to the goalkeeper.
Despite fighting tenaciously until the end, the score remained unchanged and resulted in a defeat with a score of 1-2.
 

Thank you very much for your passionate support for FC Tokyo U-23 today.
Thank you for your continued warm support.

[Summary of Manager Yasuma's Press Conference]

"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who came to Fujieda despite the consecutive matches in J1."
The match went well, with overage players also joining and being welcomed by a good team. Fujieda.S has also become a really good team, so I was really looking forward to this match.
In that, we have been able to create good opportunities and become able to do a lot, but we still need to score the final goal and improve our last pass.
In terms of defense, there are still things that need to be learned through practice, such as conceding goals at the wrong timing. I want to turn those experiences into lessons and learn from them.
Among them, even though it was hot, he started off strong from the beginning, and even when we were down to 10 players, our legs didn't stop moving. We caused trouble for Nozawa, but the players chose to take the risk and go for the equalizing goal, and they kept going towards the goal until the end. This shows that they have become stronger in terms of the mentality of the players in the early spring. I would like to further build on that.
However, I don't think we can win with just our feelings, so while valuing those feelings, we need to improve the areas where our quality is lacking and win future matches. And I hope to work hard with the players, keeping in mind the goal of taking the higher position."
 

【Player Comment】
《Tanabe》
"(What are your thoughts on the J3 League?) It was a game where we were required to battle in every situation, rather than having an open development like in J1. It felt more similar to the AFC Champions League than J1."
(I think we were in a favorable position in the midfield during the first half?) We were connecting the ball well, but I made a mistake and conceded a goal. It was a pass that I shouldn't have made individually, and it was a shame because the team was feeling good.
(Did you find it difficult to play with the younger generation below?) No, not at all. The younger generation players also worked hard, and I hope they will take on challenges without hesitation.
(There were many scramble situations) It was a situation where we were losing, so in the end, we had to take defensive risks based on individual judgment rather than the system. The players behind us were working hard, so it would have been good if we could have scored in front, but I think we kept fighting until the end even with one less player.
(The part about how to start the game looked a little bad, didn't it?) Personally, I don't think it was that bad, but the opponent was also there, so maybe the opponent had more momentum. As a team, we didn't lack concentration, and we were determined to get into the game properly. We had players who could hold the ball in the midfield, and we had strong players on the sides, so we tried to have the ball ourselves.
(I think the last perseverance was amazing, right?) It was a game that we had to win. We had chances and wanted to score one more goal.
(I'm glad I was able to score a goal, but I also made some mistakes, so I'm reflecting on that.)"

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