This season's cup competition begins, preparing for the Levain Cup quarterfinals

The first match of the YBC Levain Cup quarterfinals will be held, facing Avispa Fukuoka at home.
Tokyo this season participated in the ACL, so the cup competition starts from the quarterfinals. With renewed determination, the tournament aiming for the top has begun.

Morishige and Maruyama have been selected for the Japan national team, while Nathan Burns has been selected for the Australia national team, so this "first match" will be played without them. However, Coach Shinoda said, "We will fight with the players we have now. Among them, we will use the players who are in good condition." Furthermore, he stated, "This is not a time to try something new or experiment, but rather to take advantage of the continuity we have had so far and aim for victory."
Center back positions will be filled by Yoshimoto and Takahashi. Tanabe and Nozawa will form a double pivot in midfield, while the rest of the starting lineup will be the same as in the league match. Additionally, Hashimoto, who has recovered from injury, will be on the bench.

Fukuoka, on the other hand, has secured a spot in the knockout stage by finishing second in Group B. In the second stage, they are currently on a four-game losing streak with 1 win, 2 draws, and 7 losses. Fukuoka has been struggling in the league, currently sitting in 18th place. However, their determination to win this tournament is strong. Above all, Tokyo has suffered 2 defeats against Fukuoka in the league. Coach Shinoda stated, "Fukuoka is a superior team in reality. We have no intention of backing down and we want to take back the '2 defeats' as challengers."

Today in Fukuoka, DF Komano, who is on loan from Tokyo, and MF Mito are unable to play, and FW Wellington is also absent. On the team sheet, it is a 4-3-3 formation, but Hamada is in the center of the defense, Kim Hyonun is on the right, and MF Tamura is on the left. Nakamura is on the right side of the defense, and Kamekawa is on the left, forming a 5-back formation. MF Danilson and MF Tomiyasu form a double pivot in the midfield and start the game.

The past few days have been rainy due to the influence of a typhoon, but on the last day of August, the weather suddenly turned into a midsummer climate. The match started at 19:30 with a kickoff in Fukuoka.

ボールを支配し、優位に進めたが、ムリキにアクシデントが・・・

Tokyo dominated the ball from the start and continued to attack.
7 minutes: Muriqui ran in response to a pass sent to the front line, but he was fouled by the opponent, resulting in a free kick from the left area near the Erik. East aimed directly for the goal, but was blocked by the Fukuoka DF's wall. He then tried to aim for the goal again with the loose ball, but was blocked by the opponent.

13 minutes: Muriqui dribbles up from the left and passes to the side to the east. East crosses from the left front line and Muriqui in the area takes a header shot.

23 minutes: Tanabe dribbles up and passes sideways to Kono who runs out to the center. Kono's trap fails, and although it was initially blocked by Fukuoka, Muroya follows up on the loose ball and takes a direct shot, but it goes over the goal.
24 minutes: Tanabe earns a free kick near the left area. Kono sends a soft ball to the far right area, and Maeda tries to head it back, but it is defended by Fukuoka.

The game was progressing with a slight advantage, but Fukuoka, who defended with a 5-back formation, closed the spaces and we couldn't break through. Fukuoka gradually created opportunities for counterattacks, but we responded calmly without panicking. After that, the situation became a stalemate.

34 minutes: Muriqui receives a foul from Muroya on the right side and earns a free kick outside the right area. From here, Erik sends a sharp kick to the front of the goal, with Muriqui near the goal, Takahashi in the center, and Maeda in the far side all making powerful jumps. However, the ball just goes over Muriqui's head and goes out of bounds. Muriqui injures his leg on the landing and has to leave the pitch temporarily. However, he is unable to return and is forced to be substituted.
38 minutes: Nakajima, who scored his first goal of the season in the previous league match, is substituted in.

40 minutes: Kono dribbles up and passes to Higashi, who enters the right area. Higashi drops a return pass with his heel and runs into the right area, taking a decisive shot... but the opponent's goalkeeper saves it with one hand. Higashi reacts to the rebound. He gets into a shooting position at close range, but is unable to finish in front of Fukuoka MF Danilson's defense.
Blocked by Fukuoka's good defense, the first half ended scoreless.

Although Nakajima scored two consecutive goals to take the lead, they were caught up at the end of the game...

Tokyo dominated the ball in the second half, but Fukuoka pressed from the front, causing mistakes and preventing Tokyo from finding their rhythm. They were unable to effectively move forward and struggled to create scoring opportunities.

55 minutes: East on the right side attempts to break through the front line from a one-two with Kawano inside the area, and earns the first corner kick of the day. However, Kawano's right corner kick is cleared.
57 minutes: Midfielder Higashi dribbles forward slightly from the left to the center. He passes it to Maeda in the center, who then enters the left area. However, he is blocked by the opposing defender after receiving Maeda's return pass and is unable to take a shot.

62 minutes: Akimoto's goal kick is received by Higashi, slightly to the right in front of the area, who creates a momentary pause and expands to the right. Maeda runs in response to this and shoots from the right area. Although it is saved by the Fukuoka goalkeeper, Nakajima reacts to the loose ball in front of the goal. He closes in one step ahead of the opponent's defender and pushes the ball into the goal with his whole body. With Nakajima's second consecutive goal following the Nagoya game, they take the lead with a score of 1-0.
65 minutes: Tokyo substituted Satoru KAWANO with Mizunuma to increase the speed of their attack and gain momentum.

73 minutes: Maeda on the right initiates a quick attack, Nakajima cuts in from the left to aim for the goal, but it hits the opponent's defender and results in a left corner kick. Immediately after that, Hashimoto comes in. From the short corner on the east side, Mizunuma connects with the loose ball from the cross and takes a direct shot.
74 minutes: Fukuoka substitutes FW Sakata. Both teams are using player substitutions to aim for a goal, and the game has become intense.

While both teams were attacking each other, Tokyo was unable to score additional points despite Fukuoka's mistakes, and the game did not reach a decisive pinch.
85 minutes: Mizonuma, who received Hashimoto's side change on the left, took a step up in the center and attempted a controlled shot, but it was caught by the goalkeeper.

90 minutes: Takahashi clears the early cross from the left of Fukuoka. Fukuoka MF Tomiyasu seizes this loose ball and moves to the right front line. Just after coming on as a substitute, MF Mishima receives a negative pass from here at the right area corner. While feinting, MF Mishima brings it inside and scores a powerful shot with his left foot from in front of Tokunaga... a devastating goal... This makes it 1-1, a tie.
The first match ended in a draw with a valuable away goal for Fukuoka.

[Player Comments]
"Nakajima"
"(Regarding goals) The goalkeeper must always be prepared to deflect. It happened to come right in front of me, but it's important to go into that position. Throughout the game, I was conscious of actively attacking and taking shots while using my surroundings. It's good that I can express that consciousness in my play after returning from the Olympics, but I think I need to improve the quality and make plays that lead directly to goals. At this point, there are also away goals, and the opponent has the advantage, but regardless of that, we want to go and take the ball ourselves and score to win."

"Regarding the last 15 minutes, we were able to have the ball more often. However, when we were able to possess it, it was a bit ambiguous whether we should try to take it back from Fukuoka's ball holder or retreat and solidify the block. As a result, we continued to be attacked with early crosses and from the sides. We didn't allow any decisive chances, but in the end, we conceded a goal from my own clearance, so I have to reflect on that. However, it's important not to dwell on the fact that we conceded a goal and ended in a draw, but to prepare well in the next three days."

[Summary of Coach Yoshiyuki SHINODA's Press Conference]
"It's disappointing to concede a goal at the end and end up with a draw. However, after the game, I told the players, 'It's not over yet, and there's no need to look down.' In terms of the game, we had a lot of possession but couldn't finish. It's a difficult theme, but I think it would have been even better if we could make movements to get behind the opponent and play in a way that receives the ball and faces forward. It would have been good if we could create more pressure on the opponent's goal in the first half. We were still able to score, but in the last 10-15 minutes, we lost the ball a lot due to our own mistakes. We need to play in a way that calms the game down. We need to reflect on and adjust our build-up play and how we finish the game when we are in a winning position. Next, we have an away game, but I want to show a more aggressive attitude. Even though it's a short time, I want to prepare while firmly looking at our own challenges."

[Fukuoka - Coach Masami Ihara's Press Conference Summary]
"First of all, I am grateful to the fans and supporters of Fukuoka who came in large numbers and supported us."
In the knockout format over two matches, we were able to equalize by scoring one point in the end. I think the away goal has a significant meaning. Tokyo is a team that we earned 6 points against in the league this season. Although they changed their coach, we expected them to fight more fiercely and rigorously. Today's match was positioned as 90 minutes out of 180 minutes, but they entered the game firmly without losing to the opponent's momentum and spirit, and they demonstrated that throughout the 90 minutes. In the first half, our plan was to be defensive and enter the game a bit tightly. Although we conceded the first goal, I think we fulfilled our game plan sufficiently, including the equalizing goal at the end. Since we have the second match in 3 days, we want to return home and prepare thoroughly. It is Fukuoka's first experience to advance to the finals tournament, but we want to recover our condition and prepare for the match aiming for the top 4."