Match Review
After three consecutive wins, we returned home to Ajinomoto Stadium. Tokyo celebrated their first victory in six matches against Nagoya Grampus in Sec. 30 held at National Stadium, and continued their winning streak in away games against Urawa Reds and Yokohama F. Marinos. In recent years, we have accumulated three points at Saitama Stadium 2002 and Nissan Stadium, which have been challenging for us.
This season marks the second three consecutive wins, and the team's condition is good, aiming for the first four consecutive wins of the season against Sagan Tosu. There were no major changes to the starting lineup, and Soma ANZAI started on the pitch for the first time in seven matches. With a victory at Ajinomoto Stadium, where they have been away for about three and a half months, the match kicked off amidst the rain.
1st HALF - Gaining rhythm from the middle of the first half and launching a counterattack
Despite being on a three-game winning streak, the issue of starting the game, which had been pointed out as a concern, was once again exposed on this day. In the 9th minute of the first half, after being pushed back while the ball was moved on the right side, a surprising direct cross was delivered to Fukuda, and Marcelo RYAN reacted to it with a headed shot. Although this was ruled offside with the support of VAR, it was a sudden scare for the team.
Just after that, in the 13th minute of the first half, they faced another crisis from a corner kick, but here the goalkeeper Taishi Brandon NOZAWA made a good save. He quickly blocked a shot from close range by Vykintas Slivka. After that, the pressure on Tosu's passing work was not fully effective, and there were noticeable moments where they struggled against the power of Marcelo RYAN up front, but mainly Yasuki KIMOTO, who was matched up against him, held firm at the critical moment and did not allow a goal.
Finally, around the 25th minute of the first half, Tokyo started to find their rhythm. In the 30th minute of the first half, Kota TAWARATSUMIDA received the ball in his own half and dribbled solo for about 60 meters. Although he couldn't take a shot, he excited the stadium. Then, in the 36th minute of the first half, they faced their biggest chance. Ryotaro ARAKI's feed was reacted to by Anzai, who found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but he couldn't connect with the shot as he wanted, and they went into halftime without scoring.
2nd HALF - Equalized with a goal from Yang in the final stages
Even after the halftime break, there was no significant change in the game's structure, with Tosu continuing to hold the ball, but Tokyo's back line responded tenaciously. Conversely, in the 56th minute of the second half, player Tawaramizuki, who had shown sharp moves since the first half, managed to take a shot, but it was blocked by a defender.
In the midst of a back-and-forth battle, they allowed the first goal. In the 28th minute of the second half, after being broken down on the left side, a low and fast cross from player Togashi was cleared by Masato MORISHIGE, but the clearance lacked distance, allowing player Nakahara to take a shot. Although player MORISHIGE blocked this as well, the loose ball rolled in front of player VIKINTAS SLIVKA, who pushed it in, resulting in a conceded goal.
Even so, the current team does not look down and aims to attack the goal for an equalizer. Substitute players Riki HARAKAWA, Keita ENDO, and Tsuyoshi OGASHIWA actively play to bring in the ball, and in the 33rd minute of the second half, a close chance was created from the connection between HARAKAWA and OGASHIWA.
In the flow of the game, during a corner kick, Mori-shige aimed for the goal with a direct volley, and from the subsequent corner kick, a tying goal was scored in the 37th minute of the second half. From a scramble in front of the goal, Takahiro KO powerfully struck the ball into the net, bringing the score back to a tie.
With this one goal, the voltage at Ajinomoto Stadium surged, and Tokyo aimed for a comeback, including the 7 minutes of added time, but they lacked precision in the end, resulting in no final goal and missing out on their first four consecutive wins of the season.
After a one-week break, the next match will be an away game against Vissel Kobe.
MATCH DETAILS
<FC Tokyo>
STARTING Ⅺ
GK Taishi Brandon NOZAWA
DF Yuto NAGATOMO (substituted at 42 minutes: Hotaka NAKAMURA)/Masato MORISHIGE/Yasuki KIMOTO/Teppei OKA
MF Hiroshi TAKAU (substituted at 23 minutes: Chikara HARAGAWA)/Ryotaro ARAKI
FW Diego Oliveira (substituted at 23 minutes: Go KOBAYASHI)/Kota TAWARATSUMIDA (substituted at 23 minutes: Keita ENDO)/Soma ANZAI (substituted at 42 minutes: Leon NOZAWA)
SUBS
GK Go HATANO
FW Keita YAMASHITA
GOAL
37th minute of the second half: Takahiro KO
<Sagan Tosu>
STARTING Ⅺ
GK Ilgyu PARK
DF Kosuke YAMAZAKI/Kim Te-hyung/Harada Wataru
MF Kento NISHIYA/Akito FUKUTA (39th minute: Daichi SUZUKI)/Nakahara Akira (45+1 minute: Yuta IMAZU)/Yuki HORIGOME (16th minute: Watanabe Ryohei)/Vikintas Slivka (39th minute: Keisuke SAKAIYA)
FW Hino Shota (16th minute: Cayman TOGASHI)/Marcelo Hian
SUBS
GK Masahiro OKAMOTO
MF Naoyuki FUJITA
GOAL
28th minute of the second half: Vykintas Slivka
[Interview with Peter CKLAMOVSKI, Manager]
Q: please review the game.
A: It was a highly entertaining football match where both teams fought to achieve a result. I think Sagan Tosu also played a good game, and we anticipated that they would fight in this manner. Until about the 20th minute of the first half, the momentum was with Tosu, and we were in a situation where we had to ensure we did not fall behind in the game. While fighting through the situation where we had to firmly build our own game, towards the end of the first half, we were able to grasp a good rhythm and flow for ourselves.
In the second half, we had to improve our attacking play, specifically by increasing our awareness of moving forward and making more forward runs. By doing this, we were able to control the game better and grasp the flow of the match. It was important for us to connect our performances while building on what we had been doing, and as we discussed at halftime, we were able to improve our attack. Unfortunately, we gave Tosu an easy goal, which everyone feels regretful about. However, from that point on, we responded well with our attitude and belief. We continued to fight and managed to equalize at 1-1. I believe we were able to fight strongly towards the end, and the players who came on as substitutes made a very good impact. We ran out of time to score the winning goal, and I feel regretful that we couldn't bring home three points for our fans and supporters.
Q: With 5 matches left, there is an 11-point difference from 3rd place. How will you maintain the team's motivation as the season comes to a close?
A,The motivation is to steadily improve every week, week by week. And to fight to finish the season stronger than any other team. The important thing is not to look too far ahead, but to value each match and fight hard in every game. There were good aspects in today's match as well. However, there were also areas where we need to fight more sharply. While improving those areas, I want to make us a stronger team, a team that can win matches like this. The players worked very hard. While continuing to do this, I want to ensure that we can recover well first, and then grow tactically, physically, and technically.
[Player Interview]
Takahiro KO
Q: please review the game.
A: I am very frustrated. I believe that not being able to secure a win in a match we absolutely had to win reflects our current strength. After equalizing, we were able to increase the pace, but throughout the match, we had little time in control, and difficult periods lasted for a long time.
Q: This was your second goal of the season. Please review the scoring scene.
A, I was aiming for the loose ball after the contest. I had a good feeling during shooting practice this week, so I’m glad I was able to score. Coach Yu TOKISAKI has presented many variations of set plays. So, we just had to respond to those, but we hadn’t been able to score easily. There was also talk that scoring from set plays is important to break into the top ranks, so I think it was good that we were able to score.
Q: The Japan national team has activities, and the league matches will be suspended. What preparations will be made during this suspension period?
A: I think it is difficult to maintain control of the game for the full 90 minutes like we did in the last 10 minutes of the second half, but we want to work on increasing that time even a little. By focusing on ourselves, we aim to win all the remaining matches.
<Soma ANZAI>
Q: It's been a while since you started in the lineup. Please share your thoughts on that.
A: It was my first start in a while, coming back while the team was riding the momentum of three consecutive wins. Everyone understood that it wouldn't be an easy game, and there were several dangerous moments from the first half. As a member playing after a long time, I feel responsible for the many stagnant periods the team experienced and for not being able to effectively capitalize on the momentum from the three consecutive wins. Above all, I am frustrated that we couldn't win.
Q, the movement of running from the side to the center and actively targeting the opponent's back was particularly noticeable.
A: If I don’t keep moving actively with my runs, the opponent, defending with five players, will shift their defenders sideways, leaving no space. I aimed to run from the outside to the inside, targeting vertical spaces and behind the defense near the sidelines. By running vertically and behind, I tried to break down the opponent’s defensive line and create spaces for my teammates to use through my runs.
Q: There were scenes where the attack got stuck against Sagan Tosu, who put more players into defense.
A: In the past few matches, many opponents have pressed defensively from the front, but Sagan Tosu set up their defense with five players. While we were pressing them back, how to break down their defense to finish the attack, and as someone who played on the side, where and how to deliver crosses are challenges to work on going forward, and I want to organize those aspects. Regarding today’s match, since the opponent used a five-back formation and we made few attacking moves, I think our offense became easy for them to defend against.
