Challenging Yokohama F.Marinos, aiming for a perfect victory, at the start of the 2nd stage

Tokyo, who finished the 1st stage in 6th place. After a break of about one month, today's opponent is Yokohama F.Marinos, who achieved stage domination. It is an important opening match that will affect the future, and we want to win and gain momentum.

In the 1st stage, Yokohama sank with a counterattack from Tokyo. However, everyone is tightening their focus, thinking that "it won't go as smoothly as it did back then" against the champion team who is determined to repay the debt. How can they snatch victory from within that situation? Also, it is worth paying attention to how they will address the challenges that have been raised so far in the battle, such as conceding goals from restarts, the composition power in the midfield, and the isolation of the FW, and how they will make adjustments towards the 2nd stage.

There was a new addition, Tadatoshi MASUDA, in the starting lineup. He joined on a loan transfer from Kashima and has only been with the team for less than two weeks, but Coach Kiyoshi OKUMA has high expectations for him as a player who can break through situations even when defended. He replaced Yukihiko SATO, who was nursing a back injury, and played as the right midfielder in the Japan National Stadium, in the rain.

Do not miss the opportunity, TUTO takes the lead with a skillful goal!

In the first minute, Yokohama created a chance as MF Shunsuke Nakamura's free kick was met by DF Komura. They tried to take control of the game from the start, but Tokyo quickly regained possession with fast checks from the front line and calm defense, bringing the match to an even contest. In the 5th minute, Masuda attempted a daring overhead shot from a long cross by TUTO. Perhaps this gave them momentum, as Tokyo quickly transitioned and threatened the Yokohama goal. In the 8th minute, Amaral connected with a direct pass to Masamitsu KOBAYASHI, who shot but unfortunately hit the goalkeeper Kawaguchi directly, showing a good intent. Then, in the 13th minute, TUTO pressured Yokohama's passing source in midfield, and the loose ball was timely passed back to TUTO on the right side. With speed, TUTO evaded three opposing defenders with a feint and cut inside to shoot! Tokyo took the lead with a typical counterattack early in the match.

However, after that, Yokohama continued to attack. In the 14th minute, FW Toyoike headed a sharp cross from MF Miura. In the 23rd minute, Komura headed a left corner kick from Miura, almost scoring but narrowly missing above the goal. In the 26th minute, Edmilson controlled a floating ball with one touch, evaded Komine, and took a free shot. However, goalkeeper Doi made a nice save! They successfully survived a critical situation.

Tokyo often picks up loose balls and entrusts them to the front line with a fast development centered around Asari. They start counterattacks from the sides, but they fail to score. In the 41st minute, Kobayashi dribbled the ball into the penalty area from a throw-in and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot, but it was blocked by the goalkeeper, and the first half ended with a score of 1-0.

Koike, valuable additional point with his first J1 goal, and Amaral who pulled away

From the start of the second half, Yokohama's Nagayama creates a chance on the right side. The shot he took after running into the penalty area from Tokyo's left side was narrowly deflected for a corner kick by Sandro just before the goal. Two minutes later, Nagayama shook off a DF and sent a ground pass in front of the goal. However, it just missed reaching MF Endo who dove in. Still, Yokohama launched a fierce attack to bounce back from the deficit, with the DF marking becoming stricter and more intense. However, in the 50th minute, Koike, Amaral, and TUTO's speedy passing created a gap in Yokohama's DF. Then, Koike broke through behind the three-back line with a pass-and-go. He dribbled in with a superb through pass from TUTO and took a precise shot that hit the right corner of the post and went in for a goal!! Koike, who always contributes with his dedicated defense, scored his first goal in J1, which became a valuable additional point that disrupted Yokohama's momentum in the second half. This was also a step forward in addressing the issue that Coach Okuma had been discussing: 'Don't just rely on the two forwards to challenge from long distances in midfield. Use more players.'

Yokohama substituted MF Nagai for Nagayama in the 52nd minute. They became more aggressive, and in the 55th minute, Nakamura jumped in from the center to head a cross from the right. Shortly after, Tokyo's Amaral and TUTO approached the goal with a counterattack from a quick restart, but neither could score. The back-and-forth battle continued. Yokohama tried to build their attack from the backline and display their original attacking style, while Tokyo's line gradually stretched. They could no longer connect to quick attacks with numbers, but they maintained their focus in play. In the 82nd minute, Miura's direct free kick was also saved by the crossbar. Yokohama had already substituted MF Harada for Yuric, and in the 85th minute, they brought in FW Okayama for Soto. They used all their substitution slots to try to break through, but they couldn't create any decisive moments. In stoppage time, TUTO, who was injured from a fierce foul, was replaced by Toda, and it seemed they would hold on. However, shortly after, Yokohama's DF misjudged a ball cleared from the DF line by Naito. The alert Amaral broke through and calmly scored the third goal, leaving the pursuing DF behind!

Proof of growth, fought against the champion team on equal terms or better and won decisively!!

After Amaral's shot, his foot hit the head of GK Kawaguchi who jumped in, causing an injury. Yokohama used Komura as the GK. As a result of this incident, the long stoppage time that lasted until the 8th minute became a hectic development with yellow cards flying around, but Tokyo substituted Kobayashi with FW Kanno. They calmly fought until the end and the time was up. They started the current stage with a clean sheet victory, which is a good start.

Compared to the 1st stage, coach Kiyoshi OKUMA said, "The way we fight won't change significantly. We can't change it." In other words, there is no secret strategy to win, but it means "gradually correcting the challenges step by step, steadily building up the team's strength, and fighting through each match." Today, it can be said that we have proven our growth by being able to withstand the fight against the 1st stage champion with an equal fight, even if we were pushed back. It marked the beginning of the 2nd stage, raising expectations for future battles.