Aiming for a third consecutive victory, we challenge Kashiwa Reysol away from home.

　Sec. 5 of the 2nd Stage will be an away match against Kashiwa Reysol. Tokyo is currently on a two-game winning streak and sits in 7th place in the league. Today's match is scheduled for Sunday, one day later than the other matches, and the top teams are in a tight battle due to the results from the previous day. Tokyo aims to secure a third consecutive victory and gain ground in the standings, as well as build momentum for the upcoming back-to-back home matches against Urawa on the 23rd and Kashima on the 26th.

　Kashiwa, on the other hand, has no wins yet with 1 draw and 3 losses in the 2nd stage. In the previous match, they suffered a heavy defeat of 1-5 against Gamba Osaka. They have been struggling for the bottom position in the overall standings since the 1st stage, with MF Ricardinho and Roberto CESAR also sidelined due to injuries. However, in September, MF Ono, who had been on loan to Nagoya, returned. FW Haji also joined from Ichihara, and they are trying to rebuild with new members. In this season's matches, including the Nabisco Cup, Tokyo has had 2 wins and 1 draw against Kashiwa, making them a favorable opponent. However, considering that they held closed-door training this week at Kashiwa no Ha Stadium in preparation for the Tokyo match, it can be said that they are desperate for a win in this match.

　This section, Miura is suspended. Kono and Miyazawa form a double pivot, and Kondo Yusuke leads the lineup as the lone striker. Suzuki, who has recovered from injury, starts as the left midfielder for the first time since the final match of the 1st stage. Toda also made it to the bench for the first time since the July 24th Nabisco Cup Sec. 6 match against Kashiwa. The match started with Tokyo's kickoff in the hot and humid conditions at the Kashiwa Soccer Stadium, where you sweat just by standing.

Struggling with tough marking and difficult pitch conditions...

　Kashiwa started aggressively from the beginning. In the 15th second, right full-back Hato advanced and won a corner kick on the right side, and forward Tamada took a shot. However, both teams struggled on the rough pitch after this one chance and were unable to create opportunities. In the 13th minute, Kaji won a corner kick from an overlap on the right side, but goalkeeper Minami's clearance was picked up by Tamada, leading to a counterattack by Kashiwa. In the 19th minute, Tamada entered the penalty area from the right side and passed to midfielder Myojin, who took a shot in front of the goal, but it was saved by goalkeeper Doi.

　Tokyo, 21 minutes in, Yusuke Kondo takes a left CK (corner kick) from a short corner and launches a wave attack, earning a second CK from Inamoto's shot. They look for a chance from the set play, but Kashiwa also gets three consecutive CKs in the 25th minute. They quickly counter-attack after picking up the loose ball, but fail to finish. However, immediately after, Kanazawa makes a big side change pass to the right side. Via Kaji, Baba sends a cross to the front line, and Yusuke Kondo picks up the loose ball from Kashiwa's defense and takes a shot. However, it is blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper.

　Kashiwa steals the ball from a tough defense and launches a simple attack targeting Haneji at the front line. On the other hand, Tokyo switches the positions of Suzuki and Baba after the 30-minute mark, but due to Kelly being closely marked by Kashiwa's midfielder Myojin, their play becomes fragmented, preventing them from mounting an effective attack. Finally, in the 43rd minute, they pick up a second ball from a free kick and approach the Kashiwa goal, with Konno taking a shot from the left area, but it is saved by the goalkeeper. Then, in stoppage time, Kaji connects a free kick and sends a cross into the front line, but Kashiwa's DF clears it and tries to push up the DF line for a counterattack. Aiming for the space behind this line, Miyazawa picks up the clearance and delivers a lobbed pass. Kondo Yusuke, who broke free in front of the goal, heads it, but the ball unfortunately hits the right post and goes central. Just a step faster than Kelly, who rushed in to push it in, Kashiwa's DF clears it. Tokyo created a big chance in the closing stages, but failed to score. The match remains 0-0 as it heads into the second half.

Kashiwa takes the lead with Toda's comeback goal!

　The halftime instructions from Manager Hara were "Kashiwa is pressing hard, so it's difficult to control the ball, but be patient and receive the ball in high positions on both sides, and use the sides more." Following the instructions, Imakano repeatedly ran up the right side, but Kashiwa's concentrated defense prevented Tokyo from creating chances. In the 51st minute, Suzuki took a shot from the right side, and in the 52nd minute, Kaji picked up the loose ball from a corner kick and took a shot. However, both lacked power to score a goal, so in the 53rd minute, Abe was substituted for Suzuki. In the 55th minute, Kashiwa earned a corner kick following a free kick. In the 58th minute, MF Ono aimed directly from a free kick in front of the goal, and Tokyo came close to scoring from the restart.

　However, neither team was able to create a decisive scene, and Tokyo tried to break this stalemate by substituting Toda for Kelly in the 68th minute. With Baba in the center, Abe on the left MF, and Toda on the right, they headed towards the goal. In the 76th minute, from Miyazawa's quick restart, Baba passed to Kondo Yusuke, who broke through in front of the goal but missed the shot. Despite the remaining 15 minutes, the back and forth attacks continued, but it was Tokyo who seized the opportunity first.

　79 minutes, Yusuke Kondo, who received a left throw-in, passed to Abe on the outside while being surrounded by defenders. Abe then made a one-touch pass to the center to Miyazawa. Miyazawa sent a beautiful arched cross from just outside the area to the far side, and Toda met it perfectly! With excellent timing, a high contact point, and a heading goal that seemed to celebrate his return from injury, they took the lead with the much-needed goal against a resilient Kashiwa team.

Unable to hold onto the lead, ending in a draw

　Kashiwa made a substitution in the 81st minute, bringing on FW Yamashita for the defensive midfielder Otani, and MF Shitohira for MF Ohno. They launched a counterattack with a front three of Yamashita, Tamada, and Haji. In response, Tokyo made a substitution in the 85th minute, bringing on Fujiyama as a defensive midfielder for the visibly tired Miyazawa. They were supposed to solidify their defense and hold on against the opponent's desperate counterattack. However, in the 87th minute, Kashiwa's Tamada received a pass in Tokyo's half, turned, slipped between Kaji and Konno, and started dribbling forward. Jean went to support Tamada, but just before that, Tamada made a good decision to send a through ball to the front line. While Shigeno was distracted by Tamada, Haji was left free, broke through to the goal area, and scored with a one-touch finish, equalizing the match. They were caught off guard for a moment, allowing the combination of Tamada and Haji to score the equalizer.

　The FK given in front of the goal in stoppage time was saved by Doi from Tamada's shot. Although they didn't allow an additional point, Jean's header shot from the CK at the end went to the right of the goal. They couldn't take the lead and ended up with a frustrating draw. Throughout the game, Tokyo couldn't play the attacking football they wanted and only managed to get 1 point.

【Player Comments】《Miyazawa》"It's disappointing to lose the victory at the very end. It was a tough game. The field conditions were bad and I couldn't show my strengths, but the assist for the goal was good. In the next match, Reds are in good form, but it's at home and we'll have a lot of fans, so we want to win together as a team."

[Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference] "Today, Kashiwa came out really desperately from the start, especially after suffering a heavy defeat in the last match against Gamba Osaka. I had told the players in practice leading up to today that this would definitely be the kind of match we would face. We changed our system to a four-back and started launching long balls early, picking up loose balls and second balls. Due to the wind and the condition of the pitch, we struggled to connect our passes, but we held firm in the first half, thinking the second half would be the decisive moment. Toda scored the opening goal at a good time, and to be honest, I thought we could do it. However, Kashiwa also brought in experienced players like Shimohei and Masaru KATO in the latter stages, and they attacked desperately. For just a moment, I was distracted by Tamada and lost track of Haji, which led to the goal against us. There are no easy matches to win. I believe we need to be able to win matches like this, but I must say that today's Kashiwa was truly wonderful. In the next match, I want to defeat Urawa with the same spirit as today's Kashiwa."

　[Summary of Coach Hayano's Press Conference] "Considering the very disappointing performance in the last match, we made sure that the backline did not drop today. At the same time, I think the chase from the front line was solid in the first half. However, we still lack confidence and composure in breaking down the opponent's final line, so we couldn't concentrate our efforts in a decisive manner. There was a major crisis at the end of the first half, which was due to our immaturity in line control. For the second half, I anticipated that Tokyo would come out attacking, so we aimed to keep the line from dropping like in the first half. I also instructed to thoroughly mark Kelly. It was good until the point we made substitutions in the second half, but we conceded a goal due to a lack of sharpness. At that point, we had no choice but to go on the attack, so we brought in Yamashita, moved Haji to the left, and placed Tamada in the center to form a three-top, and I believe we were able to equalize by not giving up until the end. However, we did not have the momentum to take the lead afterward. It was a match where we expressed our desire to win, but we still cannot earn three points. I want to take this as the minimum base and approach the next match."