Tama River Clasico, Suppressing Kawasaki's Momentum and Seeking Revenge from Last Season!

　Sec. 7 will face Kawasaki Frontale, and Sec. 13 will welcome the 3rd Round Tama River Clasico at home. In the Nabisco Cup match against Iwata, we were able to show our own soccer but ended up with a draw at the end. In this section, we will stick to our desired soccer and aim for victory in a tenacious battle. However, Hayu will leave the team due to injury. With an increasing number of injured players and considering the consecutive matches, we will face the match by replacing the members from the Iwata match. Sasaki and Fujiyama will be the center backs, Asari will be placed in the central midfield, and Akamine will also start. Kurizawa will take charge of the midfield.

　Kawasaki, on the other hand, is currently in 10th place in the league with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses. They have not been able to get into a good rhythm since the start of the season, as coach Takashi Sekizuka has been absent due to poor health. However, under the guidance of coach Tsutomu Takahata, they finally seemed to have found their groove in the last match against Kashiwa in the Nabisco Cup, with forward JUNINHO scoring a hat-trick. The combination of JUNINHO and Zheng has both speed and power, so it is important to prevent these two from gaining momentum. It is also crucial to restrict the playmaking abilities of midfielder Nakamura, who provides passes, as well as MF Yamagishi and Mori, who are key players on the wings.

　Kawasaki match, which has been a fierce battle since the time of JFL affiliation. Coach Hiroshi JOFUKU also strongly declared, "Every game is worth 3 points, but I am fully aware of the feelings of the fans and players. I want to express those feelings on the pitch and make it an intense battle." By controlling the midfield battle and suppressing Kawasaki's powerful attacking lineup and momentum, we aim to achieve revenge for last season's defeat and secure victory!

　The rain from yesterday has stopped, but it is still cloudy and windy at Ajinomoto Stadium. The match started with Kawasaki's kickoff at 16:04.

An intense development of scoring points, Cabore, and Akamine's goal to start over

　A speedy and intense attack and defense unfolded from the start. In the 4th minute, Cabore from the right side brought the ball into the area from Redmine's post and took a shot, but it curved to the left. In the 7th minute, Nakamura from Kawasaki drifted to the right and made a big side change to the left front line. It reached Yamagishi, who had moved up to the goal area, perfectly, and he got into a shooting position. However, Fujiyama quickly covered and escaped with a corner kick. In the 9th minute, Nagatomo ran up the left side, challenged the Kawasaki DF, and crossed persistently. Redmine at the far post returned the ball, but Cabore in the center failed to connect. In the 12th minute, Kajiyama crossed from the right and Cabore tried to head it, but it didn't hit.

　The exchange of offense and defense was fast, and both teams tried to attack, but still, they held each other in defense and there were not many shooting opportunities. However, in the 19th minute, Sasaki stopped the opponent with a foul inside the Tokyo team's territory and received a warning. With this, Kawasaki was given a free kick, and midfielder Nakamura's kick was dropped by forward Zheng inside the area, and immediately behind him, forward Juninho floated a pass again. Forward Zheng reacted immediately and turned around to shoot. He scored a sharp goal and allowed the opponent to take the lead by taking advantage of the gap in the set play.

　Still, without rushing, Kajiyama and Nagatomo as starting points, the two top players also received the ball well and counterattacked. In the 25th minute, Nagatomo broke through and won a free kick on the left front line. From this free kick, Kurisawa kicked a low ball and Cabore pushed it into the goal as it bounced in front of the goal! They equalized. However, immediately after in the 26th minute, Tokyo gave Kawasaki another free kick in the center of their own territory, and FW Juninho and Tokyo DF competed for MF Nakamura's kick to the front line, and FW Zheng in the right area returned it to the goal with a ground pass. Tokyo couldn't clear this and MF Taniguchi scored from the loose ball... Once again, they lost the lead from a set piece.

　However, Tokyo maintained their rhythm and launched attacks by utilizing the speed of their front line. In the 36th minute, Kurisawa broke free on the left side thanks to Kajiyama's feed, and passed to Cabore in front of the goal, who then connected with Akamine behind him. However, they were quickly closed down by the Kawasaki defenders. In the 42nd minute, Sato stole the ball and Kajiyama, Cabore, Akamine, and Kajiyama again linked up. Although the ball was initially loose, Imakuno regained possession and passed it to the right. Tokunaga's cross drifted to the far side and went out of bounds, but they managed to maintain their attacking shape by connecting passes directly.

　And in the 43rd minute, Kajiyama from their own half sends a long ball to the left side. Nagatomo catches up with it and crosses from the sideline. The ball goes over Cabore in front of the goal, but Akamine immediately turns to the right and skillfully moves past the Kawasaki DF to take a shot! He scores to the left of the goal, bringing the game back to a tie and ending the first half.

Otake's first goal puts us ahead, and we achieve a come-from-behind victory with our own style of soccer!

　The second half also started with a speedy exchange of attacks. In the 50th minute, Kawasaki MF Ohashi made a through pass to FW Juninho, who broke through to the front line, but Fujiyama persistently closed in and prevented the shot. In the 53rd minute, Kawasaki quickly switched to a counterattack from their own half. MF Nakamura sent a through pass to FW Zheng on the left front line, but Sasaki ran to catch up and escaped with a throw-in. Tokyo gradually took control of the game with tough defense. They calmly passed the ball and looked for opportunities, and in the 58th minute, Nagatomo, who had moved up from the left, took a shot after a combination play between Asari and Konno. However, the shot curved to the right.

　Kawasaki also launched a quick attack, and in the 62nd minute, FW Zheng was intercepted by Fujiyama and cut inside to take a shot, but Shioda made a save. In the 63rd minute, Ohata was substituted for Kurizawa. And then, just after that, Kawasaki took the goal kick and connected it to Cabore, who drifted to the left and crossed. The ball was cleared by the Kawasaki DF once, but Kajiyama followed up on the ball that spilled in front of the area. Ohata snatched the loose ball again from the melee and advanced to the right area. He aimed for a shot with a looping touch kick that passed through the gap between the defenders and was sucked into the goal. Ohata, who had just entered the field, marked a splendid first goal and succeeded in taking the lead!

　Tokyo, which has completely grasped the rhythm, creates a decisive goal from a flowing pass play in the 70th minute. In the opponent's territory, Kajiyama and Cabore persistently connect, and then Imano passes to Cabore and runs forward. Cabore passes to Akamine on the left side, and this time to Otake in the center. Otake without hesitation, sends a through pass to Imano running up on the right side. Imano neatly pierces it into the left corner with a ground shot! Tokyo this season scored the 4th goal in a form that embodies the "Moving Football" they aim for.

　After that, Kawasaki also gathered the ball to the forward FW Zheng and JUNINHO in the front line, and the intense attack and defense continued. In the 76th minute, from Kawasaki's right corner kick, the header aimed at FW Zheng -> FW JUNINHO was saved by Shioda with one hand in the upper left corner. In the 86th minute, FW JUNINHO went up the left side and a sharp shot was taken by FW Kurotsu who ran into the middle, but it was also saved by Shioda and resulted in a corner kick. Shioda concentrated on defense, especially in the DF line, and held on until the end of the game. In the second half, they achieved an exciting comeback with their planned soccer and won the Tama River Clasico, marking their third consecutive victory in the league.

　【Player Comments】《Otake》"I entered the pitch with the instruction to receive the ball and become a starting point, while also being strict in defense. I was brought on when the score was tied, and I thrive in such situations. I intended to score myself. The goal was as I aimed, but I was surprised it went in. When I had the ball, I was surrounded by the opposing defenders, so I instinctively thought to go over. I'm good at loop shots. (What about the through pass that led to the fourth goal?) I saw Konno moving up, so I just passed it. I think it not only led to a goal but also reflected the soccer we are trying to play as a team. Everyone was moving, and it felt like we were practicing. With each match, we are getting closer to the soccer we want to play, and I want to continue playing good soccer and win. I want to work hard to achieve four consecutive wins." 《Kajiyama》"Last season we suffered a heavy defeat, so today, even if we fell behind, we aimed to stay composed and play our usual soccer. We talked about wanting to have an emotionally charged game at home with many supporters present. Kawasaki players can deliver good balls if left free, so I focused on being strong in challenges. We conceded a goal in the first half, but I think we continued with the team's strategy and connected it to good attacks in the second half. I want to extend the time we can play like we did in the second half. It was a good game in terms of revenge, but I want to improve on the good points and correct the areas of reflection to connect to the next match."

　[Summary of Coach Jofuku's Press Conference] "Kawasaki's powerful attack starts with solid build-up in the midfield, so we approached the game with the mindset of not allowing them to create space in the midfield to let their attackers run freely. In the first half, there were 1-2 through passes from MF Nakamura to FW JUNINHO, but other than that, it was mostly set pieces and restarts. I think we didn't allow them to do much else. However, conceding two goals from those restarts was very frustrating. I believe the opening goal was also Kawasaki's first shot. Even though we didn't feel pressured, we found ourselves in a situation where we conceded goals, but we maintained our pace without getting discouraged, patiently defended, and continued to connect the ball and move it forward when we regained possession... I think this led to our four goals. At halftime, I emphasized not to lose our balance out of frustration and that we wouldn't change our approach. We made some minor adjustments in defense, such as the positioning of Akamine and Cabore, and raising the line a bit, but I conveyed that we should stick to the overall plan. I told them that if we did that, we would definitely have scoring opportunities. The fourth goal was a shape we have been practicing at the training ground this season. It was very good in the sense that we finally materialized our aim to score and break through in that way. I believe it was a shot that gave the players confidence. I think it was a goal that the team was able to score. (Regarding the three consecutive wins) The league has just started, and right now we are really thinking about what we want to do, what kind of attack we want to have, and we still don't have enough time to establish our style. Of course, today was the same, but the fact that we were able to score in our flow has given the players confidence in what they have built up. From that perspective, today's victory has significance. While I am happy not just about the three consecutive wins but also about winning, the joy of building up and seeing that lead to results is even greater. Moving forward, I want to work hard to increase scenes like the fourth goal today."

　[Summary of Kawasaki Takahata Coach's Press Conference] "In the first half, we were able to score a goal early on, but we were caught up and the game turned into a back-and-forth battle. We wanted to correct the unfavorable flow in the second half and turn things around, but unfortunately, we ended up conceding two goals in the second half. It was a disappointing result to be overwhelmed by FC Tokyo's momentum. However, I would like to express my gratitude to the players who gave their all until the end and the supporters who supported them. (There was an impression that the defense was struggling. Did you have a hard time dealing with Nagatomo?) In the one-on-one situations, I felt that we were losing a bit, so at halftime, we emphasized the importance of not losing in one-on-one situations and being strong in those areas. In response to Nagatomo, we positioned FW Zheng slightly to the right and had MF Mori as a backup behind him. I don't have the impression that we were being reactive in that situation."