Aiming for consecutive victories at home against the strong Júbilo Iwata

　On the 28th (Wednesday), the 15th round of the league was held. They faced Júbilo Iwata at home, National Stadium. In the previous round against Shonan, Okubo scored his first goal since transferring and contributed to the team's victory with three goals. In this round, they aim to achieve consecutive victories in the league this season, which they have not yet accomplished, and secure a victory at home. Kanta Kondo returned to the starting lineup in a fully recovered state both physically and mentally. Other than that, the lineup remains the same as the previous round, with Kim Young-gon as the center-back and Morishige as the defensive midfielder. Although fatigue is a concern with only two days of rest since the previous round, Manager Jofuku talked about wanting to actively use their physical strength and take control of the game. On the other hand, Iwata is currently in 13th place with 16 points. They have been facing injuries in their defense line, and in the previous round against Kashima, they suffered a comeback defeat. However, it can be said that they have maintained good form since the return of midfielder Júcilei. Manager Jofuku suggested that Iwata has a high quality of football they aim for and has enough attacking power to execute it. Their attack, centered around forward Maeda, is versatile, and their attacking play, especially from the sides, is quite dangerous. Their defense is also tough, and their biggest characteristic is the aggressive counter-attacks. It is implied that it will not be an easy game. It is expected to be a tense 90 minutes, but if Tokyo falls behind in defense, they will allow Iwata to dominate. Tokyo needs to increase ball possession and not lose in the battle on the sides to secure victory. It is also important not to make half-hearted mistakes against Iwata's counter-attacks. Above all, there is hope for a victory at home in this crucial match, and they will strive for victory with all their might. In the summer twilight, with a pleasant breeze blowing at National Stadium. The match started with Tokyo's kickoff at 19:04.

Although Iwata took the initiative, we patiently endure with Gonda at the center

　Tokyo struggled to press in the midfield and maintain a compact formation against Iwata, making it difficult for them to find their rhythm and move the ball forward. However, in the 7th minute, after a clearance by the opponent's defender, Otake passed to Nakamura who made an early cross. Okubo made a run behind the defense, but the Iwata goalkeeper caught the ball first. In the 14th minute, Tokyo failed to connect passes in the midfield and lost the ball to Iwata. Right full-back Komano advanced and crossed the ball. It reached forward Maeda perfectly, who headed the ball towards the goal, but goalkeeper Gonda made a save just barely in the top left corner, avoiding a dangerous situation. In the 19th minute, MoriShige's header from a free kick on the right side by Matsushita found the back of the net, but it was ruled offside. After that, Iwata's forward Maeda created opportunities for the team with his accurate play, putting Tokyo under pressure. In the 22nd minute, Maeda skillfully kept the ball on the right side of Iwata's forward line, picked up a loose ball, and immediately took a shot, but Gonda made a save. In the 29th minute, a long feed from Iwata's defense player Oi reached forward Maeda in the front line. Konno was marking him, but Maeda controlled the ball with his chest and turned around to aim for the goal. Tokyo continued to be pushed back, but they persevered with Gonda at the center and managed to hold on. In the 45th minute, Kajiyama in the center passed to Okubo who received a through ball, then Okubo passed to the left side where Ricardinho made a run and sent a final pass into the box. However, Iwata's defenders intercepted the pass and Tokyo couldn't create a chance. The first half ended with a scoreless draw.

Leading with two consecutive goals by Okubo! However, caught up immediately after...

　In the 2nd minute of the second half, Ricardinho was fouled near the right sideline in the Juntan area, earning a free kick. Kajiyama quickly restarted the play, sending a floating ball towards the goal. Daigoku, who broke through the gap in the Juntan defense, headed the ball into the net on the right side! Daigoku scored for the second consecutive match, giving Tokyo the lead. However, just after that, in the 51st minute, a header from MF Jiushinho following a left corner kick for Juntan was cleared, resulting in another corner kick. From this right corner kick taken by MF Ueda, a header from DF Nasu grazed Gonda's hand... Although the Tokyo defense was also covering, Matsushita's clearance ended up in the net, resulting in an own goal that equalized the score. Tokyo substituted Ishikawa for Ohtake in the 58th minute. However, in the 60th minute, Kajiyama lost the ball in midfield, and Juntan MF Nishi launched a counterattack. Jiushinho in the left area took a decisive shot, but Gonda made a save. Immediately after, Tokyo substituted Akamine for Ricardinho, aiming to regain the lead, but Juntan also brought in DF Kanazawa in the 62nd minute, moving DF Park Chu-ho up a line to counter. In response, Tokyo struggled to connect passes calmly, allowing Juntan to launch quick counterattacks. In the 69th minute, Juntan FW Naraoka took a decisive shot from the right area, but this was also saved by Gonda, resulting in a corner kick. Following this, a middle shot from Juntan MF Yamamoto Yasushi, who picked up the loose ball from the corner kick, deflected off the front line. However, Gonda quickly reacted and managed to defend. In the 79th minute, Suzuki came on for Hanyu. As the match entered the final stages, both teams exchanged counterattacks, and in the 87th minute, Morishige skillfully broke through to the left front line, passing to Suzuki who entered the left area. Suzuki sent a last pass in front of the goal, and Akamine positioned himself to shoot from the right, but was blocked at the last moment by Juntan DF Kanazawa. In stoppage time, they regained possession in a low position in their own half and launched a counterattack. Akamine passed to Kajiyama, who again ran to the right side. From there, a low and quick last pass was sent to the center, but Morishige's shot was cut off by the opposing DF... The match ended in a 1-1 draw, and once again, they could not secure a win at home. 【Player Comments】《Gonda》 "Since it was at home, I wanted to win. I think we were able to respond well to Juntan's style of play in defense. Everyone was moving, and the fullbacks and center backs were putting their bodies on the line. (What about the good saves?) That's the job of a goalkeeper. Still, we lost 2 points. We took the lead in a good way, but I believe we shouldn't have conceded a goal at that time. In the situation of the conceded goal, I wonder if I could have touched the header shot... I couldn't do that, and I'm very frustrated." 《Daigoku》 "I knew that Juntan is strong in the first half from prior information, so carrying it to 0-0 was according to plan. It was good to take the lead early in the second half. For the goal, I noticed that Kajiyama was looking at me during the free kick, so I changed my body position and prepared. I couldn't see the goal, but I headed it based on my instincts. The issue is that we couldn't score the second goal. I want to improve our coordination further." 【Coach Jofuku's Press Conference Summary】 "I appreciate everyone coming out despite it being a weekday. We haven't won at home in a long time, and I wanted to share joy with the fans today, but it's disappointing that we couldn't achieve that. Regarding the match, from scouting in recent games, I knew that Juntan is at the top level in both offense and defense. They have been competing equally or better against the top teams, and I thought today would be a really tough match. Especially in the first half, I anticipated it would be difficult to penetrate the opponent's block in midfield, so I focused on how to target the back or how to spread the opponent with side changes. However, Juntan was committed to switching the play with a single pass from the DF line to FW Maeda. FW Maeda not only wins aerial duels against long balls but can also control the ball with his chest. There were several instances where they could switch the play. We had players who weren't in good form individually, but that pressure made it difficult for us to execute our plans of targeting the back and side changes as we intended. However, Juntan cannot maintain a solid block for 90 minutes, so I thought we could penetrate the block in the second half. The substitutions were a key, but they didn't function well, and we couldn't bring out the individual strengths. It was a difficult match as expected, and while we didn't lose, we must strive to earn 3 points at home considering our position. The players showed that attitude, but we must face the result of not being able to secure 3 points. (What specific points should we face?) There is fatigue from playing every two days, but even so, we must take our positions properly. We have been working on positioning from the build-up stage and how to create 2-on-1 situations, but we couldn't create numerical advantages due to fatigue. We were under pressure and couldn't take our time, but that's because we couldn't correct our positioning. It's a small detail, but I think we were too lenient." 【Juntan Coach Yanagishita's Press Conference Summary】 "It's disappointing that we couldn't earn 3 points with this performance. However, considering that we were overturned from 2-0 in the previous match, I want to view earning 1 point away as a positive. The players played aggressively from the first half, calmly moving the ball and creating several chances. The first half was fairly good. In the halftime meeting, I mentioned, 'Be careful of Daigoku's movements,' but we were caught off guard early in the second half. Still, the players did not hang their heads and played towards the opponent's goal. Reflecting on the previous match, I felt they have become mentally stronger."