<Match Review>
Tokyo, facing a tight schedule with three matches in three days, played at home at Ajinomoto Stadium against Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, who were in 10th place with a 3-point difference. This match was held as a "test match for vocal support operation," marking the return of fans and supporters' voices to Ajinomoto Stadium for the first time since the second match of the group stage of the AFC Champions League in the 2020 season against Perth Glory FC. With the significant support of the "voice" returning for the first time in two and a half seasons, Tokyo aimed for their first victory in four league matches.
1st HALF - Two goals from penalty kicks take the lead
Right from the start, Tokyo has a decisive chance. Leandro controls the ball just in front of the right side of the Sapporo goal. Before the opponent's pressure can mount, he strikes with his left foot, but the ball hits the right post and bounces back. Even as the opponent defends by filling spaces rather than pressing from the front, Tokyo advances the ball while positioning themselves in the gaps between players, penetrating near the opponent's penalty area. Although they struggle to connect on the final play and get a shot off, they repeatedly recover second balls and launch a strong attack.
When the opponent launches a counterattack, the first marker delays the attack and presses back from behind to regain the ball with a numerical advantage, returning to our possession. In the 19th minute, Kuryu MATSUKI reacted to a middle-range looping pass and broke into the space in front of the goal created between the Sapporo defenders. Matsuki controlled the ball and turned while unleashing a powerful volley shot, but it was blocked by a defender who desperately returned.
Although they were unable to create decisive moments while maintaining possession of the ball, they created a chance by pushing the opponent into their goal area and moving the ball in the 34th minute of the first half. Kazuya KONNO received the ball at the right corner of the penalty area, cut in, and took a shot, which hit the opponent's defender's hand, resulting in a penalty kick. In the 35th minute of the first half, Leandro converted the penalty kick into the left corner of the goal, successfully giving Tokyo the lead.
Continuing their momentum, Tokyo earned a free kick just outside the penalty area in the 45+3 minute of the first half. Leandro took a direct shot that hit an opponent's arm, giving them a second penalty kick opportunity for the day. In the 45+4 minute, Adailton took the kick, and despite hitting the left post, the ball went into the goal, extending their lead to two points as the first half concluded.
2nd HALF - The victory resonates in Ajinomoto, the "City That Never Sleeps"
The start of the second half was a situation where we were watching Sapporo's moves, but in the 6th minute, Adailton intercepted a pass from the opposing defender and broke through the center. As the opposing goalkeeper came forward, he scored with a looping shot to extend the lead. As the opponent pushed forward, Tokyo simply exploited the space behind to create chances. In the 7th minute of the second half, Matsuki made a diagonal middle pass to Konno, who broke through and aimed for the head of the advancing goalkeeper, but the shot was caught by the goalkeeper who had returned to the goal.
After expanding the lead, there were times when Sapporo.D maintained possession of the ball, but without panicking, they slid to the ball side and made sure not to allow any shots. On the other hand, once they regained possession, they avoided losing the ball easily, connected passes reliably, and advanced the game into the opponent's territory.
In the 26th minute of the second half, a player who was brought on midway through the second half got involved in a chance. Leandro's through pass allowed Diego OLIVEIRA to break free, and the ball was received by Kensuke NAGAI after a heel flick. Kensuke, who received the ball just in front of the goal, attempted to shoot after a feint to evade the opponent, but he couldn't hit the target.
As the match approached its final stages, Sapporo.D had longer periods of ball possession, but they maintained their shape compactly without rushing, filling the spaces, closing in on the ball side, and when it came to finishing, they threw their bodies to respond to the shots.
With the support of a 'voice' for the first time in about two and a half seasons, we achieved victory in the league for the first time in four matches.
MATCH DETAILS
＜F.C.Tokyo＞
STARTING Ⅺ
GK Jakub SLOWIK
DF Yuto NAGATOMO/Yasuki KIMOTO/Masato MORISHIGE/Kashif BANGNAGANDE (42nd minute: Junya SUZUKI)
MF Kuryu MATSUKI/Keigo HIGASHI (42nd minute: Manato SHINADA)/Yuki KAJIURA
FW Kazuya KONNO (13th minute: Diego OLIVEIRA)/Adailton (13th minute: Kensuke NAGAI)/Leandro (26th minute: Ryo WATANABE)
SUBS
GK Go HATANO
DF Makoto OKAZAKI
GOAL
35th minute of the first half: Leandro (PK) / 45+4th minute of the first half: Adailton (PK) / 6th minute of the second half: Adailton
<Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo>
STARTING Ⅺ
GK Koki OTANI
DF Shunta TANAKA/Daihachi OKAMURA/Akito FUKUMORI (substituted at 0 minutes: Hiroki MIYAZAWA)
MF Takuro KANEKO/Takuma ARANO (substituted at 9 minutes: Kazuki FUKAI)/Tomoki TAKAMINE/Daiki SUGA (substituted at 32 minutes: Daigo NISHI)/Ryota AOKI/Yoshiaki KOMAI
FW Gabriel SHABIERU (substituted at 15 minutes: Shinzo KOROKI) (substituted at 32 minutes: Milan TUCIC)
SUBS
GK Kojiro NAKANO
DF Toya NAKAMURA
GOAL
―
[Interview with Coach Albert PUIG ORTONEDA]
Q, please review the game.
First of all, I would like to praise our opponent, Sapporo. It is a great honor for me to compete against a great coach. I am pleased to be able to play against a team that has an offensive game plan. There will be times when we win and times when our opponent wins. However, matches between offensive teams are very appealing to the spectators. In that sense, I am very happy and proud to have played against Sapporo, a team that has an offensive game plan.
There is no need to separate the first half and the second half. I think the flow was the same throughout the 90 minutes. We had a game plan and aimed to press the opponent effectively. The three players up front also contributed to the press for the team. If we give Sapporo space and the ball, they will play well. Therefore, I believe that our solid defense led to the victory. The team was also able to defend compactly to avoid giving the opponent space between the lines.
When we had the ball, we anticipated that Sapporo would employ a man-to-man marking defense. Conversely, we aimed to take advantage of that by having players create space and others utilize that space, targeting runs from the second line. Today, we were able to express the play we expected, which allowed us to achieve victory.
Today, 18-year-old Kajiura made his league debut, and I am pleased that he played wonderfully along with the victory. Today, there were players aged 18 and 19 in the midfield, and they will surely carry the future of this club.
Finally, I thought it is beautiful and wonderful to have cheers in the stadium.
Q: It was a test match for vocal support, but how did you feel receiving cheers again?
A, two and a half years ago, during the opening match of the 2020 season when I took charge of Niigata, we played one away game against Gunma with support from the fans. I hope that we will continue to receive support in the future. After all, I believe that having support is what football and entertainment are all about, so I hope that continues.
I am very happy to be able to hear their cheers directly, and I hope this will be an opportunity for everyday life to return. I believe they were also calling my name, and it definitely reached my ears. I am very happy.
Q: Today was a victory after a month. There are many injuries among the defensive players, but do you have any thoughts on the team's composition?
I believe that a team is a living entity. Regardless of whether there are injured players or not, I see it as essential to strengthen the team to keep it active, not just in summer or winter. Naturally, the better the reinforcement goes, the higher the chances of victory. I hope that the strengthening department will do a good job in this regard.
[Player Interview]
＜Yuki KAJIURA＞
Q: How do you feel looking back on your first starting lineup at Ajinomoto?
I am happy to have achieved a 3-0 result in a match where my first starting lineup coincided with the resumption of vocal support from the fans.
Q: How did you feel when your name was called before the match?
I have watched matches at Ajinomoto Stadium during A, U-15, and U-18, and I believe that the support in Tokyo is the best in Japan. When I received that cheer, it strengthened my feeling that I must perform, and I am filled with gratitude.
Q: How did it feel when you were called by the supporters and did the 'Sha' after the match?
A, I want to work hard from now on so that I can score points and truly do a "Sha".
Q: I think there were many scenes where you effectively entered the opponent's box as an inside half.
I think it is the play required as an inside half, and additionally, I was expected to be involved with the ball from the back. There are still challenges in terms of my involvement with the ball, but I believe I was able to perform well in terms of the defensive intensity required as an inside half.
Q: You played almost 90 minutes with Higashi and Matsuki in the midfield. What was the relationship like among the three of you?
Today, we discussed how to slide and fill in the defense with the three midfielders, and we were able to do that well. Additionally, we deepened our communication with the side backs, Nagatomo and Yoshifumi, and especially in the first half, we felt we were able to keep a clean sheet.
Q, I don't think there were any scenes where all three midfielders got caught by the opposing players and were shaken off.
I believe that when one person went out, the relationship of having two people cover from behind continued consistently, and when one went out, we made sure not to swap. It's a simple task, but I think it's the most important, so I believe that being able to do that well was significant.
I felt that you were focused as if it were your first start in the league.
I didn't think about saving my strength and went full throttle from the start to see how far I could go. The last 10 minutes were tough physically, but I want to get more involved in the game and clear each challenge one by one.
I still think it was a match where I was helped by the players around me. Everyone supported me by encouraging me, which made it very easy to play.
<Adailton>
Q: Did you receive the penalty kick for the first goal from Leandro?
A, during our usual practice, Leandro, Diego, and I have been practicing penalty kicks together. In today's match, Leandro took the first kick, so I took the second one. It wasn't so much that I was given the chance, but rather it was as we always practice, so I was allowed to take it. I'm glad I was able to score.
Q: I think we were able to connect good defense to offense throughout the match.
A, recently we have been unable to win matches, and there were times when we couldn't play the football we wanted to. There were matches where we couldn't express our style of play that we have been working on since the preseason before the season started, but I think we were able to show a bit of that today, and it was good to win with multiple goals.
Q: How was the cheer when the goal was scored?
A, even when fans and supporters couldn't make any noise in the previous matches, you came to the stadium. Today, I really felt that the cheers were supporting us. Also, the cheers after scoring were incredibly joyful.
Q: What kind of dance do you perform after scoring a goal?
When I was watching a video at home, my son said he wanted me to do that dance if he scored a goal, so I did that dance.
Q: Where does that dance originate from?
A dance that is popular in Brazil.
Q: I believe Adailton's chant has been sung since the ACL in 2020, but how did it feel to hear it sung again in today's match?
A, it has been quite a while since the last time we heard cheers, but I felt once again how powerful it is to hear my name called out by the fans and supporters. We want to do everything we can to share joy with everyone, and today's support really gave us strength. It also became a motivation for us to move forward, so I am truly grateful.
<Kuryu MATSUKI>
Q: How did you feel about connecting good attacks from defense?
I felt that the defensive setup was good throughout both halves. Also, the intensity of players Higashi and Kajiura in the midfield was high, which I believe led to good attacks.
Q, when Leandro dropped back, it was clear that the intention was for the inside half player to utilize him well.
A, as a team tactic, we anticipated that when Leandro received the ball, the opponent would follow him, so we thought that if he could shake off one defender, it would create a chance, and we aimed for many runs behind the defense.
Q: There were also scenes where we could aim for a goal.
There was a scene where he could have shot directly.
Q: Do you want to continue to make aggressive plays in one-on-one situations as part of your characteristics?
A, there were several scenes of substitutions today, so I felt that we should capitalize on those and connect them to our attacks.
Q, the match against Urawa will take place in three days.
A, the next match will definitely not be an easy game, so I want to fight for results even more than today.
<Kashif BANGNAGANDE>
Q, please review the game.
A, as a team, it was good to see results, but personally, I couldn't perform very well. In the first half, we spent a lot of time on defense, and there wasn't much time to move forward, so I wanted to push forward a bit more.
Q: You scored two goals in the first half against Sapporo, but both were from penalties. Do you feel that the match was evenly matched in terms of content?
In the first half, we were lucky to score two goals, and thanks to that, we were able to gain good momentum, which allowed us to press forward more and more in the second half, so that was good.
Q: How was it playing with the support of fans and supporters?
It was my first experience of the atmosphere after scoring a goal, and with the cheers, it felt like we could really push ourselves on the pitch, encouraging each other to do even more. It was a refreshing feeling to be supported like that.
Q: It seemed like you were struggling against your opponent at the start.
A, I knew they would come at us during the pre-match scouting, and I had prepared for that response. As a result, we didn't concede a goal, but personally, I feel that I was a bit too lenient at the start of the first half. We managed to regroup a bit in the second half, but I reflect that I was too soft. If we can't perform the defense we showed in the second half from the beginning, we often rely on our teammates for help, and it wouldn't be surprising if we conceded a goal. We need to improve how we start the match.
