＜Match Review＞
The showdown between J-League's strongest "spear" and "shield". Tokyo, who has scored the most 26 goals in the league, faced Gamba Osaka, who boasts the strongest defense with only 11 goals conceded, at Ajinomoto Stadium.
After a 2-day and 3-day break starting on May 11th, Tokyo faced a 5-game stretch. Although they had their sights set on advancing in the league, they were only able to accumulate 2 draws and 1 loss, but in the 3rd round of the J.League YBC Levain Cup, they were able to secure a win away at their difficult opponent Tosu and return to their home Ajinomoto Stadium.
G Osaka, who will be our opponent this round, is currently in 4th place in the league. This will be a crucial match for us as we aim to once again compete for the top spot and turn our performance into results.
Tokyo started with the same lineup as the previous match against Yokohama F. Marinos, with a goalkeeper, defense line, two central midfielders, and two wingers. Ryotaro ARAKI was placed as an attacking midfielder, and Diego OLIVEIRA was positioned at the front line. They faced Vissel Kobe in the 3rd match, with both ARAKI and DIEGO playing together for the first time since then in a vertical relationship.
1st HALF - Neither team could score a big chance.
Tokyo will aim for sharp attacks while defending against G Osaka, who will push in and control the ball from the beginning.
Tokyo was the first to have a big chance. In the 9th minute of the first half, Soma ANZAI passed a through ball to the space on the right side, and Diego TABA, who won the race with the opponent defender, kept the ball and passed it to the side of the goal. Kota TAWARATSUMIDA aimed for a shot with his right foot from the precise cross, but the shot from a close distance was saved by the goalkeeper, and they couldn't score the first goal.
In the 19th minute of the first half, Yuto NAGATOMO, who started in the center of the pitch, made his way to the goal. He received a vertical pass and connected it to the left, where Diego TABA received the ball near the penalty area corner. From there, Erik, who ran in from behind, aimed for the goal with his left foot, but the shot unfortunately hit the goalkeeper's face.
Tokyo will not only aim for counterattacks targeting the back of G Osaka's compact formation, but also actively engage in possession battles.
In the 42nd minute of the first half, after a left corner kick, Nagatomo's powerful middle shot was blocked by the opponent, and they ended up conceding a long counter attack. Yamashita was allowed to run solo from near the halfway line, but Taishi Brandon Nozawa stood in the way. He made a super save with his left hand to deflect the opponent's powerful shot and protect the goal.
While creating big chances together, Rene kept the net steady. The first half ended scoreless.
2ndHALF - Daishi cries for late goal despite fine saves
Shortly after the start of the second half, Nozawa made a fine save on Usami's middle shot, and from there, Tokyo's left side quickly became active.
In the 6th minute of the second half, Tawara Takada, who broke through on a through pass from Kei Koizumi, connected in a narrow area on the left side and crossed to the goal line. In the following 8th minute of the second half, Takada dribbled and crossed, but Nagatomo jumped in and was bounced out by the opposing goalkeeper. In the 9th minute of the second half, Kashif BANGNAGANDE made a sharp cross, but it narrowly missed Anzai. Continuously creating chances from the left side, the blue and red eleven are pushing towards victory.
Tokyo, who wants to take the initiative, sent in Keita ENDO and Teruhito NAKAGAWA in the 18th minute of the second half. For ENDO, who made a comeback in the 3rd round of the Levain Cup against Tosu, this was his first league appearance in about a month since the 9th round against FC Machida Zelvia.
As numerous chances were created, the goalkeeper's save shines again. In the 22nd minute of the second half, the opponent's left corner kick was headed near the goal, but player Dawhan's header from close range was saved by player Nozawa with a fine save. He quickly deflected it with his right hand and escaped danger.
Tokyo, who is going for the win, made two substitution cards in the 32nd minute of the second half. Kuryu Matsuki was brought in as the attacking midfielder, while Jája Silva was placed on the left side. Nakagawa was moved to the front line, and Yasuzaki was shifted to left back in an attempt to break through the defense.
However, in the 40th minute of the second half, they allowed the opponent to take the lead. Ewerton kept the ball on the right side after a big side change by the opponent. It was then passed to Yamada, who had just been substituted in.
In the final stages, Tokyo, who tried to make a comeback, approached the goal with daring dribbles by Nakagawa and shots by Takahiro KO. In the additional time of the second half, it seemed that Henrique TREVISAN had equalized with a kick from the left corner kick, but the goal was not allowed as the previous play was judged offside. Unable to catch up with the late goal, it was their second loss of the season without scoring.
MATCH DETAILS
＜FC Tokyo＞
STARTING Ⅺ
GK Taishi Brandon NOZAWA
DF Yuto NAGATOMO/Yasuki KIMOTO/Henrique Trevizan/Kashif BANGNAGANDE (33rd minute of the second half: Jajá Silva)
MF Takauyo Takauyo/Koizumi Kei/Ryotaro ARAKI (18th minute of the second half: Teruhito NAKAGAWA)
FW Diego Oliveira (33rd minute of the second half: Kusei MATSUKI)/Kota TAWARATSUMIDA (18th minute of the second half: Keita ENDO)/Soma ANZAI
SUBS
GK Go HATANO
DF Masato MORISHIGE/Shuhei TOKUMOTO
GOAL
―
Gamba Osaka
Starting XI
GK Kazumi KAZUMORI
DF Shota FUKUOKA/Riku HANDA/Keisuke KUROKAWA/Shinnosuke NAKATANI
MF Tokuma SUZUKI/Ryoya YAMASHITA (39' 2nd half: Aki KURATA)/Dawan (27' 2nd half: Netalavi)/Welton (45+2' 2nd half: Shoji TOYAMA)
FW Takashi USAMI (45+2' 2nd half: Riku MATSUDA)/Isa SAKAMOTO (39' 2nd half: Kota YAMADA)
SUBS
GK Masaaki HIGASHIGUCHI
FW Issam JEBALI
GOAL
40' Second Half: Kota YAMADA
[Interview with Peter CKLAMOVSKI]
Q, please review the game.
A, I think it was a game where both teams played solidly and there were various challenges from a football perspective. However, I don't think there were many things happening. And as for the result, it was a result that hurt the club, fans, supporters, and all of us.
We may not have had our best performance today, but I believe we were able to create opportunities to earn 3 points or 1 point in a tight match. From here, we will reflect on ourselves, analyze our performance, and use this pain to become even stronger. There were also times when things didn't go well for us, but I think the players have overcome such situations many times this season. Today, we ran out of time in our challenge to turn things around.
Q, please review the offside situation of Henrique TREVISAN during additional time.
A, it was a disappointing scene and I thought it was a goal. However, the decision did not go our way, but that's football. The important thing is that we were able to create chances for ourselves during that time.As for the opponent's goal scene, it may not have been a good decision for us, but that's football. We need to overcome that. There are things that we cannot control. The players have been fighting this season while overcoming those things. I think the players showed us today that they are moving forward and believing in the direction they are going, and they fought through difficult situations.
Today's result may not be satisfying for us, but the important thing is to turn this pain into something that will fuel us and make us stronger. We need to continue to strive to become even stronger.
[Player Interview]
Takahiro KO
Q, please review the game.
There were many scenes where the center back went forward to steal the ball and fit in well. Also, I myself had the awareness to move forward after stealing the ball, but I think there were few scenes that led to chances from there. I think it was necessary to use different plays, whether to send the ball behind the opponent or to hold onto it and push forward.
Q, I think the pace picked up in the second half. How were you trying to break through Gamba Osaka's solid defense?
A, there were chances until the middle of the second half, and there were scenes where we could jump behind, but I think the result of the game would have been different if we could have scored during that time. It was our weakness that we conceded a goal at the end.
Q, it was a goal conceded in a moment of carelessness.
A, I think the team stopped for a moment, wondering if it was a foul or not. Even in such a scene, we had to maintain our concentration and defend until the end.
Q, I think we were able to show our strengths even in a difficult match.
There were many scenes where I was able to recover the ball, so I feel confident. As an individual, I want to continue to recover the ball and increase the scenes where I can pass it to the players in the front line. There are also players with momentum in the front line in Tokyo, so when we take the ball, I am conscious of prioritizing passing it forward. There were also many scenes where I passed to Ryotaro ARAKI or Diego OLIVEIRA, but I want to improve our cooperation after that.
<Soma ANZAI>
Q, please review the game.
A, It is very frustrating that we were not able to win in the league match, so we were not able to win the game that we had to win in terms of ranking. There is no time to look down, so I think it is most important to switch and win the next game.
Q, I changed positions and played during the game. What was your mindset while playing?
A, as long as I play on the front line, I am not able to achieve the most desired number, and I am aware of the crisis myself. Since there are no results, I don't think we can become a team that can win without wingers scoring, so we need to get results first. As a side back, I was conscious of not conceding at all. It was disappointing to concede and lose in that situation.
Q, our team has been conceding goals continuously.
A, In terms of overall defense, we always try to put pressure on the opponent while not backing down. Since the games are continuous, there is no time to adjust during practice, but there are also times when players can discuss and improve during the game. However, we want to be more conscious at the beginning of the game. The position of the wings tends to be a little low, so I think I need to push out more. Even though we have conceded a lot of goals, we want to start the game with pressure from the front and defend while attacking.
Regarding today's scene of conceding, it is a fact that the entire team stopped moving and as a result, we neglected what we should have done as a team. When we concede goals like that, it becomes difficult to win even winnable games, so I believe we need to sharpen our focus and make sure that all members of the team do not stop moving during the game.
Q, How will you approach the next match?
In the league, we haven't won 4 games, but there's no point in dwelling on those games. We're only focusing on "winning" the next game. It will be a tough away game, but we want to fight as one team.
