<Match Review>
While building on the solid defense that has been established as the foundation, how can we develop a powerful attack? Tokyo, setting the challenge of offense as a key to victory, faced Fagiano Okayama at Ajinomoto Stadium aiming for their first league win in about a month.
Okayama is a team that has achieved results since their first year after promotion, relying on a solid defense composed of a 5-back line and 4 midfielders. With players who possess tremendous power up front and others who can add variety to the attack, coach Rikizo MATSUHASHI is tightening his focus, saying, "We must remain fully vigilant."
Tokyo's starting eleven features goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu, with the back four from right to left composed of Yuto NAGATOMO, Alexander SCHOLZ, Masato MORISHIGE, and Sei MUROYA. The defensive midfield duo consists of Takahiro KO and Keisuke KOIZUMI, while the attackers are Keita ENDO on the right and Marcos GUILHERME on the left. The two forwards are Keisuke SATO and Teruhito NAKAGAWA. Additionally, Taiyo YAMAGUCHI, who made his J1 League debut in the previous match, is included on the bench. In this round's match against Okayama, he aims to make his debut at Ajinomoto Stadium.
Ryunosuke SATO, who is on a developmental loan from Tokyo to Okayama, will not participate due to contract reasons, but Suzuki, who grew up in the Aoaka Academy, is in the starting lineup. Since both were not in the lineup during the previous match in April, this was their first match against their former club and their first return to Ajinomoto Stadium for a Tokyo match. Additionally, Yanagi, who also grew up in Aoaka, made the bench, and both players received applause from the crowd during the pre-match player introduction.
Also, before kickoff, team captain Koizumi read the declaration to eradicate discrimination and violence as part of the "JFA Respect Fair Play Days 2025" initiative. Through the microphone, he conveyed the message of respect.
1st HALF—Taking control with high concentration and searching for a breakthrough
The match started with Tokyo taking control. While holding the ball, they looked for attacking opportunities, not only building up play but also using passes targeting the space behind the defense to press forward, regain possession, and launch secondary and tertiary attacks. They brought the game into the situation they had intended before the match, aiming at both sides of the three-back formation to create scoring chances. If they could not immediately recover the ball in advanced positions, they quickly fell back to build a defensive line, while coordinated pressing from the front and negative transitions functioned effectively, preventing Okayama from having attacking opportunities for an extended period.
Tokyo seamlessly transitions from offense to defense and defense to offense with a high defensive awareness and outstanding concentration. However, Okayama also shows solid defense centered around their tall defenders, making it difficult to create clear scoring opportunities.
In the 20th minute of the first half, from a set piece given on Okayama's left side, player Esaka skillfully connected with his right foot, but goalkeeper Sungyu made a desperate flying save to clear the ball. Thanks to the guardian's sharp reaction, the team managed to narrowly avoid danger.
Tokyo wants to create dangerous attacks from solid defense. In the 26th minute of the first half, player Muroya broke through the left side, entered near the penalty area, and crossed the ball back. However, this was cleared by an opposing player in front of the advancing player Marcos, and did not lead to a shot. In the 28th minute, player Takah tried to break through with one-touch plays, but Okayama responded by solidifying the center with a five-back defense. Although this situation was anticipated before the match, it became clear that simple vertical passes and crosses could not break through, so attention was once again focused on how Tokyo would change their attacking style.
Where and how to switch on the attack. One answer was drawn out by a sharp vertical pass from the back line. In the 33rd minute of the first half, Endo received a wedge pass from Scholz and made a smooth turn to play a through pass forward. Nakagawa broke through and overlapped with Marcos, causing the shot to be delayed. The rebound was then passed from Marcos to Sato. Although the shot was blocked by a deep tackle from the opponent and could not be completed, the sharp vertical combination involving multiple players, the run behind the defense, and the attack targeting the side of the three-back defense showed promising potential.
Just before the end of the first half, Nagatomo ran up the right side on a counterattack and crossed the ball. Endo, running into the far side, skillfully connected with the outside of his right foot, but Kawunami deflected the softly arcing ball that seemed to go over the goalkeeper's head, and time was up. The match went into halftime with the score still goalless.
2nd HALF—A comfortable 3-goal victory at home Ajinomoto Stadium sparked by Kane's goal
The first half overwhelmingly dominated in ball possession. How to directly convert this into goals became the key point in the second half.
The match dynamics did not change even after halftime. From the start, Tokyo controlled the ball and looked for attacking opportunities. In that process, Tokyo's vertical line sharply exploited a brief lapse that occurred in Okayama's defense.
In the 3rd minute of the second half, Takahashi, who had the ball in an advanced position, delivered a perfectly aimed through pass with his right foot. Sato received it, softly trapping the ball with the outside of his right foot, then quickly shot through the legs of the opposing defender with his right foot, scoring the long-awaited opening goal for Tokyo. Sato had been actively dropping into midfield to help build up play and had become the starting point of the attack since the first half. The number 16, who said the day before the match, "I have been entrusted with a big role as an attacking player. I want to score and win," accomplished that big task at home. This was his first goal at Ajinomoto Stadium since the Emperor's Cup 2nd Round match against Zweigen Kanazawa on June 18. Immediately after shaking the net, he dashed straight to the goal behind and shared the joy with the fans and supporters who came out in the rainy game.
Finally responding to the attacking squad's effort in scoring the opening goal, the defense also concentrated to protect the goal with focused defense. At the 15th minute of the second half, a counterattack led to a dangerous situation, but goalkeeper Sungyu once again made an outstanding save against a shot from player Kimura taken from close range. He firmly deflected the ball, preventing the equalizer.
At the 23rd minute of the second half, the first player substitution of the match took place. Soma ANZAI and Leon NOZAWA were sent onto the pitch, replacing Endo and Nakagawa. ANZAI took the right attacker position, while NOZAWA joined as one of the two forwards.
This deployment immediately created a good opportunity. At the 24th minute, right after, the ball was passed from their own half, and Nagatomo, who made a full sprint overlap on the right side, crossed with his right foot. Nozawa met it with a header in the center, but the shot narrowly missed to the left of the goal.
Tokyo had been maintaining dominance throughout the first half, but here they were caught off guard for a moment. It was the 28th minute of the second half. From Okayama's left corner kick, Esaka connected with a header at the near side, resulting in a goal. The match was brought back to even.
Tokyo, aiming to take the lead, immediately made a substitution after conceding the equalizing goal. Kota TAWARATSUMIDA was brought on as the left attacker, replacing Marcos. Then, Kota TAWARATSUMIDA excited the stadium with plays such as dribbling forcefully between opposing defenders to enter the penalty area.
In a situation where we absolutely want to respond with results to the blue and red family who continue their passionate support despite the cold rain pouring down. The players keep trying to break through Okayama's defense with an aggressive attitude in both offense and defense, aiming for the winning goal.
And finally, that desire bore fruit. In the 43rd minute of the second half, Sato entered from the right on a lofted pass from Takahashi, and after his first touch bypassed the goalkeeper, Tawara Tsukida, running in from the opposite side, kicked the ball into the empty goal to take the lead. The decisive moment came from the same number 8's pass as the opening goal, with Sato breaking through. Furthermore, Tokyo took the long-awaited lead with a good breakdown where a player from the opposite side joined the attack from the flank.
The stadium's excitement reached its peak with the go-ahead goal after being caught up. Once this happens, the momentum of the blue and red team does not stop. In the 45th minute of the second half, Sato received a horizontal pass from Takahashi, who had pushed up from the left side, and scored an additional goal with a grounded middle-distance shot. The striker, who showed great activity both offensively and defensively, delivered his second goal of the day, extending Tokyo's lead to two points.
After struggling to find a breakthrough in the first half, the second half saw a brilliant decisive pass from Takahashi, leading to 3 goals. Sato, with his sharpened scoring sense, delivered a performance that could be called 'almost a hat-trick,' while Tawara Tsukida scored his first goal since Sec. 12 against Gamba Osaka on April 25, securing a comfortable victory. Based on strong ball control and quick transitions, they scored 3 goals and successfully earned 3 points at home.
MATCH DETAILS
<FC Tokyo>
STARTING Ⅺ
GK Kim Seung-gyu
DF Sei MUROYA / Masato MORISHIGE / Yuto NAGATOMO (45+2 min 2nd half: Teppei OKA) / Alexander Scholz
MF Takahiro KO / Keita ENDO (23 min 2nd half: Soma ANZAI) / Koizumi Kei / Marcos Guilherme (32 min 2nd half: Kota TAWARATSUMIDA)
FW Sato Yoshimitsu / Teruhito NAKAGAWA (23 min 2nd half: Leon NOZAWA)
SUBS
GK Go HATANO
DF Kanta DOI / Kosuke SHIRAI
FW Keita YAMASHITA / Taiyo YAMAGUCHI
MANAGER
Rikizo MATSUHASHI
GOAL
3rd minute of the second half: Keimasa Sato / 43rd minute of the second half: Kota TAWARATSUMIDA / 45th minute of the second half: Keimasa Sato
<Fagiano Okayama>
STARTING Ⅺ
GK Goro KAWANAMI
DF Yugo TATSUTA / Daichi TAGAMI / Yoshitake SUZUKI
MF Haruka Motoyama / Eiji MIYAMOTO / Ryo TABEI (2nd half 26 min: Yuta KAMIYA) / Kiyoshi Kato (2nd half 26 min: Takahiro Yanagi)
FW Hiroto IWABUCHI (2nd half 14 min: Takaya KIMURA) / Kazunari ICHIMI (2nd half 14 min: Lucao) / Nin Esaka (2nd half 44 min: Welick Popo)
SUBS
GK Kohei KAWAKAMI
DF Kota KUDO
MF Masaya MATSUMOTO / Ryo TAKEUCHI
MANAGER
Takashi KIYAMA
GOAL
28th minute of the second half: Esaka Nin
[Interview with Coach Rikizo MATSUHASHI]
Q. First, please give us a summary of the match.
Overall in the 90 minutes, it was a match with very difficult moments as well as good periods, but with the score at 3-1, I believe the result of this game came from firmly closing down key moments and scoring goals.
Q. Several attacking players are absent, but today Keito Sato played with tremendous effort. Please tell us the coach's evaluation.
A, of course, I truly believe they have been performing wonderfully. There are certainly players who are injured, but the players currently on the field have seized their opportunities, performed well, and have guided the game in a positive direction. It was the same in the previous match; because each player who appeared did their job properly, these connections have been formed. In my mind, I don't feel the absence of any particular player at all. I am very pleased that the victory is the result of the players present delivering their performances effectively.
Q, Sato showed aggressive play today not only in scoring goals but also in other aspects.
A, even in the first half of the league, there were several matches where he helped the team with his scoring ability. He might currently be playing in a role that is not his usual position, but his eagerness to learn and expand his range of play, as well as his determination to broaden his skills in any position, make him a truly remarkable player. I believe the fact that he has firmly made these qualities his own is reflected in his results.
Q. In the second half, multiple players intensified their awareness of line breaks and positioning behind the opponents, leading to a series of rapid goals. What kind of adjustments or instructions were given during halftime?
A, in the first half, although we had possession of the ball for a very long time, we struggled to find effective attacking options. However, I believe that if we continue to build better relationships through thorough rehearsals, it will lead to even better attacks. Therefore, we decided to stop doubting ourselves or feeling stuck just because we had the ball but no clear attacking moves. If we keep moving the ball properly, the opponent will inevitably create spaces somewhere, and the chances will increase through our relationships on the field. I think we were able to demonstrate that to some extent.
In the second half, I thought that an open play would definitely emerge at some point, and the accuracy of transitions and the quality of play within that open play overlapped, leading to a very good goal. Also, I believe that the bold shots and the ball entering the dangerous areas of the opponent contributed to the three goals.
Q: The assist that led to the goal came from Takahiro KO. I think the way he received the ball and quickly passed it was very good. What is your opinion on this as the coach?
A, I think the quality there was definitely higher in the second half. The moment the ball is quickly settled, having a solid first touch leads to the quality of the next play. To achieve that play speed, it is important to play accurately, and that is what increases speed, not rushing. If you can properly control the ball, you can smoothly transition to the next play. That becomes the speed of play, and if that quality is demonstrated, it makes it even more difficult for the opponent. I feel that was very evident in the second half.
Q, From here, the tournament features two different matches, but you will face consecutive games against FC Machida Zelvia at Japan National Stadium. Please tell us your enthusiasm for the next match.
A, Japan National Stadium is also seen as our 'home' and is a stadium known as a sacred ground. Of course, we must prepare thoroughly, but since it is an opponent and a tournament where we must deliver solid results, it is very encouraging that the fans and supporters create an atmosphere like our 'home' to back us up. We want to do our best to fully demonstrate our strength at Japan National Stadium as well.
[Player Interview]
<Player Kei Sato>
Q. It seemed like you were struggling with the opponent's defensive block in the first half. I think player Megumi Sato himself was dropping back and trying to break through with one-twos. What were you consciously focusing on during the first half?
A. We were unable to pull the opponent's 5-back formation forward as much as expected, so we couldn't successfully pass into the block they set up and failed to break down their formation. The forwards could have dropped back a bit more to create a numerical advantage and find a breakthrough, or forcibly made passes and then advanced with forward support. There were few shots in the first half, especially few long-range shots from the defensive midfielders. The center backs were able to carry the ball forward and apply pressure, so taking long-range shots from the center backs was also an option. If the team had worked more on this, I believe we could have found a way through.
Q, including those aspects, we organized various issues during halftime and capitalized on the first chance in the second half. How did that feel?
At halftime, the coach told us, "It's not bad at all, so there's no need to be pessimistic," and instructed us to increase the speed of our play choices and decisions, and to use one-touch passes more skillfully. We thought that if we could carry the ball by dribbling where possible and break through alone when we could, the next player would come out and create a numerical advantage. For the first goal, Takahiro KO skillfully carried the ball and passed into the open space, leading to the score. It was precisely because the awareness to break through alone increased in the second half that the opponent's formation collapsed, they were stretched out creating space, and we were able to receive the ball between the lines.
Q, you were involved in all three goals. The first goal was scored by aiming between the opponent's legs, and the second goal was scored by hitting the ball firmly without overexerting. Please review each of your goals.
The first goal is similar to the one I scored against Shimizu S-Pulse, but I focused on calmly guiding the ball without completely beating the opponent. I was able to score as planned today as well. I had practiced the feeling of the goalkeeper being blind and unable to react, so it went just as I imagined. The second goal wasn’t about the course but rather because I fully committed, it went in with a deflection. I think it showed my decisiveness. I want to give myself credit for that.
Q. From here, the matches continue, and as a team, there is still a chance to win the Emperor's Cup title. With today's victory, the team has also mathematically secured its place in the J1 League.
A, my strongest desire is to win the title. I believe that securing good victories in the league matches will build momentum towards the Emperor's Cup. My determination to lead this team to victory has grown even stronger, so I want to give my all in every single match in both the league and the Emperor's Cup, and win them all.
<Kota TAWARATSUMIDA>
Q. I think it was a goal where I firmly channeled the ball that spilled out.
I believe it was a scene that led to a goal precisely because I ran into the front of the goal while watching the movements of player Kei Sato.
Q, Kota TAWARATSUMIDA's goal ultimately became the winning goal in the Final Round.
A, a goal is a goal no matter how it is scored. Moving in from the side to the front of the goal led to the score. As for the form of the goal, I think it was a type of goal I hadn't scored before, a sliding finish, but I want to continue doing it steadily.
Q. You were brought onto the pitch when the score was 1-1. What instructions did the coach give you?
A, first of all, I was conscious of entering the game and trying to change the flow. Since the score was tied 1-1, I focused solely on contributing through plays that would lead to goals. Coach Matsuhashi told me to be more aggressive, and I want to become a player who can create more and more moments like that (the first dribble breakthrough after coming on).
Q: With many injuries in the attacking lineup, how do you want to build on today's goals?
A, I believe that a strong team is characterized by the ability to achieve good results no matter who plays. The season is in its final stages, but I want to work hard to make the team even better. As an individual, I think that if I can express my strengths on the pitch, it will lead to goals, so I want to continue giving my best.
<Player Kim Seung-gyu>
Q. How do you feel looking back on today's match?
A, today was a match we had to win. There are only two home games left, so I am really glad we could secure a victory in front of our fans and supporters here at Ajinomoto Stadium. I wanted to finish the season with wins in both matches, so I truly feel relieved.
Q. In the first half, there was a scene from the opponent's free kick, and Kim Seung-gyu made a big save.
A, we practiced set plays as a whole team, and since we knew the opponent would come even from a long distance, we were able to respond properly and prevent it in that scene.
Q. After conceding a goal and the score became tied, you were able to continue fighting without collapsing, which led to the victory. What kind of conversation did you have with the defensive players?
A. When the home team is tied in a home game, I think the home team sometimes gets too eager to win, which raises the tempo and causes them to lose balance. However, the defenders are very experienced players, so they communicated with each other to avoid dangerous situations from counterattacks. I believed that chances would definitely come, and I think we were able to endure and play solidly at the back.
Q. After the match, you immediately spoke with the goalkeeper coach. What kind of conversation did you have?
A, we talked about the conceded goal scenes. There were instances where we were scored against from set plays, and since there are differences between what is felt on the pitch and what is seen from outside, I asked about the positioning and decision-making from an external perspective.
Q: The season is entering its final stages. Please tell us your enthusiasm for the upcoming matches.
A, next we will have consecutive matches against the same opponent, but by securing a solid win in the first match, we aim to approach the next game with our own rhythm. Above all, we want to fight each match one by one with the goal of winning the immediate game in front of us.
