Fight without impatience and seize 3 points at home

In the ACL Group Stage Match 3, we will face Jiangsu Suning (China) at home.
With a schedule that comes three days after the last league match, Tokyo starts Takahashi in the midfield. He pairs with Hashimoto as a double pivot, with Mizunuma and Hanyu on the wings. Maeda and Nathan BURNS form the two strikers in a 4-4-2 formation.

Jiangsu has the experienced FW Joe from the Brazilian national team at the forefront, with FW Alex Teixeira on the left and MF Wu Xi on the right. The formation is a 4-1-4-1 with MF Jiang Shaobin as the anchor. This match is a battle where they want to fight tenaciously and patiently against the offensively strong Jiangsu, aiming to seize 3 points by exploiting any openings.

After a long time, it was sunny during the day, but the wind was strong, and as night fell, it became even colder. The match started at 19:30 with a kickoff in Tokyo.

Patience The Key As Tokyo Aim For Three Points

JIANGSU FC of China were the visitors to Tokyo Stadium for the third group stage match of the 2016 AFC Champions League. With the fixture coming just three days after their previous outing in the league, Tokyo started with Takahashi partnering Hashimoto in central midfield, flanked by Mizunuma and Hanyu. Maeda and Nathan Burns paired up in attack in a 4-4-2 formation. Former Brazil striker Jo started in the most advanced position in attack for Jiangsu with fellow Brazilian Alex Teixeira on the left and midfielder Wu Xi on the right. Midfielder Zhang Xiaobin played as midfield anchor in a 4-1-4-1 formation. Tokyo would need to play a patient game, defending stubbornly against the potent Jiangsu attack and then striking when the opportunities appeared. It was a game from which they wanted to take maximum points. The daytime weather in Tokyo had been clear and sunny although windy and the evening temperature plummeted after sunset, bringing a sharp chill to the stadium. FC Tokyo kicked off at 7:30pm.

Cautiously rise and suppress Jiangsu's attack

At the start, Jiangsu aggressively moved the ball forward, attacking mainly through set plays and long-range shots. However, Tokyo responded with focus. Once they regained possession, they gradually created attacking opportunities through quick transitions.

12 minutes: Nathan BURNS received a feed from Ogawa to the left front line, skillfully turning while holding off the opposing defender. He broke through and made a low pass to the center. Maeda, outside the left goal area, connected with it.
18 minutes: Tokunaga passes to Mizunuma on the inside, who sends a pass to the center. Hashimoto, just in front of the area, takes a direct shot, but neither was able to hit the target.
 

24 minutes: Nathan BURNS initiated the play, received a right throw-in, and feinted past the opposing DF to advance into the right area. He delivered a decisive last pass in front of the goal, but Hanyu, who was making a run, was marked by the opposing DF. The ball was cut off in a tangle, and he was unable to take a shot.

26 minutes: Jiangsu also gathers the ball in the front line, sending a long pass into the Tokyo area, where Tokyo's clearance goes to forward Joe in the center of the area. This also created a decisive opportunity, but the shot went wide.
 

After that, Tokyo maintained possession of the ball, creating their own time while trying to exploit the opponent's gaps.
42 minutes: Barnes received a pass from the right, evaded the opposing defender, and dribbled centrally in a sliding motion to take a shot, but the shot went straight to the goalkeeper. Although there weren't many chances, they created some decisive opportunities, ending the first half scoreless.

Tokyo Repel JIANGSU Attack In Cautious Start

The visitors started strongly, bringing the ball forward and threatening the Tokyo goal from set plays and medium-range attempts on goal. The hosts maintained their concentration though and began to break at pace as they eased themselves into the match. 12th.minute: Ogawa sent the ball down the left channel to Nathan Burns who held off a defender and spun neatly away. Burns raced forward before driving a low cross into the box. Maeda met the ball at pace but directed his powerful shot wide of the left post. 18th.minute: Tokunaga found Mizunuma who moved the ball on towards Hashimoto just outside the Jiangsu penalty area in a central position. Hashimoto struck first time but was unable to hit the target. 24th.minute: Nathan Burns continued to look lively as he skillfully feinted past a defender following a Tokyo throw in down the right. He raced into the Jiangsu box and delivered a decisive cross towards the onrushing Hanyu in the centre. Some stout defending prevented Hanyu from making contact with the ball and the Jiangsu defence cleared the danger. 26th.minute: Jiangsu maintained possession in attack and launched a long ball into the Tokyo box. The clearance fell to forward Jo inside the area in a central position. He dug a shot out from under his feet and the ball bounded narrowly wide of the far post. Tokyo then dominated possession for a prolonged spell, probing for a chink in the Jiangsu defensive armour. 42nd.minute: Burns received the ball out on the right then skipped inside and across the face of the penalty area. He created room for a shot but the hard, low effort flew straight at the Jiangsu goalkeeper. It was a decent chance in a half that had seen few clear-cut openings. The first period ended 0-0.

Gained the initiative and pressed forward, but couldn't break through for a goal...

In the second half, Tokyo found their rhythm through Nathan BURNS' proactive plays.
50 minutes: Maruyama's clearance ball reaches Maeda in the front line, but the dropped pass does not connect with a teammate. It flows to Jiangsu's left forward Teixeira. It was a moment of sudden danger, but they were saved by an offside call.
After 55 minutes: Tokyo had consecutive set-piece opportunities, but Ogawa's kicks were all deflected, and they could not capitalize on the chances.

64 minutes: Kono is brought on to the front line. Immediately after, from Takahashi's feed to the front line, the opponent's clearance ball goes to Maeda in the right area. Maeda took a direct shot, but it went far off target.

70 minutes: Abe comes in. There was a moment when they faced a counter from Jiangsu, but they responded without creating gaps, led by Maruyama. On the other hand, the opponent's transition slowed down, and their defense began to retreat, but in that situation, Tokyo took control.

73 minutes: Abe in the left area drops the ball off the post, and Hanyu changes the side, sending a precise cross into the right area. Mizunuma charged in from the right side at just the right moment, but while being marked by the opposing defender, he was unable to get a clean shot off.
76 minutes: Abe entered the left area. He dazzled the opponent with his dribbling and sent a cross, but no one was there at the far post, and it went out of play.

77 minutes: Yonehito is substituted in.

82 minutes: In the final stages, they continuously attacked from the sides. From a right cross, Hashimoto ran in on the ball dropped by Kono and took a shot.
84 minutes: Yonemoto takes a powerful shot from distance, but both are blocked by Jiangsu.
86 minutes: From Hanyu's left cross, Kono attempted a header in front of the goal, but the opposing DF deflected it for a corner kick.
90 minutes: Yonemoto sent a vertical pass, and Hanyu on the left matched it with a low and fast cross, but Mizunuma rushed in... The opposing defense held firm, and they couldn't finish. Jiangsu, aiming for 1 point away, held on, and time was up. They couldn't break the deadlock until the end, and the ACL match ended scoreless at home.

Tokyo Seize Initiative Yet Fail To Find Breakthrough

Nathan Burns' positive attacking play helped Tokyo to find a rhythm in the second half as well. 50th minute: Maruyama cleared the ball out to Maeda who then played it back to the Tokyo defence. The ball failed to reach a teammate, instead arriving at the feet of Alex Teixeira. It looked like a tight spot for Tokyo but Teixeira was fortunately given offside. 55th minute: Tokyo earned a pair of free kicks in promising positions. Both times Ogawa swung the ball into the Jiangsu box and both times it was headed away. 64th minute: Kawano replaced Nathan Burns. Immediately after the change Takahashi hoisted a long ball forward and a poor clearance fell straight to Maeda on the right of the Jiangsu penalty area. Maeda struck first-time but the effort flew wide of the post. 70th minute: Abe replaced Maeda. Jiangsu countered shortly after the change but Maruyama and the Tokyo defence covered quickly and ended the threat. The visitors began to lose some of the dynamism in their changeover from defence to attack and started to defend deeper. Tokyo seized the initiative. 73rd minute: With his back to goal Abe knocked the ball down outside the Jiangsu area on the left and Hanyu clipped a dipping cross in towards the penalty spot. Mizunuma came in off the right with perfect timing, held off a defender and flung himself feet-first at the ball. He made the faintest of connections only for Zhang Sipeng to plunge low to his left and deny Tokyo. 76th minute: Abe raced into the Jiangsu area on the left, bamboozled a defender with some slick footwork then launched a cross to the far post. No teammates were able to reach the ball and it sailed out to the right. 77th minute: Yonemoto replaced Takahashi. 82nd minute: Tokyo made headway down the flanks as the game entered its final stages. From a right-wing cross Kawano knocked the ball down, Hashimoto ran onto it and struck a shot wide of the post. 84th minute: Yonemoto lashed a fierce drive from middle range that Zhang held at the second attempt. 86th minute: Hanyu crossed from the right, Kawano directed a header on goal that flicked off a Jiangsu defender and went out for a corner. 90th minute: Yonemoto hoisted a long ball forward, Hanyu whipped a low cross from the left and Mizunuma darted in but was foiled by a defender yet again. Jiangsu managed to hold out until the final whistle, earning the away point they had targeted. Tokyo were unable to find a goal and the game finished 0-0.

[Player Comments]

《Nathan BURNS》
"Of course, my condition is good, and the combination with my teammates is improving day by day. Today, I aimed to play by utilizing the gaps between the defenders and midfielders. There were moments when it worked well, but gradually Jiangsu Suning started to defend with more players, making it difficult. I couldn't score, and I wasn't able to fulfill my role or the team's goals."

[Hanyu]
"I thought Jiangsu would play more 'football' and apply pressure from earlier on, but that wasn't the case. We should have done more in response. It ended up being a game that left us with that feeling. I focused on moving in ways that would bother the opponent and taking good positions. I think I showed my strengths there, but both individually and as a team, we fell short, which led to the draw."

Players' Comments

Nathan Burns:
"I'm in good condition of course and improving my combination play with the other players daily. Today I was looking to play between the lines of the opposition defence and midfield. It went well on some occasions but as the game progressed Jiangsu sat deeper and deeper and it became more difficult. We couldn't score, I couldn't really fulfill my role and we didn't get the result we wanted."

Hanyu:
"I thought Jiangsu would try to play a bit more football than they actually did. I had expected they would try to press much higher up the field. In response to that approach I feel we should have been able to do more. That's the impression I'm going to take away from the game. During the game I was focused on what kind of play could punish them and taking up threatening positions. Although I felt I played to my strengths, both on a personal level and as a team we didn't really offer enough and the game ended in a draw."

[Summary of Coach Hiroshi JOFUKU's Press Conference]

"We maintained our concentration in defense, and the players performed wonderfully for 90 minutes. That's why we wanted the 3 points. Although we created chances, we couldn't convert them, which is disappointing. I want to sincerely accept this result and build on it for the next match. In a frustrating game like today, we hardly allowed the opponent to shoot in the second half. This is because the players learned from the frustration they experienced in the league opener. I want to focus on scoring goals from here on out."

[Summary of the press conference with Jiangsu Suning's Coach Petrescu]
"As expected, today was a tough match. The result was 0-0, but I felt the difficulty of earning one point away against Tokyo. Both teams had chances to win today, but in the match in Nanjing in April, we want to win."

F.C. TOKYO manager Hiroshi Jofuku

"We defended with great concentration for the whole 90 minutes and the players' movement was excellent throughout the game. It was a good performance and that's why we really wanted the three points. We couldn't take the chances we created though and that's the disappointment. We just have to accept the result and move on to the next match. The game was tense yet in the second half we didn't allow the opposition a single shot on goal. It shows we learned a lesson from the opening game of the J.League. We are going to address how to score goals from here on."

JIANGSU FC manager Dan Petrescu

"As we had envisaged it was a very difficult game. The final result was 0-0 and we realised how tough it is to get an away point here. Although both sides had the chances to win the game tonight we think we'll be the winners when we meet again in Nanjing in April."