Emperor's Cup held, Vegalta Sendai to play in 4th Round

　The 88th Emperor's Cup, which has already been held. From November 2nd, J1 teams will appear and the 4th round will be held, with Tokyo facing Vegalta Sendai (J2) on the 3rd. In the previous league match, they showed their full strength and defeated the top-ranked Kashima. Coach Jofuku said, "We need to make that fight our average" and aims to use the momentum gained in the Emperor's Cup to continue in the following league matches.

　In terms of our goal, we want to show our strength and win against Sendai. However, as seen in the previous day's Kashima vs. Kokushikan University match, where it went into a penalty shootout, there is also the difficulty of facing a lower category team for J1 teams in the first round of the tournament. Therefore, while we aim for a good performance, our priority is to get the result and secure our advancement. Tokyo's starting lineup will have the same attacking players as the Kashima match. However, due to an injury, Shigeru Moenai will not be playing and Fujiyama will take his place as center back.

　Sendai, who is currently in 3rd place in J2, is continuing a fierce battle for promotion to J1. The basic formation is 4-4-2, with the front line consisting of tall and powerful FW Nakajima and Nakahara, and the side MF Sekiguchi with the ability to break through and take shots. In this match, the lineup has been changed, with Chiba, who is normally a defensive midfielder, being used as a center back. The midfield consists of 3 MFs, Nagai, Tomizawa, and Miyazawa, with Sekiguchi playing as an attacking midfielder. The formation has been a 2-top with FW Nakahara and Nakajima leading the attack.

　In response to this, Manager Jofuku emphasized, "No matter how Sendai approaches the match, the battle is within ourselves." He continued, "Even if there are mistakes or difficult moments, the focus is on whether we can continue to do what we need to do and pursue what we want." The match started at exactly 1:00 PM at the chilly and cloudy Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo.

Leading with Hirayama's goal, but unable to grasp the rhythm...

　Showing an aggressive attitude from the start, in the 4th minute, Cabore sprinted down the left side and entered the area, but was blocked and resulted in a corner kick. In the 11th minute, Tokyo pushed Sendai back and Cabore stole the ball from the DF and passed it to Julian in the left area. However, his shot missed the target. On the other hand, Sendai also aggressively pressed and took the ball to the finish. In the 16th minute, a through pass from the midfield found MF Kanaguchi running behind the Tokyo DF, but his decisive shot narrowly missed to the right, avoiding danger.

　Tokyo, who couldn't keep up with Sendai's quick press, managed to grab the rhythm, but in the 19th minute, Nagatomo on the left side passed to Kajiyama in the center, who then passed directly to Hirayama. Kajiyama shifted to the right while changing his body direction and took a shot. The sharp shot hit the bar, but Hirayama pushed the ball into the goal with his chest as it floated high. They took the lead with their bold attempts to score.

　Tokyo continued to attack and in the 22nd minute, Nagatomo overlapped and sent a negative last pass. Cabore's shot from the left side of the area rolled into the net, but Ishikawa in front of the goal was deemed offside. Despite maintaining a one-point lead and calmly carrying the game, their coordination was not quite there. There were also scenes where they were caught on the counterattack by Sendai while in the midst of attacking.

　34 minutes, Sendai's left cross falls to the far side, FW Nakajima takes a free shot. It was a scene where it wouldn't be strange if he scored, but he was saved by a mistake. In the 42nd minute, from Sendai FW Nakajima's post-play, MF Nagai takes a shot in the center, but Shioda catches it in front. Although they didn't allow a goal, they couldn't ride the wave and ended the first half.

Hirayama scores second goal in stoppage time! Despite the struggle, they advance to the 5th round.

　In the second half, Sendai was the one who launched a strong attack from the beginning. In the 47th minute, MF Sekiguchi ran up the right side and FW Nakahara took a ding shot from a cross. In the 50th minute, a quick pass was made and an early cross was sent in, and MF Nagai jumped in front of the goal. In the 58th minute, Tokyo's Ishikawa took a volley with his right foot from the loose ball from Nagatomo's left cross, but it went high. In the 62nd minute, Sendai's FW Nakahara broke through the DF's defense and took a decisive shot, but Shioda came out and made a great save to protect the goal!

　Tokyo tried to change the flow of the game, replacing Ishikawa with Emerson in the 61st minute and substituting Suzuki for the injured Cabore in the 69th minute. They launched attacks with speed from the sides and tried to find their rhythm. However, in the 72nd minute, Sendai passed the ball around Tokyo's defense and quickly sent a through pass to FW Nakajima on the left side. They couldn't stop it and FW Nakahara ran into the center and scored... They were now tied.

　The attack and defense will become intense from this point on. In the 73rd minute, Akamine was substituted for Hanyu and attempted to take the lead, but Sendai also quickly launched an attack and created a chance. Both teams continued to attack and retreat, and in the 76th minute, Sendai's MF Sato made a sharp right cross and FW Nakajima jumped in, creating another scoring opportunity, but Shioda made a save! In the 79th minute, Kajiyama → Hirayama ran up to the right side space and entered the right area. The opponent's GK also came out, leaving the goal open, but the decisive shot was cleared by Sendai's DF. In the 82nd minute, Nagatomo's left throw-in → Hirayama headed it away, and Suzuki, who was near the goal, turned around and took a shot that shook the net, but it was offside... In the 88th minute, Suzuki took a decisive shot from the left area, but was unable to capitalize on the chance.

　It was just after the display of 5 minutes, which seemed to lead to extra time with a tie. Tokunaga dribbled up and passed to Kajiyama in the center. Kajiyama sent a floating pass into the area. Akamine stretched his leg while competing with the opponent's DF and the ball spilled in front of the goal. Hirayama reacted to this and scored the second goal! Finally, we took the lead. However, Sendai did not give up and there were moments where they brought the ball to the goal in the remaining time, but we managed to hold off their counterattack and the time was up. We struggled against the strong Sendai team, but we managed to advance to the 5th round.

　【Player Comments】《Hirayama》"Before the game, we talked about how it might be a difficult match, but if we can win in the end, that's all that matters. Sendai had a lot of energy and if we had been on the defensive, we would have lost. The first goal was a great shot by Kajiyama, so we were trying to follow up on it. Both goals were from loose balls, but we also had other chances. We want to score in different ways, like from crosses, and we want to be able to use our teammates easily and be ready to receive passes. We also want to continue our goal from today in the league matches. In the Emperor's Cup, we want to fight until the end to win."《Suzuki》"We were tied right after I came on, so I played with the mindset of pushing forward. In the situation where we conceded, I was trying to clear it even though I was back, but I couldn't. I was determined to score a goal myself...but I ended up forcing a shot. I needed to be more composed. However, I think our attitude of moving forward as a team led to our victory."

　[Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "In the Emperor's Cup, even J1 teams have difficult matches, so we had to be focused going into the game. However, it wasn't a situation where we could maintain our own pace in terms of mentality, but rather in terms of how we played, individual form, and balance. We are reflecting on that. However, in the second half, with the change in players and the situation dragging on a bit, we were able to increase our attacking opportunities and speed, and in the end we were able to score and get a good result. However, there were also moments where we were in danger of conceding, and we did in fact concede. (It seemed like the attack was biased towards the left side?) There are various reasons, but first of all, Sendai clearly marked our midfield and created a numerical advantage, so there weren't many opportunities to calmly pass the ball in the midfield. As a result, we couldn't make stable side changes. In other situations as well, we need to reflect on both our defense and offense and connect that to the upcoming league matches."

　[Press Conference Summary of Sendai Teguramori Coach] "It's a sincere feeling that we lost a close game. Tournaments are difficult games. The higher-ranked team often struggles, and we thought we would have the advantage mentally. I think we were definitely superior in terms of content, but we lost to J1 Tokyo due to the difference in finishing. (What specific points did you feel you could have done better?) We were able to possess the ball well, move players, and play the same style of soccer we have been playing up until the middle of this season against a J1 team. We were able to create several attacking opportunities and break through their defense. For us, the Emperor's Cup is already over, so we will focus on the league and use today's challenges and achievements as confidence to take on the league with the frustration of this loss."