The Emperor's Cup starts as we aim for the final title of the season.

　The Emperor's Cup, in which the 1st and 2nd Rounds have already taken place. Starting from today's 3rd Round, J1 teams will participate, marking the last tournament of the season for Tokyo. In the past three years since being promoted to J1, Tokyo has lost in the opening match of the Emperor's Cup to J2 teams Kofu, Yokohama FC, and Shonan, so they cannot repeat the same mistakes.

　The opponent is Honda FC, a JFL seed. They have faced each other many times during the era when they were affiliated with JFL as Tokyo Gas, engaging in fierce matches. They are still always in the championship race in JFL, possessing the highest level of amateur talent. They are not to be underestimated, but Tokyo, fighting in the top league as professionals, must demonstrate the difference in strength. They cannot afford to stumble easily on their way to winning titles. Amaral starts on the bench. Due to an injury to Jean, Fujiyama takes the center back position, and Yusuke KONDO starts at the top as the match begins.

In the 4th minute, Yusuke KONDO scores to take the lead early, but...

　Kondo Yusuke connected the kickoff ball and attempted to break through the left area, winning a corner kick. In the 4th minute, Miyazawa passed to the space on the right front. Although it did not reach Ishikawa, it deflected off an opponent's defender and went out of bounds. Miyazawa took the resulting right corner kick short to Ishikawa, who crossed from the right. The ball went over Toda's head in the center of the goal, but Kondo Yusuke matched it at the drop and pushed it in with his left foot, scoring a goal! Tokyo took the lead early.

　It was thought that this opening goal would help them find their rhythm, but Honda did not lose heart and continued to look for chances. In the 12th minute, DF Abe, who was free at the far post from a right FK, attempted a shot, but it went over the goal. In the 20th minute, from a quick counter, MF Maeda sent a through pass to FW Furuhashi, who broke free in front of the goal. Fujiyama closed in and prevented the shot. However, it was right after that. Ishikawa received a throw-in in the opponent's half and made a back pass. Honda's MF Kawashima intercepted it and sent a direct pass to FW Furuhashi. Furuhashi advanced with a dribble, and seeing no pressure, aimed for the goal from distance. The ball curled into the top right corner of the goal. With a clean shot from Furuhashi, who is also the JFL top scorer, they equalized.

　In the 26th and 27th minutes, Kaji and Ishikawa made crosses. In the 29th minute, Kelly broke through while being surrounded by two defenders on the right side with a heel pass, and Toda connected with the cross, but the goalkeeper caught it. In the 40th minute, they won four consecutive corner kicks, but Kondo's final shot went over the goal. Unable to gain momentum, they went into halftime still tied at 1-1.

Tokyo pulls away, Honda continues to chase without giving up

　In the second half, Amaral was brought in to replace Miura. Tokyo took a gamble by making Miyazawa the lone defensive midfielder. However, as Tokyo increased their tempo, Honda matched their pace. In the 47th minute, Honda's Furuhashi was allowed to linger in the right area and delivered a cross, but just before it reached the unmarked Nitta in front of the goal, Dohi managed to barely stop it. In the 51st minute, a pass from Miyazawa to Kaji was intercepted, leading to a quick counterattack, and Kawashima shot after a clearance from Tokyo's defense. In the 54th minute, Uruno from midfield attacked into the area following a rebound off the post from Nitta.

　However, in the 55th minute, Yusuke KONDO picked up a clearance from the opposing defender and charged up the left side with a speedy dribble, looking well at the goal before delivering a cross. Kelly, waiting at the far side, scored with a precise header! They secured an additional goal early in the second half. However, in the 62nd minute, they allowed Honda DF Yoshimura, who came on as a substitute for the right midfielder, to advance, creating a decisive moment as Maeda jumped in for the cross. In the 63rd minute, Yusuke KONDO's shot was caught by the opposing goalkeeper.

　In the 65th minute, Kwon (Chan) was brought in as a defensive midfielder to replace Toda. Just as they were trying to break away from Honda, utilizing Chan's work rate and vertical attacking runs, in the 68th minute, Amaral cleared a corner kick from Honda. Yoshimura picked it up, allowing a dribble breakthrough into the area, and a cross came into the front of the goal. The Tokyo DF cleared it, but the loose ball was shot consecutively by DF Mukojima and Maeda. In the chaos, Abe kicked in the ball that had spilled in front of the goal.

　Tokyo was once again caught up to an equalizer. In the 75th minute, Abe was brought on to replace Kondo Yu. They began creating decisive chances again. In the 80th minute, Abe chased down a pass sent forward by Kaji while competing with a defender and made a backward pass. Ishikawa ran at top speed to receive it but was just a step too late. In the 85th minute, Abe intercepted a quick attack from Honda and took a dribble shot at speed. Then from a left corner kick, Chang made a header shot. At the 86th minute, Honda's Maeda received his second warning and was sent off. Facing Honda with 10 men, in the 87th minute, Amaral connected a long throw from Chang, and Kelly took a decisive shot from the right side of the goal, but the opposing defender covering cleared it. Immediately after, Kelly's volley shot from straight in front of the goal was blocked by a fine save from the opposing goalkeeper Nakamura. Ishikawa's free kick, Kanazawa's shot, and a shot by Kelly off a drop from Amaral in stoppage time all failed to break through Honda's concentrated defense. The match went into overtime with the golden goal rule.

After 120 minutes, no conclusion was reached, and we narrowly achieved victory in the penalty shootout.

　Tokyo wanted to take advantage of their numerical superiority, but the first chance was created by Honda. At 3 minutes into the first half of extra time, Yoshimura picked up the rebound from a right corner kick and took a decisive shot. However, Tokyo's defenders cleared it with all their might. At 7 minutes, Abe received a vertical pass from Miyazawa and took a shot. At 10 minutes, Kanazawa's long shot was caught by the GK. Honda also showed counterattacks in the gaps, but the defense centered on Doi prevented any shots. In the second half, the game mostly progressed in Tokyo's territory, but the goal just wouldn't break. At 3 minutes into the second half of extra time, Chan and Amaral launched a quick attack, and Kelly took a shot, but it was saved by the GK. At 9 minutes, Amaral dropped an early cross from Kaji, and Abe took a shot from very close to the right side of the goal, but the GK made a fine save. At 10 and 11 minutes, they launched successive attacks, but ultimately no decision was made in 120 minutes, leading to a penalty shootout.

　Honda took the first kick in the penalty shootout. Furuhashi, Mukojima, Abe, Masuda, and Yoshimura scored, while Tokyo's Amaral, Kelly, Abe, Kanazawa, and Ishikawa also scored without fail. However, in sudden death, Dohi saved the shot taken by Honda's 6th kicker, GK Nakamura. In response, Miyazawa precisely kicked the ball into the top right corner of the goal, finally putting an end to the long battle. Despite a hard-fought victory, they advanced to the 3rd Round and will face Vissel Kobe in the 4th Round on December 20 in Marugame.

【Player Comments】《Yusuke KONDO》"In the scene of the opening goal, it felt like I hit the ball after Mr. Toda contested it. Regarding the assist for Kelly's goal, I thought someone would connect with it, so I lifted it to the far post. It was physically tough, but I've been scoring in practice matches recently, and my condition has been good. I want to do my best next time." 《Doi》"Honestly, I felt very tired as we fell into the opponent's pace. It would have been better if we could have attacked more easily, for example, with plays from the outside. Honda's mentality was stronger, and I thought everyone was good at PKs. After stopping one, I felt like I couldn't stop any more, and I definitely wanted the next kicker (Miyazawa) to score."

[Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference] "It was just a matter of being glad to win in the penalty shootout. It was the worst performance throughout the season. The atmosphere was different from usual. As you can see from the results of other matches, being the opening game, there was a difficulty in getting into this tournament. I thought Honda was a well-organized and excellent team, but even with one player less and cramps, everyone kept fighting. On the other hand, Tokyo seemed to be trying to play skillfully or take it easy. We took the lead and thought we could continue like this, but when we were equalized, things went wrong, and even though we took the lead again in the second half, we relaxed once more. In the past, we fought from a position like Honda's today and won, but losing the opening game in J1 for three consecutive years means we tend to feel relieved after the league matches. The players who supported today's match were Yusuke KONDO, Fujiyama, and Go, who had not had many opportunities to play until now. Conversely, Moiniwa, Ishikawa, Kaji, who returned from the national team, and Kelly were not in good condition, including mentally, which caused this kind of game. I felt the difficulty of the Emperor's Cup. However, although the outcome could have been a loss, I think we were lucky to win in the penalty shootout. I believe it was a chance given by God, so we must play a good game next time. Players who cannot fight, whether they are national team members or foreign players, will be excluded from the lineup."

[Summary of Honda Coach Anma's Press Conference] "From the beginning of this year, we set a goal to defeat J.League teams. Although it was said to be close, it is frustrating that we couldn't break through the barrier. I want to thank the players who gave their all. We were down to 10 men, but if we reduced the number of forwards, we would become too defensive, so in the first half of extra time we slid positions to defend, and from the second half of extra time we returned to two forwards. It is regrettable that we couldn't make one more substitution. FC Tokyo is a team I fought against during my playing days when it was Tokyo Gas, so I approached the match with respect. The transition from defense to attack happens at a speed I have never experienced before, so we focused on sliding vertically to defend and also on suppressing Kelly. We narrowed down to these two key points. I didn't think we could hold out defensively for 90 minutes by sitting back, so we allowed them to bring the game into slow attack and wanted to win with aggressive soccer ourselves. I think we did well on these two points. However, despite suppressing them, we couldn't win. Amaral is truly great, and when the second half was about to start, the atmosphere in the stadium changed. It is frustrating that we couldn't break through the solid defense led by Fujiyama and others by just one step. But playing against J teams is a valuable experience and everything becomes a goal. We want to improve our abilities and raise the team's level even further."