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 equalized. In the 75th minute, Abe was brought on for Kondo Yu. They began to create decisive chances again. In the 80th minute, Abe chased a pass sent forward by Kaji, competing with the defender, and made a backward pass. Ishikawa sprinted in at top speed but was just a step late. In the 85th minute, Abe intercepted a fast break from Honda and took a dribble shot with speed. Following that, Chan made a header shot from a left corner kick. Then in the 86th minute, Honda's Maeda received a second warning and was sent off. Facing Honda, now with 10 players, in the 87th minute, Chan's long throw was connected by Amaral, and Kelly took a decisive shot from the right of the goal, but the covering defender cleared it. Shortly after, Kelly's volley shot from directly in front of the goal was also blocked by Honda's goalkeeper Nakamura with a fine save. Ishikawa's free kick, Kanazawa's shot, and a shot from Kelly after Amaral's drop in stoppage time could not break through Honda's concentrated defense. The match entered extra time under the V-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 it was Honda who created the first chance. In the 3rd minute of extra time, Yoshimura picked up a loose ball from a right corner kick and took a decisive shot. However, Tokyo's defense cleared it with all their might. In the 7th minute, Abe received a vertical pass from Miyazawa and took a shot. In the 10th minute, Kanazawa's long shot was caught by the GK. Honda also showed a counterattack, but the defense centered around Doi did not allow any shots. As the second half began, the match progressed almost entirely in Tokyo's half, but they just couldn't break through the goal. In the 3rd minute of extra time, Chan and Amaral launched a fast break, and Kelly took a shot but it was saved by the GK. In the 9th minute, Kaji's early cross was dropped by Amaral, and Abe took a shot from very close range to the right of the goal, but the GK made a fine save. In the 10th and 11th minutes, they launched successive attacks, but ultimately, the match ended without a resolution after 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] "I am glad we won the penalty shootout, but the content of the match was not good. Throughout the season, this was our worst performance. The atmosphere was different from usual. As can be seen from the results of other matches, it was the first game of the tournament, and there was a difficulty in getting into this competition. I thought Honda was a wonderful team with great cohesion, but even with one player less and cramping, everyone was doing their best. In contrast, Tokyo seemed to be trying to play easily or smoothly. After taking the lead, I thought we could continue like this, but once we were equalized, things went wrong, and even though we took the lead in the second half, we relaxed again from there. In the past, we fought from a position like Honda's today and were able to win, but losing in the first match for three consecutive years in J1 means that we have developed a sense of relief after the league matches. The players who supported today's match were Yusuke KONDO, Fujiyama, and Wu, who have not had many opportunities to play until now. On the other hand, Moniwa, Ishikawa, Kaji, and Kelly, who returned from the national team, were not in good condition, and including their mindset, there are reasons why the game turned out this way. I felt the difficulty of the Emperor's Cup. However, although the development of the match could have led to a loss, I think we were lucky to win in the penalty shootout. I believe it was a chance given by the gods, and we must ensure that we play a good match next time. Players who cannot fight, whether they are from the national team or foreign players, should be left out and approach the game accordingly."

【Honda・Anma's Press Conference Summary】"Since the beginning of this year, we have set the goal of defeating J League teams. Even if we were told it was close, I regret not being able to break through the wall. I want to thank the players who gave their all. Although we were down to ten men, reducing the forwards would have made us overly defensive, so we slid our positions to defend in the first half of extra time and returned to two forwards in the second half. It's unfortunate that we couldn't use one more substitution. FC Tokyo is the team I have fought against since my playing days as Tokyo Gas, and I approached this match with respect. The transition from defense to attack was faster than I have ever experienced, so we focused on sliding to defend and also on containing Kelly. We aimed to minimize points and concentrated on these two aspects. I didn't think we could hold out defensively for 90 minutes, so we allowed them to play slowly, and we wanted to win with aggressive soccer. I think we did well on those two points. However, even though we contained them, we couldn't win. Amaral is indeed great, and when we were about to push forward in the second half, the atmosphere in the stadium changed. I regret that we couldn't break through the solid defense led by Fujiyama and others. However, facing a J team is a valuable experience, and everything becomes a goal. I want to improve our abilities and further elevate the team's level."