GAME RESULTGame Result

3rd Round 2018/7/11 (Wed)
Audience 2,315 people 
Weather cloudy, no temperature 28.7 degrees humidity 70% 
Referee: Hiroki KASAHARA Assistant Referee: Taku NAKANO / Yusuke SHIOTSU Fourth Official: Reo TANAKA

Emperor's Cup JFA 98th All Japan Soccer Championship 3rd Round

DENKA BIG SWAN

FC Tokyo

3-1

Match Finished

First Half1-1

Second Half2-0

Albirex Niigata

FC Tokyo Albirex Niigata
23' Keigo HIGASHI
56' Diego OLIVEIRA
60' Diego OLIVEIRA
Scorer 20' Daisuke Sakai
73' Cayman TOGASHI → Takuji YONEMOTO
83' Kotaro OMORI → Sotan TANABE
Player Substitution 64' Yoshijun OGAWA → Bruno MENEGEU
66' Arata WATANABE → Atsushi KAWATA
79' Yuta ITO → Go HANDA
9 Shoot 9
6 GK 9
10 CK 5
5 Direct Free Kick 12
0 Indirect Free Kick 1
0 Offside 1
0 PK 0
53' Keigo HIGASHI Warning 58' Ryota Yasuda
Exit
FC Tokyo Starting Lineup
GK 1 Yu OKUBO
DF 2 Sei MUROYA
DF 29 Makoto OKAZAKI
DF 3 Masato MORISHIGE
DF 6 Kosuke OTA
MF 38 Keigo HIGASHI
MF 8 Yojiro Takahagi
MF 18 Kento HASHIMOTO
MF 39 Kota MORI
FW 17 Cayman TOGASHI
FW 9 Diego OLIVEIRA
FC TokyoSubstitute
GK 30 Riku HIROSUE
DF 22 Masayuki YAMADA
DF 25 Ryoya OGAWA
MF 7 Takashi Yonemoto
MF 27 Sotan TANABE
FW 15 Takefusa KUBO
FW 24 Taichi HARA
Albirex NiigataStarting Lineup
GK 1 Koki OTANI
DF 24 Naoki KAWAGUCHI
DF 44 Dai Bu Jun
DF 2 Kenta HIROSE
DF 3 Yasuda Rida
MF 23 Yasutaka YANAGI
MF 50 Sakai Taisho
MF 17 Yuta Ito
MF 16 Arata WATANABE
FW 40 Kasumi Ogawa
FW 11 Thales
Albirex NiigataSubstitute
GK 21 Yasuhiro Watanabe
DF 29 Taiki WATANABE
DF 35 Shosei OKAMOTO
MF 20 Goh Tanyama
MF 26 Sachiro TOSHIMA
FW 9 Atsushi KAWATA
FW 27 Bruno Meneghel

[Player/Coach Comments]

"Keigo HIGASHI"
(It was a priceless equalizing goal)
"It was good that I was able to show the form I had been training for in the goal-scoring situation."
However, as a team, we were unable to enter the game in a good shape, as it was our first game in a while.
After catching up to the tie, I think it was a typical Tokyo-style game.
We were able to show our strength in the second half and were able to play without being pushed back by the opponent, so we want to build on this.

(I was screaming after the goal)
"I want to aim for another goal in the second half."
I have been working on improving my condition since the camp, so my body is starting to move again.
It is difficult to improve our condition during consecutive games, but since we are able to resume and approach the game with a fresh mindset, we want to continue on.

(We won the competition for scoring points firmly)
"If we have more scenes like that, I think the number of points will increase, and Tokyo has good crossers."
There are also scenes where we break down inside, so I think there are times when the outside is open. I think there is still room for improvement, and the attacking pattern is something we worked on during camp, so I think there will be more to come from now on."

"Kosuke OTA"
(2 assists. How do you look back on the game?)
"I was a little worried when we conceded the first goal, but East player quickly equalized, so it was good."

I was thinking that I couldn't lose because Muraya was assisting, and I was satisfied with that part because I was able to assist in adding points afterwards.
I am happy to have contributed to the team's victory.

(There were many breakthrough scenes in the second half. What did you focus on at the start of the second half?)
"In the second half, Omori made good positioning. The space in front of me was wide open, so it was easy to play."
I think our team's strategy worked well as we were able to break through the opponent's defense with one touch even in the third scoring opportunity.

(We held a camp during the break period and felt that the team atmosphere was good.)
"Some players have transferred, but today Okazaki showed a solid performance."
I think that such things are very important and will lead to the improvement of the team. With the league restarting, I want us to tighten our focus and fight together from here on out."

"Summary of Tokyo - Kenta HASEGAWA Coach's Press Conference"

"In the first half, I think we lacked a bit of speed and power to score, as it was our first game in a while. We were able to get close to the goal and take shots, but we couldn't quite find the final push and couldn't score in the first half."
In the second half, I think the power and force to finish the game came out quite a bit. In that kind of situation, we were able to turn the game around and take the lead.
Today, we played with players who were not used to the game. The members who are playing in J3 have a good sense of the game, so it was good to have Yonemoto and Tanabe play early and return them to the official game.
The league will resume in one week, and we have also advanced to the next round of the Emperor's Cup. We want to make sure we are well prepared as a team to secure another victory.

"Summary of Niigata Masakazu Suzuki's press conference"

"In the first half, the players were in a good shape and we were able to score while maintaining a compact defense. It was good that we were able to score. However, in the second half, we conceded a goal due to a lapse in marking and were caught off guard by the opponent."
However, I believe that the fact that the players continued to go for points until the end will lead to the next step.