In the first half, there were scoring opportunities, but...

FC Tokyo, who have won their first two games of the season, started off strong and aggressively attacked from the beginning, with their fullbacks leading the way. In the 5th minute, a sharp interception by Umayama led to a cross from the right side to Sato Yuki. Kaga then headed the ball, but unfortunately missed the goal. In the 10th minute, Fuyuyama fought hard on the left side and passed the ball to Amaral. Amaral then played a perfect looping pass between the opponent's goalkeeper and defense, allowing Sato Yuki to break through and take a shot. However, the opponent's defender made a fine play and prevented the goal. Throughout the game, FC Tokyo had several chances, including a powerful left-footed shot by Amaral that hit the post, but they were unable to convert any of them into goals. The game continued with both teams fiercely attacking and defending.

Break the rhythm of Niigata's solid defense

Niigata, which is also undefeated in the opening two games like Tokyo, fights back with a sharp start and tough checks, and a style of quick counterattacks from a solid defense. In particular, Almir, who is the attacking pivot of the two new midfielders this season, and Yuto Sato's movements were shut down, and they were unable to connect passes and find a rhythm, resulting in a monotonous attack that often aimed for Amaral's head with long balls. However, Amaral was perfectly marked by the new large-sized defender, and the goalkeeper's wide defensive range and strength in high balls prevented the opponent from being flustered by the monotonous long ball attacks. In the second half, the momentum shifted even more towards Niigata. Niigata pressed in the midfield and aggressively counterattacked after stealing the ball, quickly spreading it to the sides and creating chances with crosses. In the 33rd minute of the second half, the balance was finally broken. From the chaos in the midfield, a ball that went behind Tokyo's defense was contested by Niigata's forward and goalkeeper Horiike, who passed it to him. This resulted in an inadvertent weak pass, which was touched by Niigata's forward a moment earlier, and Horiike tackled him, resulting in a penalty. This was easily converted, and they were finally scored on.

Unsuccessful last-minute attack...

Tokyo, who woke up with this, turned to an all-out attack. In the 36th minute of the second half, they brought in the high-attacking MF Shinkai. He becomes the new starting point for the attack. Furthermore, they push DF Sandro up to the front line to gain control of the airspace. In the 41st minute of the second half, substitute Kaburaki takes a powerful right-footed shot. However, it does not result in a goal due to the goalkeeper's fine play. In stoppage time, they get consecutive corner kicks and come close to scoring. In the final moments, Sato Yuki shoots from the corner kick, but unfortunately misses. And finally, the whistle blows for the end. In the end, they had more shots, but they were unable to break through Niigata's well-organized defense and suffered their first loss at home this season. In the post-match press conference, Coach Okuma said, "We couldn't convert our chances in the first half and then we self-destructed (PK). It's not about whether Niigata is strong or weak, in J2, there is not much difference in strength between teams and no team is considered special. I emphasize to the players to take each game seriously. We need to quickly fix the issues that were exposed in today's game and move forward to the next game against Kawasaki F." Although it is a painful loss, it is only the third game out of 36. It is important to switch our mindset.