Tokyo's fierce counterattack!

As the second half began, as expected, Omiya's movement sharply declined. It was understandable since they had maintained such intense pressing in the first half. Conversely, Tokyo's activity increased. With Omiya's pressing weakened, Kaburagi and Yukihiko were able to keep possession up front, and the well-paced passing centered around Almir was revived. From the left side, Fujiyama confidently cut into the center with his specialty dribbling to create chances. Also, Koike, who came on as a substitute at the 15th minute of the second half, showed precise distribution from the defensive midfield position, covering for Almir's forward movement and improving the overall rhythm. Defensively, Shinjo, also a defensive midfielder, used his body in a fighting, spirited play to suppress the opponent's ball source, and Sandro aggressively charged at Jørn, whom he had been closely marking since the first half, preventing him from working effectively. With rhythm emerging in both offense and defense, Tokyo repeatedly attacked Omiya's goal and created scoring opportunities.

Yukihiko and Kobane showcased! Two beautiful goals!!

At the 20th minute of the second half, the deadlock was finally broken. Yukihiko, who received the ball from Almir in front of the goal center, turned forward with one touch, passed between the legs of the opposing defender who came to challenge with two touches, and with three touches, slipped past the advancing goalkeeper to score a goal. It was a beautiful goal unique to Yukihiko, born from a series of highly skilled moves. The game continued to be controlled by Tokyo afterward. Omiya, who had been playing compact soccer with a shallow defensive line since the first half, became flustered by this goal and recklessly launched attacks, losing balance and instead falling victim to Tokyo's counterattacks. Then, at the 24th minute of the second half, this time from the right, Yukihiko delivered a cross that Furube, who came on as a substitute, powerfully headed in front of the goalkeeper, changing the course of the ball and sealing the match. This season, Furube had only played about 10 minutes in official matches over the last two games, and although he seemed confused for a while after coming on this day, as expected from a man who has played 80 official J.League matches, he made a big impact when it mattered most. Later, at the 40th minute of the second half, Kaburaki broke free on a vertical pass from Almir and faced the goalkeeper one-on-one. Although it did not result in a goal, Tokyo continued to press and won the match. They celebrated their first three consecutive wins of the season.

Struggling with relentless pressing

On this day, Omiya had thoroughly studied Tokyo. They kept their defensive line shallow and applied relentless pressure from the front line to the midfield, completely shutting down Almir, Tokyo's key attacking player, preventing them from establishing any rhythm. Uki, who played for Tokyo Gas FC until last year, was positioned in the back line, and Edwin, who also played until two years ago, was placed in the midfield, ensuring a perfect strategy against Tokyo. Tokyo struggled to connect the ball in midfield and repeatedly resorted to monotonous attacks by kicking the ball long to the front line. On the other hand, Omiya’s quick counterattacks after regaining possession were sharp due to their shallow defensive line, delivering early-timed crosses from both sides to their 190cm tall forward, Jørn. Sandro, who is 184cm tall, closely marked Jørn but there were dangerous moments when he lost aerial duels and the ball was shot at by Omiya’s forwards. However, this was anticipated by Coach Okuma before the match, who instructed the players to focus on dealing with balls lost in aerial duels, so the players responded calmly. The first half was tough for Tokyo, being completely dominated by Omiya with a shot count of 4 to 8, but Omiya’s intense pressing was not expected to last long, and the players endured calmly.