Battle without Almir

J2, which opened on March 14th, will enter a one-month break for the Sydney Olympics qualifiers after the game on this day (= Section 14) ends. Tokyo was in 3rd place at the end of the previous section (= Section 13), and this game against 1st place Oita was a highly motivated battle as they could take the lead if they won in 90 minutes and 2nd place Kawasaki F (vs Sapporo) drew or lost. In the 1st round, they took the lead with Almir's goal in the first half and dominated the game, but in the second half, they were caught up by the fatigue of consecutive away games and went into extra time. In the end, the 120-minute battle ended in a draw. Oita, who studies and analyzes the opponent team well and changes tactics flexibly, is similar to Tokyo in their solid style of play. On this day, Tokyo faced a difficult lineup without key player Almir, who was suspended (due to accumulated warnings), against Oita's best lineup. It was the first game without Almir this season, leaving doubts about the midfield organization and a tough battle was expected.

Yukihiko and Koike's Struggle

On this day, Kaga, who scored the final goal of the season in the previous match against Yamagata (5/23), took over Almir's position. The focus was on how much he could touch the ball in the attacking midfielder position. In addition, Koike, who started for the first time this season, replaced Niijou who had a backache and played. Koike, who has been a substitute in several matches so far, has always shown stable play and attention was also drawn to his performance. The match was a fierce battle between top teams from the beginning. Tokyo's Yukihiro actively involved in the ball, saying "Leave the hole left by Almir to me!" and created chances with sharp dribbling and accurate passes. Amaral, who is in good shape, showed a stable post-play with excellent control and created the rhythm of the attack. Koike, who started for the first time, also struggled as a connecting player in both offense and defense with his aggressive movements, living up to expectations. On the other hand, Oita was flexible in adjusting positions, such as registering only three defenders but actually placing four, and took care of Tokyo's attacking pattern of both fullbacks going up. In the attack, Will and Choi distributed good passes to the front line from skillful ball retention, creating rhythm. Both of them are left-handed and have a variety of kicks, and they troubled Tokyo with balls aimed at the back of the tricky defenders.

"KING OF TOKYO" Amaral is still going strong!

As the second half began, the game intensified. In the 55th minute, Kaga saw an exquisite cross from Koike and took a direct volley shot. In the 63rd minute, Yukihiro broke through the right side and crossed, which was met by a powerful header from Sandro. In the 70th minute, Amarao picked up a ball that had hit the post and Fujiyama took a strong shot. Both were decisive moments, but unfortunately did not result in a goal. On the other hand, Oita also created scoring opportunities with Will and Choi breaking through the defense in the first half. The game remained scoreless as both teams' defenses held strong and lacked finishing. In the 107th minute, substitute Kobayashi sent a cross from the left that was headed down by Yukihiro, and Koike ran in to take a shot with his right foot. The ball deflected off a Oita defender and back to Yukihiro, who passed it to the center where Amarao scored a dramatic winning goal. Amarao, who had crushed Kobe in the 4/14 Nabisco Cup, scored his second winning goal of the season to end the intense battle. As for the standings, Kawasaki drew but Tokyo's win in extra time kept them in the same positions of 1st to 3rd. (Comment from Coach Ishizaki) We changed from our usual 3-back to a 4-back to better defend against Tokyo's strong wingbacks, and our defense worked as planned. Our downfall was our lack of finishing, which we need to address before we resume play on 6/26. (Comment from Coach Okuma) Our marking became loose in extra time, but our defense, including the goalkeeper, stayed strong and focused until the end, which was the key to our victory. Koike, who made his first start, contributed both offensively and defensively and did a great job. Looking back, I am satisfied with our defense, but our main issues are the decrease in attacking power when Amarao is absent and the transition from defense to offense. We need to address these issues as soon as possible.