A top battle against Cerezo, facing with all our might

After finishing the 11th round, Tokyo is in 4th place. This round is a top battle against 3rd place Cerezo Osaka. Cerezo, with their explosive attacking power from players such as Naoaki West and Morishima, has maintained a good performance this season and is a threat. However, neither team can afford to lose here, making it a showdown of determination.

Tokyo started with the same starting members as last round, with TUTO and Kanno as the two top players. Amaral was absent and Kina was not in top condition due to injury, but they faced the match with newcomer Kaga on the bench for his first appearance in J1.

Kamino's opening goal! However, an accident happened...

Both teams have been evenly matched since the first half. Cerezo's midfielder, Tasaka, has been able to steal the ball with his dedicated defense and supply fast passes to the front line's Nishizawa and Morishima, with midfielder Yoon as the starting point. However, they have been unable to finish due to Tokyo's tough defense. In the 9th minute, Tokyo's Yukihiro takes the first shot of the day from a cross by Naito, who had attacked from the right side, but it goes to the left of the goal. After that, they try to develop attacks from the side, such as a return from Kamiya's post to TUTO, and attacks from the side, but they are unable to effectively attack due to a lack of space and resort to forced breakthroughs and passing exchanges. Their attempts to switch sides are also read by the opponent, and they are unable to find a way out. However, in the 22nd minute, when Cerezo was slightly dominating the game, Koike saw space in front and dribbled in, passing to the back side where the Cerezo defenders were dropping back. Kamiya was able to break away from the defenders and take a shot! Although the goalkeeper initially saved it, he was able to push the rebound into the goal, hitting the crossbar and scoring a valuable first goal.

Tokyo, which seemed to be gaining momentum, was hit by an accident when Kamiya injured his leg. As a result, Kaginuki was forced to make a substitution. In the 29th minute, Cerezo connected a clear ball from Tokyo's defense and Mori shima ran in to head the shot. GK Doi cleared it with his left hand, but Nishizawa followed up and missed the goal. In the 38th minute, Tokyo was pushed back as Nishizawa took a powerful shot from MF Lu's through pass. After that, there was a scene where Naito crossed and TUTO scored, but they couldn't get an additional point and ended the first half.

Overwhelmed by Cerezo's powerful attack

Overwhelmed by Cerezo's powerful attack

Cerezo Vice-Manager Shimajima said, "Tokyo immediately puts the ball vertically after cutting it, but the source of that is not being controlled. Our attacks are not showing the original goal of attacking. Let's have more courage and try to make corrections and face the second half."

As instructed, Cerezo, who took a pass miss from Tokyo immediately after the start of the second half, had a free shot by Morishima. This was a fine save by Doi, but after this, Tokyo was overwhelmed by Morishima's quick movements as he ran diagonally into the goal. In the 47th minute, they lost the loose ball and connected a fast pass, and Yoon scored a cross to MF Nishitani, equalizing the score in no time. Then in the 58th minute, the play was interrupted and they lacked concentration for a moment, and the ball was passed from a free kick, and Morishima ran behind the Tokyo DF. Asari chased after him and stopped him with a sliding tackle, but this play resulted in a PK. This was confidently scored by Nishizawa, and Cerezo took the lead with a score of 2-1.

Tokyo made a substitution, replacing Koike with Yoshina. They tried to hold onto the ball and make a shot, but Yukihiro's well-judged middle shot and heading shot both missed the target. In the 76th minute, Kaga was brought on for Masamitsu Kobayashi and placed in the attacking midfield position. Sandro was also brought on, creating an ultra-attacking formation. However, this left the defense vulnerable and they were often countered by the opposing team. Tokyo continued to show their attacking mentality, but ultimately could not score. As a result, they were defeated by Cerezo's strong attacking power.

"Coach Fukushima's comment"

"Today's game was a very important match in terms of staying in the top rankings. The players were aware of this, but in the first half, their movements were very poor and there were some loose areas to pay attention to in terms of marking TUTO and preparing for counters. We pointed out the areas that needed improvement at halftime, and the players responded very well to it. It was a huge achievement to win such a tough game. However, although we were able to create opportunities for fast attacks and counters, we were unable to finish them. Not being able to score additional points is something we need to work on for the next game."

"Coach Ooguma's comment"

"Due to Kamiya's unexpected injury, we were unable to fill the void of his strength, both as a team and as an individual. As a result, our balance on both offense and defense was disrupted. In the future, Kamiya may not be able to play immediately, and with Amaral also absent, we must somehow cover the remaining matches with other members and regain our balance on both offense and defense as we have done so far."