Kagami's first starting lineup. Tokyo's true value will be tested against Ichihara.

J1 League Sec. 13. Tokyo, missing Amaral and Kamiya due to injury, faced Ichihara with TUTO as the lone striker and Kaga as the attacking midfielder in his first J1 start.

Ichihara, on the other hand, has a two-top consisting of Baron for height and Benson for speed. While they sometimes play with a double defensive midfield, today they have a more attacking formation with Sakai as the lone defensive midfielder, Muto as the left midfielder, Nakanishi as the right midfielder, and Oshiba as the central midfielder. Both teams created chances in the first half.

Ichihara took the lead first. In the first 5 minutes, Muto chased after Baron's header that was deflected by GK Doi and went towards the goal. Baron followed up on the play. Although they couldn't finish it off, it was a close call. After that, Ichihara created attacking opportunities through Nakaniishi and Muto, who passed to Benson and Baron to run into the penalty area. Tokyo also had aggressive runs from left side player Fujiyama, who cut inside and created chances, but lacked the finishing touch. They also tried to exploit the high defensive line of Ichihara, but were caught offside multiple times and couldn't create clear chances. However, around the 10-minute mark, coach Okuma decided that "TUTO, who was marked by Ichihara's defender Chano, couldn't fully function as the starting point in the front line" and switched positions between TUTO and Kagami. Kagami was placed in the front line as a target player. From this point on, Tokyo's rhythm improved and TUTO had a free header, giving a sense of a potential goal.

Kagami's diving header explodes! However, they take the lead but...

At 23 minutes, Benson, who was competing with Komine, shook him off with his speed and sent a cross to Baron, but Tokyo was firmly offside. Then at 24 minutes, a pass from TUTO in the center to Seigo Kobayashi on the left, who then passed it to Fujiyama with his heel. Fujiyama aimed for a precise cross and Kagami headed it in with one shot! A fast direct play that tore through the Ichihara DF and scored!!

Looking back, it was last June, the away game of the 2nd round of the Nabisco Cup. Amaral, Yukihiko, and Kagami scored goals in the rainy Ichihara Seaside Stadium, leading to a 4-1 victory. And the goal in the final J2 match in Niigata. Kagami's diving header in that crucial moment brought back memories in an instant! The "goal end" of Tokyo cannot help but get excited by the valuable contributions of players in important situations.

However, J1 was not easy enough to defend here. In the 29th minute, Nakaniwa evaded Tokyo's mark and passed through the space that Fujiyama had moved into. Oshiba neatly finished this and in an instant, the score was tied again.

After that, Tokyo had several opportunities to take a free shot, but TUTO's trap mistake and Seigo KOBAYASHI's miss prevented them from scoring. The first half ended in a tie.

Masamitsu KOBAYASHI, a beautiful goal with determination! Pushing Ichihara aside, 1st place.

Shortly after the start of the second half, Asari, the defensive midfielder, dribbled up to the front of the goal as soon as he saw space. As shown in this play, there was a consciousness in Tokyo on this day that they wanted to avoid "losing momentum and falling behind like in the Cerezo game." Kaga and TUTO were able to change positions flexibly without being too attached to their roles, which improved the flow and caused the opponents to lose their marks. Yukihiko was more aggressive in trying to break through than in the first half. In the 61st minute, Kina was substituted for Koike. However, Ichihara also countered when Nakanishi unexpectedly took a middle shot, and Benson used his speed to attack in the 66th minute. But just after that, in the 68th minute, Ichihara's defender Abe couldn't help but foul Yukihiko, who was trying to break through on the right side. They got a free kick. The kicker was of course Yukihiko. And when the ball was kicked strongly and quickly by Yukihiko, it was pinpointed to Seigo on the near side, and as soon as Seigo nodded his head, the ball was sucked into the goal net.

Kobayashi, who had taken several shots today, scored a fantastic goal that showed his determination to score.

Ichihara tries to counterattack by putting in FW Ogura and MF Hayashi, but Tokyo defends solidly at the back. On the other hand, in stoppage time, Toda and TUTO, who came on for Kaga in the 88th minute, launched a counterattack together and eventually got their third goal with TUTO's goal. They left Ichihara behind.

Temporary ranking is 3rd. Give it your all for the remaining 2 matches.

Tokyo, who rose to third place with this victory. In the next match, Naito will be suspended due to accumulated warnings, but as coach Okuma says, "Umayama has been preparing enough in the satellite, so I'm not worried," I want to overcome it with the power of everyone. Of course, there is also anxiety about whether he can fit into the team immediately, but if we can fight with new members like today and show new possibilities, it will be a big gain that leads to the next. In the remaining two matches, I want to fight with everyone's soccer in a Tokyo-like manner without letting our guard down.

"Comment from ZAMFIR Coach"

"It was expected to be a difficult game as we were facing a team with a strong defense from the start. The first half was still good, but the weaknesses of Ichihara came out in the second half. We conceded a goal from an easy mistake from a free kick and had no choice but to go for a goal. We gave the opponent space and made repeated mistakes, resulting in 3 goals conceded. We were able to create chances and build up well, but if we can't convert any of the 4 chances into goals, we will lose. It's a common thing in soccer."

"Coach Ooguma's comment"

"Regarding Kaga, there are some things that fall short of 100% of what was expected, but he scored the opening goal in his first start and had a big impact on the entire team. I think we were able to stay focused in the second half as well. Yukihiro's breakthrough in the second half was also due in part to his mental state. In the first half, even though there was space, he was crossing with his left foot, so at halftime I gave him the instruction to "go for the vertical breakthrough even if you can't escape from the corner kick." He was able to get past once and I think that gave him more confidence."