Kagami's first starting lineup. The true value of Tokyo will be tested in the match against Ichihara.

J1 League Sec. 13. Amaral and Kamino were absent due to injury, and Tokyo faced Ichihara with TUTO as the lone striker and Kagami making his first start in J1 as the attacking midfielder.

Ichihara features Baron for height and Benson for speed as their two strikers. While Ichihara sometimes plays with a double pivot focusing on defense, today they have an attacking formation with Sakai as the lone defensive midfielder, Muto on the left wing, Nakani on the right wing, and Ooshiba in central midfield. The first half progressed with both teams creating chances for each other.

Ichihara took the initiative first. At 5 minutes, when the goalkeeper Doi parried Baron's header, Muto chased it down and passed it in front of the goal. Baron closed in again there. Although they couldn't finish the chance, it was a near miss. After that, Ichihara continued to create attacking opportunities by passing to Benson and Baron, who ran into the penalty area, with Nakanishi and Muto as the starting points. Tokyo also showed aggressive advances from Fujiyama on the left side today, cutting inside with dribbling to create chances, but lacked the finishing touch. They also tried to exploit the space behind Ichihara's high defensive line, but many attempts were caught offside, and they couldn't create clear scoring opportunities. However, after about 10 minutes, Coach Okuma judged that "TUTO, marked by Ichihara defender Chano, was unable to become the starting point upfront," and switched the positions of TUTO and Kagami. The strategy was to place Kagami upfront as a target man. From around this time, Tokyo's rhythm improved, and movements suggesting scoring chances appeared, such as TUTO taking a free header shot.

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

In the 23rd minute, Benson, who competed with Komine, broke free with speed and sent a cross to Baron, but Tokyo correctly called offside. Then in the 24th minute, a pass from TUTO in the center was flicked to Seigo KOBAYASHI on the left with a heel by Fujiyama. KAGAMI connected with Fujiyama's precise cross with a header! With fast direct play, they sliced through the Ichihara defense and scored a goal!!

Looking back to last June, the away game in the 2nd Round of the Nabisco Cup. Amaral, Yukihiko, and Kagami scored to achieve a convincing 4-1 victory at the rain-soaked Ichihara Seaside Stadium. And the goal in the final match of J2 in Niigata. Kagami's diving header reminded us of those moments in an instant, taking the lead! In such important moments, the performance of players who make valuable contributions is sure to excite the "goal area" in Tokyo.

However, J1 was not so easy to defend against. In the 29th minute, Nakanishi evaded Tokyo's mark and made a through pass into the space after Fujiyama moved up. Ooshima finished it off neatly, and before we knew it, the score was tied.

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

Masamitsu KOBAYASHI, a determined beautiful goal! Pulling away from Ichihara, 1st

Right after the start of the second half, seeing space, defensive midfielder Asari advanced with a dribble towards the goal. As symbolized by this play, Tokyo showed the mindset that "we want to avoid losing momentum like we did after conceding an equalizer against Cerezo." Kagami and TUTO flexibly changed positions without sticking too rigidly to their roles. "This improved the flow and caused the marking to slip," said Kagami. Yukihiko aimed to break through more aggressively than in the first half. In the 61st minute, Kina was brought on to replace Koike. However, Ichihara also responded; when Nakanishi took a surprise long-range shot, in the 66th minute they launched a counterattack against the attacking Tokyo, with Benson using his speed to press forward. But immediately after, in the 68th minute, Ichihara defender Abe fouled Yukihiko who was trying to break through on the right side, conceding a free kick. The kicker was, of course, Yukihiko. Then, the ball kicked powerfully, quickly, and pinpoint by Seigo KOBAYASHI near post was headed by KOBAYASHI, and at that moment, it was drawn into the goal net.

Although Kobayashi missed several shots today, it was a wonderful goal that showed his determination to score.

Ichihara attempted to counterattack by bringing in forward Ogura and midfielder Hayashi, but Tokyo defended firmly at the final line. Conversely, in stoppage time, TOTO and TUTO, who came on for Kagawa in the 88th minute, launched a counterattack together, and in the end, TUTO scored the third goal, pulling away from Ichihara.

Currently ranked 3rd. Give it your all for the next 2 matches.

With this victory, Tokyo has risen to third place. In the next match, Naito will be suspended due to accumulated warnings, but Coach Okuma stated, "Umehara has been preparing well in the satellite team, so I am not worried," and we want to overcome this with everyone's strength. Of course, there are concerns about how quickly he can fit into the team, but if we can fight like today with new members and show new possibilities, it will be a significant gain that leads to the next step. In the remaining two matches, we want to fight through without letting our guard down, playing the kind of soccer that represents Tokyo.

Director ZAMFIR's Comments

"From before the match, it was expected to be a difficult game as we were facing a team with strong defense. The first half was still good, but in the second half, the bad aspects of Ichihara emerged. We conceded a goal from a free kick due to an easy mistake, and we had no choice but to go for goals. This gave the opponent space, and we repeated mistakes, ultimately conceding three goals. We managed to create chances with good buildup, but if we can't convert any of the four chances into goals, we will lose. This is a common reality in football."

Director Okuma's Comments

"Regarding Kagami, there are things that fall short of 100 percent of what I expected, but his first start in a while and scoring the opening goal had a significant impact on the entire team. I think we were able to stay focused in the second half as well. The breakthrough by Yukihiko starting in the second half was largely due to his own mental aspect. In the first half, he was crossing with his left foot even though there was space, so at halftime, I instructed him, 'It's okay to escape to a corner kick, but go for a breakthrough straight ahead.' He was able to get past once, and it seems he became more decisive."