Challenging Yokohama F.Marinos, aiming for a perfect victory, at the start of the 2nd stage

Tokyo, who finished the 1st stage in 6th place, will face Yokohama F.Marinos today after a one-month interval. Yokohama F.Marinos have achieved stage victory. It is an important opening game that will affect the future, and we want to win and gain momentum.

In the 1st stage, Yokohama was sunk by Tokyo's one counter. However, everyone is tightening their spirits, thinking "It won't go as well as it did back then" towards the champion team that is determined to repay their debt. How will they take victory in the midst of that? Also, we want to pay attention to how they will fix the issues that have been raised in the battles so far, such as conceding from restarts, the composition of the midfield, and the isolation of the FW, as they head into the 2nd stage.

Newly joined Tadatoshi MASUDA was in the starting lineup. He joined on a temporary transfer from Kashima and has only been with the team for less than two weeks, but coach Okuma has high expectations for him as a player who can break through in difficult situations when the team is under pressure. He replaced Yukihiko SATO, who was sidelined due to a back injury, and started as the right midfielder at the Japan National Stadium in the rain.

Do not miss the opportunity, TUTO's skillful goal takes the lead!

1 minute, Yokohama made a sudden appearance with DF Komura running in on MF Nakamura's free kick. They tried to control the ball and take the pace from the start, but Tokyo also took it back with a quick check from the front line and a calm defense, bringing the match to an even battle. In the 5th minute, Masamitsu KOBAYASHI boldly aimed for the goal with an overhead kick from a long cross from TUTO. With this momentum, Tokyo quickly switched to attack and threatened Yokohama's goal. In the 8th minute, Amaral and Fujiyama connected directly with a pass and Seigo KOBAYASHI took a shot. Unfortunately, it went straight to GK Kawaguchi, but it was a good attempt. Then in the 13th minute, TUTO chased down the source of Yokohama's pass in the midfield, and Seigo KOBAYASHI opened up TUTO on the right side again at the perfect timing. TUTO, with speed, dribbled past three opposing DFs with a feint and took a shot inside! Tokyo took the lead with a quick counterattack in the early stages.

However, after that, Yokohama continued to attack. In the 14th minute, FW Sotoike took a sharp header from MF Miura's cross. In the 23rd minute, Komura headed in Miura's left corner kick, almost scoring, but it narrowly missed the goal. In the 26th minute, Edmilson received a high ball and dribbled past Komine to take a free shot. However, Tsuchi flew out and made a nice save! They managed to survive a critical situation.

Tokyo often picks up loose balls and entrusts them to the front line with a fast development centered around Asari. They start a counterattack from the side, but fail to score. In the 41st minute, Kobayashi dribbled the ball into the penalty area from a throw-in and took a powerful left-footed shot, but it was blocked by the goalkeeper and the first half ended with a score of 1-0.

Koike, valuable additional point with first J1 goal, and Amaral pulls away

From the start of the second half, Yokohama created chances through right side player Nagayama. A shot from Tokyo's left side into the penalty area was deflected by Sandro just before the goal, narrowly avoiding a corner kick. In the following 2 minutes, Nagayama shook off the DF and passed the ball to the ground in front of the goal. However, the diving MF Endo just missed connecting with it. Despite their efforts to turn the game around, Yokohama faced a tougher and more intense defense from the DF. However, in the 50th minute, a speedy passing play between Koike, Amaral, and TUTO took advantage of a gap in Yokohama's defense. Koike then passed and went behind the 3-back line, receiving a perfect through pass from TUTO and taking a shot with precision that hit the right corner of the post and went in for a goal!! Koike, who always contributes with his dedicated defense, scored his first J1 goal, which became a valuable additional point that disrupted Yokohama's start in the second half. This play was also a step forward from the challenge that coach Okuma had been talking about, "Don't rely on just the two top players to cover long distances from the midfield. Use more players."

Yokohama made a substitution for MF Nagai in the 52nd minute, bringing in Amaral to become more aggressive. In the 55th minute, Nakamura made a header shot from a cross from the right. Immediately after, Tokyo made a quick restart and Amaral and TUTO threatened the goal, but neither were able to score. The backline continued to build attacks and Yokohama showed their true attacking form. However, Tokyo's line gradually stretched out and they were unable to connect quick attacks with numbers, but they continued to play with focus. In the 82nd minute, Miura's direct free kick was saved by the crossbar. Yokohama had already made a substitution for Yurić, bringing in MF Harada, and in the 85th minute, they brought in FW Okayama for Sotoin. They used all their substitution slots to try and break through, but were unable to create any decisive opportunities. In stoppage time, TUTO, who had been injured by a fierce foul, was substituted for Toda, and it seemed like they would hold on to the lead. However, Naito made a mistake in judging a ball cleared by the DF line, and Amaral took advantage, leaving the chasing DF behind and calmly scoring the third goal to seal the victory.

Proof of growth, fighting and winning against champion teams on equal footing or better!!

After Amaral's shot, GK Kawaguchi jumped in and hit his head, causing an injury. Yokohama used Komura as their GK. Due to this incident, the long stoppage time of 8 minutes was filled with a chaotic exchange of yellow cards, but Tokyo substituted FW Kamiya for Kobayashi. They calmly fought until the end and the time was up. They achieved a clean sheet victory, making a good start to this stage.

Compared to the 1st stage, coach Okuma had said, "There won't be any major changes in the way we fight. We can't change it." In other words, there is no secret strategy to win, but rather, it is about steadily improving and building up the team's strength step by step, and fighting through each match. Today, against the 1st stage champions, we were able to fight on equal terms, even when pushed back, which can be seen as proof of growth as the coach had said. It was the start of the 2nd stage, which gives hope for future battles.