Achieve revenge in the 1st stage and start with 4 consecutive wins!

In the match against Shimizu S-Pulse in the 1st stage, we took the lead with Kamiya's goal, but were equalized with 5 minutes left and then lost with a final round goal. It was a match that reminded us of the strength of top teams and the fear of soccer. And in the 4th match of the 2nd stage, we faced Shimizu S-Pulse again. We approached this match with full determination to not only get revenge for the 1st stage, but also achieve a new record of "4 consecutive wins at the start of the season" for a team in its first year of promotion.

The venue for this match was the Kagawa Prefectural Marugame Athletic Stadium, which was being used for the first time in Tokyo. Although it had been used as a venue for the Emperor's Cup in the past, this was the first time for a J-League event. The stadium, with a capacity of 30,000 people, seemed a bit mismatched in the city of Marugame, with a population of only 80,000. However, it was a very modern and wonderful stadium. The only problem was the scorching heat on this day. The temperature, which had been in the high 20s since the morning, rose to a staggering 33.3℃ around 2pm, just before kickoff. It goes without saying that it was even hotter on the pitch where the players were playing. You could easily tell how hot it was by looking at the players' faces during the pre-match training on the pitch. It was easy to imagine that it would be a grueling death match, but for the fans who had come all the way from Tokyo to support their team, and to seek revenge against Shimizu S-Pulse, and to extend their winning streak, they could not afford to lose.

Side tactics...

The biggest feature of S-Pulse and the most important thing to take care of is undoubtedly the speedy attacks from the sides. From the left side, last year's J-League MVP, Alex, creates numerous chances with his aggressive attacks, while from the right side, defenders like Nagaiwa and forward Kuboyama, who utilize their speed and stamina, create opportunities with their powerful overlaps. In the first stage match against S-Pulse, despite knowing this, we ended up conceding two goals from Alex on the left side. Fortunately, on this day, the absence of right side player Ichikawa due to injury weakened their destructive power, and it was expected that they would shift their focus to attacks from the left side with Alex.

Who will confront this Alex? It's naturally Naito, the right back, but the one chosen by coach Okuma was Yukihiko, who has had fewer opportunities to start recently. According to the coach, there were also some reasons like "because it's the Shimizu game...", but what was expected of Yukihiko on this day was to shut down Alex with Naito and to exploit the space behind the opponent with counter attacks using his speed.

The match started and it went as planned by coach Okuma. S-Pulse, as expected, passed the ball with few touches in the midfield with Sawato and Ito, and quickly entrusted it to Alex on the left side. And Alex (Naito) challenged and crossed. However, Naito's solid defense and Yukihiko's efforts prevented any fatal breakthroughs and did not give S-Pulse any scoring opportunities. On the contrary, in the 10th minute, after stealing the ball, Yukihiko made a sharp run on the right side for a 40-meter dribble and created a chance with a cross. It turned out to be a great prediction by coach Okuma.

Koike's stunning shot wakes up the game and takes the lead!

In the scorching heat of over 33℃, both teams were clearly showing signs of fatigue, with easy passing mistakes that would not normally occur in a regular game. Even when they managed to break through the sides, the accuracy of their crosses would be slightly off, and they were not aggressively trying to steal the ball from each other, resulting in a slow pace of play. (In the first half) TUTO was no exception, lacking the usual intensity when in possession of the ball and losing it frequently.

That changed the mood, it was Koike. In the 21st minute, Fujiyama broke through the left side with a sharp dribble, pulling the S-Pulse players enough, then passed to Koike who was near the center circle. Koike, who was free, dribbled towards the goal and swung his right foot powerfully. Koike's long shot from about 30m grazed the S-Pulse GK's hand and pierced the left corner of the goal. With Koike's beautiful goal that thwarted S-Pulse's plans, Tokyo took the lead first.

Following the 29th minute, Yukihiro skillfully floated the ball deep on the right side to Amaral, who ran forward. Amaral charged towards the goal and aimed for a shot over the head of the oncoming goalkeeper, but unfortunately missed. Tokyo actively targeted the spaces on the sides of S-Pulse's three-back formation and created chances.

On the other hand, S-Pulse was missing Ichikawa, the right rook bishop, and had no choice but to rely on attacks from the left. In addition, the overall movement was poor due to the intense heat of the day, and their usual quick passing was not effective. In the first half, S-Pulse had more possession of the ball, but there were only a few dangerous scenes. In the 38th minute, Alex cut inside and passed to Santos, who was free, and he took a shot. In the 41st minute, Anegawa received a ball from behind and took a sharp left-footed shot. In the 44th minute, defender Moriooka came up and took a long shot from about 25 meters, but goalkeeper Doi barely saved it. Alex on the left side also lacked fear as he only attempted solo runs without a clear strategy. Even when he occasionally sent in sharp crosses, goalkeeper Doi, along with Sandro and Komine, the two stoppers, were able to block them with high concentration and did not give S-Pulse any opportunities.

TUTO, Amaral's rush... With Masuda and Kina joining, the midfield has become stronger.

In the second half, S-Pulse started to move. In the first half, they took off their ace Alex, who was not in good shape, and brought in FW Hiramatsu. They also pushed Santos, the defensive midfielder, up front, aiming for a comeback victory with an ultra-attacking formation of four forwards. On the other hand, in order to not give up any fatal additional points, they changed from a 3-back to a 4-back and faced the game with a rare 4-2-4 system. Santos, who moved up to the top, received long balls from the defenders as a target man and tried to create chances with headers, but Sandro, who was marking him, almost perfectly blocked them with his overwhelming height and did not let him do his job.

On the other hand, Tokyo started to thoroughly attack from the left side, with the introduction of left side halfback Masuda in the second half. In the first half, Masuda was unable to become a starting point on the left side, but when he was introduced in the position of Seigo Kobayashi, it became a starting point and created opportunities. Masuda, with his ability to keep the ball, created time, and left back Fujiyama was able to make use of his overlapping runs. In addition, TUTO, who had been quiet until then, was able to get another starting point in Masuda, instead of just relying on Amaral in the first half. TUTO would first charge forward with the ball. TUTO would always pass to at least one person, and then step up to try to break through. This charge was the biggest fear for the opposing defenders, and because of this, passes also became effective. If they tried twice, they would succeed once. Even the Japan national team's Morio was desperate to mark him.

7 minutes into the second half, from Naito on the right side to Koike in the center. Koike sends a perfect through pass to Amaral running into the space on the left side, and Amaral charges towards the goal and takes a shot with his left foot, but unfortunately it goes just wide to the right of the goal.

Tokyo substituted Kina for Koike in the 8th minute of the second half. With the addition of Kina, who is now said to possess the team's top technique, Tokyo's attacking patterns have increased even more.

In the 12th minute of the second half, Naito built up on the right side and Naito jumped in with a header shot from Yukihiro's cross, but it went over the bar. In the following 15th minute of the second half, TUTO rushed in from the left side after receiving the ball from the DF and cut deep before passing to Masuda who was free in the center. Masuda aimed carefully with a direct shot, but was blocked by the goalkeeper's defense. In addition, in the 20th minute of the second half, TUTO rushed in again from the right side and sent a last pass to the goal, which was initially stopped but then regained possession and sent another exquisite cross. Masuda volleyed with his right foot and hit the bar, and Amaral followed up with an overhead shot, but the ball went over the bar. In contrast to Shimizu S-Pulse's slowing down, Tokyo's energy has become more prominent.

King Amaral's final goal secures a resounding victory, marking the team's first four consecutive wins!

The situation of not being able to score an additional point while leading the game 1-0 reminded us of the "nightmare" of the 1st stage, but that anxiety disappeared in an instant.

In the 25th minute of the second half, when the ball was sent to the right side, Kina, who had moved up, dribbled 40 meters after dodging the opponent. While checking Amaral's position, he drew the opponent enough and then returned an exquisite last pass to the front of the goal. Amaral, who had run past the opponent at top speed, kicked the ball with his right foot into the left corner of the goal, securing an additional goal.

After that, Tokyo dominated the game with TUTO and Amaral at the center. Sandro became a wall and defended against the last-ditch attack of S-Pulse. Sakai, who replaced Komine, Fujiyama, and Naito as the right back, also defended without losing focus and shut out the strong S-Pulse team. They achieved revenge for the 1st stage and also became the first team in their first year of promotion to win the first four games of the season. It is undeniable that the presence of Amaral and TUTO is a major factor in their success, but there are also several other factors such as Masuda's joining, Seigo Kobayashi's growth, and Kina and Fujiyama's adaptation to the J1 level that have contributed to the current team strength. However, they cannot be satisfied with this. They must learn from the 1st stage and continue to win as many games as possible to further improve their team strength. The challenger mindset will always remain the same. Tokyo's challenge continues...

[PERRYMAN Coach's Comment]

Tokyo is a very difficult team to play against due to their system. In the first half, S-Pulse was better, but Alex's poor performance dragged the team down and led to the result of the day. If we had changed earlier, the situation might have changed, but anyway, Tokyo is a counter team and a difficult team to play against.

[Coach Okuma's Comment]

I thought we could do well in the second half if we could hold the first half at 0. So the one point from Koike in the first half was very important, and holding the first half at 0 was the key to victory. Everyone really worked hard in this heat. We have a week off now, so we want to prepare our condition and face the next game.

After finishing the first stage, even though the opponent has been studying us, the team has improved. In the future, we want to be able to take control for as long as possible throughout the 90 minutes.