Let's celebrate the last game of the 2000 J1 with a victory!

The final match of the J1 League 2nd stage is an away game against Cerezo Osaka. In the 1st stage, Cerezo Osaka fought for the championship until the end and finished in 2nd place. Currently, they are in 7th place in this stage, but they are a team known for their explosive attacking power. Additionally, this match will be the last game for Japan national team forward Nishizawa, who is transferring to Spain. It is expected that they will come at us with even more determination to win, but we cannot afford to lose here. We want to confidently secure victory with a style of football characteristic of Tokyo and conclude this year on a high note.

Aggressively and with focused awareness

Cerezo, centered around the double pivot of MF Tasaka and Hara, defends firmly. Contrary to their attacking image, they were cautious from the start. Tokyo, able to hold the ball in midfield, spread it from Kinami to the right side with Yukihiko and to the left with Masuda. They showed proactive movement.

However, Cerezo took advantage of the gap, with MF Yoon making sharp movements to start creating attacking plays. In the 6th minute, Yoon broke through on the right side of Tokyo. The ball he crossed back into the middle did not reach MF Manaka, but immediately after, Yoon headed a ball from midfield down in front of the goal, and DF Saito pushed it in with his body. This close-range shot was saved by GK Doi with a sharp reaction, making it difficult to score.

In the 9th minute, Cerezo's Tasaka aimed for a long-range shot, and in the 12th minute, Asari responded with a similar long-range shot. In the 26th minute, Yukihiko broke through on the right side and headed towards the goal, but was blocked by the opposing DF. Tokyo, seeing space in the midfield, had DF Fujiyama also push forward, but Cerezo remained focused. In the 30th minute, Cerezo had Nishizawa shoot from a post play by FW Nishitani. This just missed the goal, and the tense back-and-forth battle continued.

Masuda scores the opening goal!

But finally, in the 31st minute, the opening goal was scored by Masuda. He dribbled in from the left side into the penalty area, exchanged quick passes with TUTO, and when a scramble occurred in front of the goal, the ball spilled back to Masuda, who immediately took a shot! The opening goal came from Masuda's left foot, marking his first goal since transferring.

With this, Tokyo has become quicker to start moving. In the 38th minute, they stole the ball and launched a counterattack, from Kinama to Yukihiko. The cross delivered from the right side with speed just missed Amaral by a step, but a glimpse of Tokyo's characteristic soccer was visible.

In the 42nd minute, from a quick passing sequence between TUTO and Kinama in front of the left penalty area, Amaral broke through behind the DF and took a looping shot while carefully observing the goalkeeper's position! Unfortunately, it was cleared by the opposing DF just before the goal, but it left us with hope for the second half as we reached halftime.

Caught off guard for the equalizing goal

In the second half, Tokyo continued their momentum, and in the 49th minute, TUTO received a last pass from Kinama on the left side of the penalty area and took his first shot of the day. This was narrowly saved by the goalkeeper, and shortly after, Kinama's shot from a throw-in hit the crossbar, preventing an additional goal.

On the other hand, Cerezo is creating an atmosphere to somehow allow Nishizawa, for whom this match will be the last game, to score. Nishizawa not only aims for the goal himself but also receives a wedge pass and distributes it to In and Nishitani. Additionally, Tazaka moves to support from a deep position in midfield, gradually setting up for a counterattack.

However, today in Tokyo, even when pressed, they did not become passive; instead, they were thoroughly aware of quickly switching to counterattacks after regaining possession of the ball. In the 61st minute, TUTO dribbled in from a counter, and the finish was a header shot by Amaral. In the 67th minute, from a quick restart, TUTO feinted and turned in the penalty area, evading the pursuing defender to shoot. Although the goalkeeper initially saved it, Amaral connected with the rebound, and Kinama took a shot. In the end, the shot was blocked and they could not score, but they displayed a wave-like attack with direct play.

However, Cerezo is not going to stay silent. Just after that, in the 68th minute. Connecting a free kick, Yun, who was free outside the left side of the penalty area, sent a sharp cross, and Nishitani reacted with a diving header. Tokyo allowed the equalizing goal in a moment of vulnerability...

Pulling ahead with Amaral's goal. This is Tokyo soccer!

However, Tokyo showed resilience without getting discouraged here. In the 70th minute, a fast pass from TUTO on the left in front of the goal to Amaral in the center. Then, Naito, who had surged forward, made a superbly controlled floating pass to the right side. Free, Yukihiko aimed and shot! Even after being equalized, just two minutes later, he calmly scored the go-ahead goal. In the 74th minute, Kamino was brought in to replace Yukihiko, who was injured after being challenged by the opposing DF. Although it was an accident, the flow of the game did not change, and in the 77th minute, they quickly countered a Cerezo FK, showcasing a fluid counterattack! Doi punched the ball away, which was then connected by Fujiyama and Masuda, and TUTO shook off the DF to retrieve the ball just at the goal line and crossed it back. Amaral, who was there, easily scored!! In no time, they snatched a goal and pulled away from the pursuing Cerezo.

Cerezo continued to fight back without giving up, trying to score at least one goal. Nishizawa drifted outside, launching a wide attack. Despite being troubled by the speed of substitute FW Sugimoto, they defended the goal with solid defensive play. Even during the consecutive set pieces just before the end, Doih kept his focus and made saves. They secured a solid victory with a style of football characteristic of Tokyo.

As a result, we finished 8th in the 2nd stage, and combined with our performance in the 1st stage (6th place), we achieved a total annual ranking of 7th (with 15 wins, 14 losses, and 1 draw, resulting in a winning record!). This marks the best performance in history for our first year in J1. We managed to break free from a 7-game losing streak that we stumbled into at the end of the league, and we were able to finish strong with two consecutive wins under bright sunshine. We will maintain this momentum and give our all to achieve the best results in the last Emperor's Cup of the 20th century!

Director Soejima's Comment

"The first goal was due to a judgment error, but regarding the second and third goals, I felt that they were a result of lapses we had been warned about before the match, as well as my own lack of thorough instructions. In the final match, and with Nishizawa's last game, I think there were various expectations, but we tried to play our football as one game. The fact that we couldn't make that a reality is something I recognize as a challenge for the future."

Director Okuma's Comments

"The first stage was tough, but we managed to avoid a long losing streak, and we even had some winning streaks. The second stage, however, saw us facing a series of losses, making this season truly eventful. I felt that it was a challenging league in every aspect, and I believe I learned a lot. In this situation, I am happy that we were able to showcase a style of football that is characteristic of Tokyo at the end. I think the team won't make significant progress unless we continue to fight like this. I believed that simply finishing the league with a lackluster performance wouldn't lead to the team's advancement, so I wanted to have a good match today. I also want to approach the Emperor's Cup with the same mindset of 'let's strive to achieve at least one more victory' as we did today."