Let's finish the 2000 J1 season with a victory!

The final match of the J1 League 2nd stage is against Cerezo Osaka away. Cerezo Osaka, who fought for the championship until the end in the 1st stage and finished 2nd. They are currently in 7th place, but their explosive attacking power is the team's charm. In addition, this match will be the last game for Japan national team FW Nishizawa, who will transfer to Spain after this. It is expected that they will come to win with even more desperation, but we cannot afford to lose here. Let's confidently take victory with Tokyo-style soccer and make it the culmination of this past year.

Aggressively, and with a focused mindset

Cerezo, who firmly defends with the double volante of MF Tasaka and Hara at the center. Despite their attacking image, they were cautious from the start. Tokyo, who can hold the ball in the midfield, develops from Kina to the right side of Yukihiro and to the left of Masuda. They show an aggressive movement.

However, Cerezo took advantage of the opening and MF Yoon made sharp movements to start the attack. In the 6th minute, Yoon broke through Tokyo's right side. Although the ball he crossed inside did not reach MF Nakama, immediately after, Yoon dropped the ball with a header in front of the goal from the midfield and DF Saito pushed it in with his body. GK Doi made a sharp save on this close-range shot and did not allow an easy goal.

In the 9th minute, Cerezo Tanaka aimed for a middle shot, and in the 12th minute, Asari responded with a middle range shot. In the 26th minute, Yukihiko broke through the right side and headed towards the goal, but was blocked by the opposing DF. Tokyo also attacks with DF Fujiyama when there is space in the midfield, but Cerezo remains focused. In the 30th minute, Cerezo's Nishizawa took a shot from a post play, but it narrowly missed the goal. The intense back and forth battle continued in a tense atmosphere.

First goal by Masuda takes the lead!

However, finally in the 31st minute. The first goal was scored by Masuda. He entered the penalty area from the left side, and after a fine pass exchange with TUTO, the ball was loose in front of the goal and Masuda took a shot! It was Masuda's first goal since his transfer, and it resulted in the opening goal.

With this, Tokyo has become even faster. In the 38th minute, they took the ball and launched a counterattack, from Kina to Yukihiko. The cross from the right side with speed was almost met by Amaral's run, but we could see a glimpse of Tokyo's style of soccer.

At 42 minutes, Amaral, who had escaped behind the DF from a quick pass from TUTO and Kina in front of the left penalty area, took a good look at the goalkeeper's position and made a looping shot! Unfortunately, it was cleared by the opposing DF just before the goal, but it gave hope for the second half as they entered halftime.

Caught off guard for a moment, we allowed an equalizing goal.

Tokyo, who continued to gain momentum in the second half, had their first shot of the day in the 49th minute when TUTO received a last pass from Kina in the left penalty area. The shot was saved by the goalkeeper by a hair, and immediately after, Kina took a shot from a throw-in that hit the crossbar, but they were unable to score an additional point.

On the other hand, Cerezo is trying to score a goal for Nishizawa, who will play his last game in this match. Nishizawa not only aims for the goal himself, but also passes to Yoon and Nishitani. In addition, Tanaka moves to support from a deep position in the midfield, gradually shifting to a counterattack posture.

However, today in Tokyo, even when pushed back, they did not become passive, but instead had a thorough awareness of launching a quick counterattack after stealing the ball. In the 61st minute, TUTO dribbled in from a counterattack and Amaral finished with a header shot. In the 67th minute, from a quick restart, TUTO feinted and cut back in the penalty area, evading the chasing defender and taking a shot. Although the goalkeeper initially saved it, Amaral connected the rebound and Kinjo took a shot. Although it was ultimately cut off and they were unable to score, they showed a wave-like attack with direct play.

However, Cerezo is not staying quiet either. In the immediate 68th minute, after connecting a free kick, Yoon sent a sharp cross from the left side of the penalty area, and Nishitani reacted with a diving header. Tokyo allowed an equalizing goal in a vulnerable position...

Amaral's goal puts them ahead. They showed it, this is Tokyo's football!

However, Tokyo showed perseverance here without getting discouraged. In the 70th minute, a quick pass from TUTO on the left in front of the goal to Amaral in the middle. And the last pass was a floating ball to the right side, with Naito, who was attacking, showing exquisite control. Yukihiro, who was injured when he was tackled by the opponent's DF, was replaced by Kamiya in the 74th minute. It was an accident, but the flow did not change, and in the 77th minute, they quickly counterattacked the Cerezo's free kick, showing a flowing counterattack! Doi punched away the ball, which was then passed between Fujiyama and Masuda, and TUTO shook off the DF and caught up with the ball near the goal line. And here, Amaral, who was tightly marked, easily scored a goal!! In the blink of an eye, they took one point and left Cerezo behind.

Afterwards, Cerezo continued to fight back without giving up on scoring a goal. Nishizawa moved to the outside and launched a wide attack. Despite being troubled by the speed of substitute FW Sugimoto, the defense held strong with their bodies. Even the consecutive set pieces towards the end of the game were saved by Tsuchi. Tokyo showed their characteristic soccer and secured a solid victory.

As a result, we finished 8th in the 2nd stage and 7th in the overall ranking for the year, combining our 6th place finish in the 1st stage. This is the best result in our history for our first year in J1, with 15 wins, 14 losses, and 1 draw! We were able to overcome a 7-game losing streak towards the end of the season and finish with 2 consecutive wins under the bright sun. We will maintain this momentum and give our all to achieve the best result in the last Emperor's Cup of the 20th century!

"Coach Fukushima's comment"

"The first goal was due to a judgement mistake, but for the second and third goals, we were aware of the potential for conceding in the same way as we had discussed before the game. I felt that it was a lack of effort and also my own instructions not being followed thoroughly. In the final game, it was also the last game for Nishizawa, so there were various expectations, but we tried to play our soccer as one game. However, we were unable to do so and we are accepting it as a future challenge."

"Coach Ooguma's comment"

"We had a few losses but we did our best in the 1st stage, and we also had a winning streak. In the 2nd stage, we had a few losses and it was truly a season with many ups and downs. We realized that this league is tough in every aspect and I think we learned a lot. In this situation, I am happy that we were able to play Tokyo-style soccer both mentally and physically. I think if we continue to fight like this, the team will not be able to make a leap. I didn't want the team to end the league with a lackluster performance, so I wanted to play a good game today. In the Emperor's Cup as well, I want to fight with the same mentality of "trying to get one step higher somehow"."