Entering the Golden Week consecutive games

　The J1 League resumed after a two-week interval. In this round, they will face JEF United Ichihara, who are currently on a two-game winning streak, at their home stadium, Tokyo Stadium. Ichihara's Korean representative FW, Ryuji Choi, who joined the team this season, has recovered from his injury and the team's performance has improved along with his return. Although they have a good record of 2 wins in 2 games against them last year, this season's Ichihara is a completely different team. They cannot be underestimated, but they want to receive the support from the stands and secure a victory. This is also an important match to gain momentum for the busy schedule in May. Amaral, who has recovered from his injury, is on the bench for the first time in 4 games and is ready for kickoff.

Conceded an early goal and faced a tough situation.

　Shortly after the start, GK Doi's kicked ball hit Ichihara FW Oshiba directly. The rebounded ball missed the goal mouth, but in the following 2 minutes, Murai intercepted a pass from Miura to Naito on the left wing of Ichihara. The game started with a somewhat ominous mood as Murai quickly ran up to the goal. Against Tokyo's disjointed play, Ichihara pressed aggressively and dominated the ball. In the 4th minute, a quick pass was made in the midfield and left MF Muichin dribbled into the center, then passed to FW Oshiba who had run into the goal from the right side. Oshiba skillfully threaded the needle between the pulled back Sandro and the advancing Komine, and ran into the open space to take a shot. This was successful, and Tokyo was quickly caught off guard and conceded the first goal. It was a contrasting play between Tokyo's distracted defense and Oshiba's excellent decision-making, once again putting Tokyo in a difficult position, trailing by one point.

　However, Tokyo also showed an attacking form with Lori and Kelly as the starting point. In the 5th minute, Masuda took a shot from a side change ball connected from the right side. In the 11th minute, Miura ran in for a shot on a loose ball in front of the goal. In the 22nd minute, Lori was fouled and Fujiyama quickly restarted the game with a cross, but Kelly's header was unsuccessful.

Tokyo, who cannot decisively break through, is being pushed back for a long time, and even when they have the ball, Ichihara's press is tough, making it difficult to pass from the backline to the front. In the 29th minute, they cut off Choi's shot and launched a counterattack, connecting with Luvisi and Kelly, and finally Toda crosses, but the Ichihara defenders clear it. After that, Toda hits a header from a free kick, but it goes wide, and although they create chances, they are unable to equalize.

Conceding an additional goal during a dangerous time

　Ichihara, who moves quickly from the front line to DF and keeps a compact line. However, they did not allow any decisive shots and Tokyo gradually began to dominate the ball. But just when they wanted to return to the second half with a goal, in the 42nd minute, Ichihara MF Nakazawa picked up a ball cleared by Tokyo DF, dribbled beautifully from the right and cut into the middle, and Nakazawa passed the ball after passing the DF. Hasebe, who came to support Nakazawa, received the ball and made a good decision to shoot. The ball drew a beautiful arc and was sucked into the goal, allowing Tokyo to concede another goal with Hasebe's clean shot.

"The most dangerous time in football is the first 5 minutes and the last 5 minutes, also known as the "must-not-concede time". Tokyo was burdened with a big deficit and had to turn things around in the second half."

Amaral's entry did not show Tokyo's "uniqueness"...

　In the second half, Tokyo made substitutions, bringing in Amaral for Toda and Kina for Masuda. Miura moved to the right midfield and Kina played in the center, aiming to support the top. However, just after the start of the second half in the 46th minute, Ichihara's Murai dribbled through Tokyo's right side. With Naito unable to keep up with his incredible speed, Murai sent a sharp cross into the goal area! Although GK Doi initially deflected it, Oshiba ran in and took a shot at the loose ball. The ball floated softly towards the unguarded goal, but Fujiyama desperately attempted to clear it with a sliding tackle. Unfortunately, the ball had already crossed the goal line and it was a goal. This third goal sealed the game for Tokyo.

　Tokyo, who still tries to counterattack, had a great chance in the 55th minute when Asari broke free in front of the goal after a one-two with Miura. It was a good play that showed their intention to push up in the midfield, but unfortunately the shot missed the goal.

Substituting Naito for Sato in the 65th minute. Sato in the right MF position, Miura in the high position of right side back, fierce counterattack. In the 77th minute, Amaral connects the free kick ball and sends a perfect cross, but Sato's header does not break the goal. Amaral struggles and becomes the starting point, but cannot bring it to the finish, and in the 79th minute, Choi takes advantage of the opportunity to become aggressive and shoots a free shot in front of the goal, but it misses the frame and avoids an additional point. However, the time is up as it is. It was a bitter game with 3 goals conceded and no points scored, without showing the goodness of Tokyo.

　Manager Okuma talks about the points to be corrected, saying, "Amaral was able to create a starting point when he came in, but I think it will lead to more attacking momentum and attacks from the side if he stays a little longer at the top and creates more starting points at the place where Robisu is staying. I want to review the two top players again and focus on the attacking part. Also, it is a challenge to support the top player faster, including the speed and mentality of the overall support." Although it is a short period of time, we want to start over and face the consecutive games from the next one.

[VERDENIK Coach's Comment]

"Not only the score, but also the content was good. We were able to play the soccer that we have been aiming for since the second half of last year, which includes creative attacks and disciplined defense. Especially in terms of attacking, the timing and decision-making when moving towards the ball was a challenge, but I think we were able to demonstrate that in today's game. If we can move the ball more accurately and create chances to score, we can show an even higher level of soccer. It was a game where we were able to express the direction of the team."

[Coach Okuma's Comment]

"Despite our efforts to prevent the two top players of Ichihara from creating opportunities and to defend against attacks from the sides, we allowed the opponent to fully demonstrate their attacking strengths. That is very disappointing. In terms of starting the game, Ichihara was one step ahead in both offense and defense. We need to review our mindset and starting strategy after defending and aim for the next game."