In pursuit of victory...

Tokyo, who wants to forget the nightmare of the previous match, faced bottom-ranked (16th) Hiroshima on this day. However, even though they are in last place, the point difference between Tokyo, currently in 14th place, is only "2". If Marinos (defeat Verdy), and Tokyo loses to Hiroshima, Tokyo will fall to last place for the first time in club history.

Before the match, Coach Okuma instructed the team to pay close attention to the sharp and long runs of the Hiroshima top three, and to confirm the coordination and balance of the defense line that led to the previous match's conceded goals. He emphasized not to repeat the same mistakes. The lineup was bold, with Amaral starting as a forward for the first time in five matches, Captain Shimodaira making his first appearance in four matches as a defensive midfielder, and Ito Tetsuya starting for the first time in three matches and playing on the right side for the first time this season. The focus was on the combination of Kelly and Amaral, who were starting together for the first time. Will they be able to be the "spark" that breaks the team's bad streak? If this combination works well, the team has the potential to rise quickly, but if it doesn't, a tough reality awaits. Expectations are high for this combination, which holds the key to the team's future success or failure.

Early goal conceded that dampens the spirits

"Once again..." It's the same story. Coach Okuma had been saying it over and over again before the game, but due to a combination mistake in the defense line, they conceded the first goal in a similar way as the previous match.

On this day, Tokyo had been trying to create a "good shape" from the start of the game. In the 2nd minute, Asari, who had taken the opponent's ball with a sharp start near the center circle, dribbled and rushed forward, and passed to Robisu, who had flowed to the right of the penalty area, and Robisu took a bold shot. Although the powerful shot was caught by the goalkeeper, expectations were raised for Robisu's positive play, which was not seen in the previous match. In the following 3 minutes, Amaral entered the penalty area with a dribble and sent a pass to the free Robisu, who ran into the center after attracting the opponent on the right side, but the pass was slightly too strong and passed in front of Robisu. This missed decisive big chance will have a big impact later on.

Tokyo, who couldn't score the first goal while creating chances from aggressive sharp defense in succession, will gradually receive Hiroshima's counterattack. Hiroshima placed ace Kubo as a one-top, technician Fujimoto on the right, and speedy Takahashi on the left side, and launched a quick counterattack. In the midfield, they quickly passed to Kubo and the midfielders Morisaki and Fujimoto picked up the ball and attacked sharply. In the 7th minute, Robisu lost the ball in the midfield, and Kubo and Fujimoto easily broke through the right side with a sharp counterattack. Fortunately, the cross was not accurate and did not lead to a goal, but after that, Tokyo easily lost the ball to the opponent's tough press in the midfield and started to give Hiroshima a bad rhythm from their own mistakes. In the 11th minute, when Fujiyama lost the ball to Hiroshima's Fujimoto due to a careless dribble, Fujimoto advanced with the dribble and passed to Takahashi who ran behind Tokyo's defense line. Takahashi's shot hit goalkeeper Doi and lost momentum, but it rolled into the goal.

Conceding a goal at the same time as the previous match, it was a familiar "here we go again" moment. Tokyo once again had their game plan disrupted by conceding an early goal.

Aggressive attacks were also added and we were depressed by losing points.

Tokyo, who wants to change their feelings, passed the ball to Lins on the right from Amaral in the center outside the penalty area for 13 minutes, and Lins took a shot with the same determination as he did at the start of the game. The goalkeeper bounced the powerful shot in front of him, and Miura slid in for a sliding shot, but it also hit the goalkeeper, and Amaral tried to score with a volley from outside the penalty area, but the ball went over the bar. Tokyo, who missed another big chance, was then caught up in Hiroshima's pace for a while, but in the 25th minute, right back Tetsuya ITO showed a bold attacking participation by dribbling past two defenders, and in the 29th minute, Lins picked up a loose ball in the midfield and took a powerful shot from about 25 meters, catching the opponent off guard. In the 41st minute, Miura, Kelly, and Lins worked together in the center to break through the opponent's defense line and create a chance, and in the 43rd minute, Asari dribbled and passed to Amaral for a decisive shot, but the goal was still far away. On the contrary, in the 44th minute just before the end of the first half, Takahashi jumped in near the near post from a cross by Fujimoto and Hattori, scoring a header and adding another goal. Once again, in the same time frame as the previous game, they were caught off guard and fell into a difficult situation, trailing by two goals in the first half.

Harsh reality of falling to the bottom... Let's switch our mindset and move on to the next match

At halftime, coach Okuma instructed the side back, midfield players, or Amaral to make aggressive movements to surpass the forward Robisu during attacking opportunities. In the previous match, the team became negative after conceding a goal, and as a result, the overall attacking momentum was lost due to the lack of desire to move forward. This instruction emphasized the importance of maintaining a strong mindset in this aspect.

However, how many players were able to understand and implement the halftime coach's instructions on the pitch in the second half? At least, only Shimodaira showed a clear "fighting spirit" and continued to do his best until the end. This season, he has been on the bench twice (both times as a starter) in the seven games so far, and I felt that his game sense was a bit dull, but he led the team with enough leadership and fighting spirit to cover for it. He risked his body to steal the opponent's ball and quietly distributed it to the front line. Thanks to Shimodaira, the distribution in the midfield was more accurate and led to chances in the front line. Wasn't this the only bright spot and harvest of the day, almost like "fighting alone"? I couldn't help but think that his captaincy in the future could save the current team.

The second half was dominated by Hiroshima. In the 8th minute, a free kick given away in front of the goal was saved by the post, but in the 17th minute, Takahashi scored his third goal of the day with a header from a right corner kick, sealing the deal. Tokyo, whose motivation had dropped due to conceding 3 goals in 2 consecutive games, was on the defensive for the rest of the match. Kelly's play, which improved after changing positions from the right side to the left or center, and Shimohira's brave play, maintained a high level of quality until the end. Yukihiro and Kina, who came on in the second half, also created good opportunities towards the end, but unfortunately, Amaral and Robisu, the two top players, were often caught off guard and lost the ball, making it difficult to create organized attacks that would lead to goals.

It seemed that we were constantly on the defensive, but this was partly due to the fact that we completely let Hiroshima take control in the first half. However, it also seemed that the Tokyo players lacked the attitude to go forward. It is true that the opponent's front three always stayed up front, and especially with the speed and post-play of ace Kubo, it was dangerous for Tokyo's defense to join in on the attack recklessly. As pointed out by Coach Okuma, if the defenders and midfielders do not make bold moves to surpass the forwards at crucial moments, the attack will lack depth and chances will not be created. In the latter half, Fujiyama joined in on the attack a few times, but there was a lack of long runs and big movements to break through the opponent's defense, so a fundamental solution was not reached.

The match ended with only a few minutes left, as Fujiyama dribbled down the left side and crossed the ball, but it went too far past the goal. This time, Yukihiro crossed the ball from the right side and Amaral headed it down, but Kagami attempted an overhead kick that narrowly missed the goal. In the 43rd minute, a great ball from Kelly reached Yukihiro on the right side, who then passed it to Kina. Kina took a powerful left-footed shot from about 25 meters out, but unfortunately it was caught by the goalkeeper. Shortly after, Kagami and Amaral both jumped for a cross from the left side, but it did not result in a goal. In the end, the match ended with no more goals. Before the match, they had called the previous match a nightmare, but little did they know that this day, an even harsher reality awaited them... With this, the club fell to last place for the first time in its history. The next match against Sapporo is only three days away. How will they turn things around in such a short time? This is a more serious challenge than last year's losing streak, and it can be said that it is the first real test since being promoted to J1. The club believes in the coach, players, coaches, and staff. Now is the time for Coach Ohsuka to show his skills.

[Coach Okuma's Comment]

The overall balance was not bad. Just like the previous match, we conceded a goal from our own mistake early on, which had a big impact on our subsequent passive play. It was a momentary lapse that led to the goal, but we need to rethink our defensive balance. In the future, we want to maintain our current overall balance and think about how we can have our full-backs and midfielders make big runs forward at the right moments to attack from the sides and with speed.