Three consecutive losses are unacceptable, we will face Sapporo!

　In Sec. 11 of the 1st stage, we will face Sapporo at our home, Japan National Stadium. Sapporo is currently at the bottom of the standings, but they put up a good fight in the last match against F. Marinos. We cannot underestimate them, but we want to showcase 'Tokyo's football' and secure a victory at all costs. We will be missing Jean due to accumulated warnings, but we will include Moniwa in the center-back position, and the other starting members will remain the same as the last match.

　Against Sapporo, they adopted the same formation as Tokyo, placing FW Ogura as the lone striker, shifting from a three-back to a four-back system in response to Tokyo's 4-2-3-1 system, with left MF Kazuha dropping back (Coach Ivancevic Radmilo).

Beat Consadole! Stop The Slump!

The 11th game of the J-League first stage saw F.C. TOKYO take on Consadole Sapporo at the National Stadium. Despite their lowly position, Consadole played well in a narrow 2-3 loss to league-leading F Marinos last week; manager Ivanovich switched from his regular three-back formation to 4-2-3-1, the same as TOKYO, with Ogura as the lone striker. Moniwa replaced the suspended Jean, but otherwise, TOKYO were unchanged from the previous game.

In a well-executed play targeting the space, Kelly scores the opening goal!

　Right from the start, Toda matched the ball from the back, running into the space behind the defense from the left side to create a chance. Immediately after, Sapporo also aimed for the goal with a mid-range shot from Ogura. Both teams maintained a compact formation and pressed each other, continuing the battle for the ball.

　However, Tokyo gradually increases its dominance. In the 5th minute, a pass from Shimohira goes to Toda, who breaks through behind the DF, but the opposing GK comes out and catches it. After that, they repeatedly try to exploit the space between the DF line and the GK, but cannot create any decisive scenes. In the 10th minute, Toda gets into a shooting position from a pass by Shimohira, but is rebuffed by the advancing GK.

　However, this strategy paid off later. In the 11th minute, Amaral broke through behind the DF to aim for a goal and earned a corner kick. The first attempt was cleared by the DF, but the second followed. The ball kicked by Miyazawa was initially deflected by the GK, but Miyazawa picked it up again and moved towards the goal. Shigeno, who was waiting, headed the ball down, and there was Toda, who jumped out as if he had aimed perfectly. Toda's consecutive two shots were thwarted by a fine play from GK Sato, but Kelly, who followed up on the loose ball, headed it in for a goal! They shook the Sapporo DF with a set piece and created the opening goal.

Kelly Strikes

Straight from the kick off Toda latched on to a long ball down the left and infiltrated behind the Consadole backline; the chance came to naught and Consadole countered immediately through Ogura. With both teams employing the same system the game began as a tight, compact midfield battle. Slowly, however, TOKYO began to gain the upper hand. In the 5th minute a through
ball from Shimotaira saw the keeper race out to foil Toda; five minutes later the same combination were again foiled by the keeper. TOKYO were aiming for the space between the Consadole backline and the keeper but couldn't find the decisive ball until the 11th minute when Amaral won a corner on the left. Miyazawa swung it in only for the ball to come back to him from a defender; he tried again and the keeper punched the ball straight to Moniwa who headed back into the danger area. The ball fell to Toda unmarked in front of goal. He shot and the keeper saved it. He shot again and again the keeper saved it. As Toda contemplated a third attempt Kelly burst into the six yard area and imperiously headed the ball into the back of the net to give TOKYO the lead.

Ishikawa and Toda's joyful goals capitalized on the opportunity

　In the 19th minute, Sapporo's MF Yamase challenged his U-21 Japan national team teammate Moniwa to a one-on-one duel, dribbled forward, and took a shot, but it went wide to the left of the goal.

　Immediately after that, in the 21st minute, Kelly boldly took a shot from outside the penalty area. Connecting with the rebound, Ishikawa passed to Kaji, who had moved up on the right side. Kaji, under pressure from the defender, returned the pass to Ishikawa. Receiving this, Ishikawa swung his right foot without taking a step from outside the penalty area, and the ball floated over the goalkeeper's hands and into the goal!! Although this shot was not from a free kick, it had the same trajectory as the super shot that Brazil's Ronaldinho showed in the quarter-finals against England in the recent World Cup. With this outstanding control, Ishikawa scored his first goal after transferring, giving Tokyo an additional point.

　Tokyo continued to press Sapporo with quick passing that utilized the width of the field, attacking from the sides, and making runs from the defensive midfield position to the front line. In the 29th minute, Sapporo forward Jadyuson had a powerful free kick, but Dohi made a fine save to concede a corner. Then, in the 33rd minute, after a quick restart and connecting passes, Kelly sent a long pass to the front line. With perfect timing, Toda made a run, found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and calmly scored. This made it three goals for Tokyo early on! Ishikawa and Toda, who had been creating chances until now, successfully converted and overwhelmed Sapporo.

　Tokyo is also focused on defense, ending Sapporo's attacks with intense pressing. Sapporo forward Bayak frequently makes runs behind Tokyo's defense, but they raise the line to catch him offside every time. In the 44th minute, Ogura breaks free in front of the left goal area from a through pass by Yamase, but Doi courageously rushes out to catch the ball just in time. They maintain a three-goal lead and finish the first half.

Ishikawa, Toda Extend The Lead

Consadole produced their best chance in the 19th minute as midfielder Yamase took on his Japan Under 21 colleague Minowa and fired in a shot that flew narrowly wide. Two minutes later a long range blast from Kelly was deflected to Ishikawa on the edge of the area. He rolled the ball to Kaji out on the right; finding his path to goal blocked Kaji passed back inside to Ishikawa who struck a stunning first time shot that curled over the keeper in an identical fashion to Ronaldinho's free kick for Brazil in the World Cup quarter final against England. The crowd erupted as Ishikawa joyfully celebrated his first goal for the club.
Doi made a fine save from Jadilson's free kick in the 29th minute but F.C.TOKYO were dominating the game and it was no surprise to see them extend the lead in the 33rd minute. A quickly taken free kick reached Kelly who looked up and launched a glorious long ball over the defence and into the path of Toda who deftly deceived the keeper and finished in style.
The TOKYO defence line dealt comfortably with the Consadole attack, repeatedly pushing up and catching Baljak offside. Doi dived bravely at the feet of Ogura in the 44th minute and the first half finished 3-0.

Although we conceded one goal, we held our ground and secured 3 points.

　In the second half, Sapporo replaced Watanabe with right midfielder Sakai, switching to a three-back formation to launch a counterattack. At the start, Sakai picked up a cleared ball from the defense and took a powerful shot.

　In the 49th minute, Kaji advanced and delivered a cross, which the GK punched away. Miyazawa picked up the ball and took a mid-range shot, but the GK caught it. In the 54th minute, Amaral headed a shot from a free kick, but it went over the bar.

　It was right after that. Sakai's cross was cut off by Tokyo's defense, and Sapporo earned a corner kick. On the right corner, Bayak connected with Sakai for a short corner, ran into the right corner of the penalty area, received the return, and shot. The clean shot found the top left of the goal, and Tokyo was caught off guard, conceding a goal.

　After that, Sapporo.D took the ball with a fierce challenge, gaining momentum. Their midfield play surpassed Tokyo's, launching a counterattack. In the 59th minute, once again, a corner kick taken by Bayak was headed by Jadyuson. The ball just barely went over the goal. In the 60th minute, Bayak on the left side broke through behind the defense and passed to Sakai, who was free on the right side, but this was ruled offside for Bayak, allowing Tokyo to escape the danger.

　In the 70th minute, Tokyo substituted Hoshi for Ishikawa, who was injured from a fierce foul. However, Sapporo relentlessly launched a wave of counterattacks. In the 72nd minute, Sakai, Yamase, and Ogura threatened the Tokyo goal one after another, but the Tokyo defense responded firmly, launching a quick counterattack in return.

　In the 77th minute, Fukuda was substituted for Toda, and in the 88th minute, Kinna was brought in for Miyazawa. Tokyo wants to keep the ball and create chances, but there are mistakes, leading to a fierce battle for possession. However, in stoppage time, Ogura's header from Sakai's cross from the left was saved by Doi just barely at the bottom right of the goal. Tokyo held off Sapporo's counterattack and the match ended. They protected their first-half lead and secured 3 points.

[Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference] "It was the same in the previous match against Verdy, but the team becomes completely different between the first and second halves. In the first half, things went as planned; the ball moved well and we successfully targeted behind the opponent. I think we had more chances than the three goals we scored. However, in the second half, when Sapporo switched to a three-back formation and played more offensively, although there was no need to panic, mistakes continued, allowing counterattacks, and things got chaotic. Honestly, it's surprising we only conceded one goal. When the opponent changes their tactics or players, we suddenly get flustered. We need to keep connecting passes ourselves and, against attacking opponents—like Sakai today—we should be able to exploit that and attack instead. Unfortunately, we were pulled out of position by Sakai, and even when we tried to launch counterattacks, mistakes led to losing the ball. That part is disappointing. Since we had been on a losing streak, it was good to get a win, but there is a big difference between our good and bad moments. Our biggest challenge now is to consistently raise our level above a certain standard."

[Summary of the press conference by Sapporo's Ivancevic Radmilo] "It was completely like two different games. The first half was very poor. I think we played good football in the second half, but we couldn't change the result of the match. In the first half, our movement was bad, we couldn't play as a team, our passes didn't connect, and there was no aggressive play. We conceded a goal from a corner kick, which put us under psychological pressure. We made adjustments at halftime, and at that point, we were down by three goals, but we tried to improve our performance as much as possible. I want to congratulate FC Tokyo."

TOKYO Weather Fightback For Valuable Win

Consadole replaced Wanami with Sakai at half time and reverted to their customary three back formation. Sakai looked lively and tested Doi with a powerful effort soon after the restart. TOKYO were not content to sit on their lead: Miyazawa forced a fine save from the Consadole keeper in the 49th minute and five minutes later Amaral powered a trademark header just over the bar. The game changed unexpectedly in the 54th minute as Sakai picked up a short corner from Baljak on the right, advanced to the corner of the area and curled a shot over Doi and into the far corner, to make the score 3-1.
Suddenly Consadole found their rhythm and TOKYO were backpedalling as the visitors upped the tempo in midfield. Jadilson headed a corner from Baljak over the bar when it seemed easier to score and an offside decision against Sakai saved a certain goal. Hoshi replaced Ishikawa, the recipient of a heavy tackle, after 70 minutes but the addition of a defender failed to stem the tide as Consadole continued to pour forward. The TOKYO backline held firm though and Doi was rarely troubled. Fukuda replaced Toda after 77 minutes as TOKYO looked to hold the ball up in advanced positions; Kina came on for Miyazawa in the 88th minute to add some energy to the TOKYO midfield. Ogura must have thought he had scored as the game entered injury time but Doi produced a superb full length fingertip save to steer his header around the post. TOKYO hung on and thanks to a stirring first half performance earned a valuable 3 points.

TOKYO manager Hara :
" As in the Verdy game we played like a completely different team in the second half. The first half went entirely according to plan: we scored three and created a lot of chances. Consadole changed to an attacking three back formation at half time and Sakai caused us a lot of problems-frankly we were lucky to concede only one in the second half. Even so, we had opportunities to counter attack but couldn't string the passes together which was disappointing. We are pleased with the win, of course, but our biggest problem at the moment is consistency ".

Consadole manager Ivancevic :
" A game of two halves. We were dreadful in the first half and the first goal had a profound psychological effect on the team. We fell apart but regrouped at half time and played very well in the second half. Unfortunately the three goals we conceded in the first half were too many to overcome. I want to congratulate FC Tokyo on a good win ".