Fearlessly face the Brazilian national team and aim for victory away from home!

　The 12th match of the 1st stage will be an away game against Kashiwa Reysol. It will be the first game in about a week since the Sapporo match on July 28th, and we want to continue our winning streak here and gain momentum for the final stretch.

　Kashiwa, on the other hand, is currently in 11th place. In the league after the restart, they have not won any matches and are in a difficult situation today as well, missing MF Sampai and Ohno due to accumulated warnings. However, FW Adilson, who was also selected for the Brazilian national team that won the World Cup this year and was with Kashiwa in 1996 and 1997, has joined the team and will make his first appearance today. It is expected that this Adilson's appearance will be the trigger for a desperate counterattack. However, without fear, Tokyo's united soccer team will aim for victory. Mochida will start for the first time as a right-back, and the kickoff has begun.

Who's Afraid Of Brazil?

The 12th game of the J-League first stage saw F.C.TOKYO make the short trip to Kashiwa for an away fixture against Reysol. TOKYO were hoping to build on the excellent first half performance in the previous week's victory over Consadole and win the remaining games in style.
Spurs' legend Steve Perryman's Reysol, currently lying 11th in the league and winless since the resumption of play following the World Cup, were without suspended midfielders Sampaio and Ono; however, they received a boost with the return of World Cup winner Edilson, a former Reysol player in 1996 and 1997, who donned the yellow of Reysol for the second time in this game. His speed on the break demanded caution from TOKYO but was certainly nothing to fear. Moniwa made his first appearance as right side back and the game kicked off in steamy conditions.

Taking control, Amaral scores with a header!

　1 minute into the game, Kashiwa MF Watanabe (Hikaru) receives a cross from the left side of Tokyo and MF Sunagawa takes a header shot. Both teams are known for their attacks from the sides, so an intense battle is expected. In the 4th minute, Edison receives the ball in the midfield, turns and passes it to Fujiyama on the left side. Sunagawa receives the ball and passes it to FW Kitashima in the center, but Doi jumps out and clears the ball before he can control it. They won't give up an easy goal.

　Tokyo, led by Kelly, gradually increases their ball possession after giving Kashiwa a chance at the beginning. In the 11th minute, Toda breaks through the defense with a pass, but unfortunately is called offside. In the 19th minute, Ishikawa steals the ball in the opponent's territory and cuts in from the end line, but no one is able to finish in the center. In the 20th minute, Fujiyama invades the goal area from a throw-in and attacks from the left side. However, Kashiwa counterattacks from here and Adilson receives the ball, taking it into the penalty area for a shot. But Tsuchi's save saves the day. In the 22nd minute, Ito loses the ball to Adilson at the DF line, allowing a shot. Jean clears it to Adilson again, and Sandagawa receives a pass and takes a shot, but it goes straight to Tsuchi, avoiding another close call.

　Tokyo dominates with Toda's movement in the backline and Ishikawa's speed and energy as key players on the wings, but Kashiwa struggles to find space and break through. In this back-and-forth match, Tokyo creates a counterattack opportunity in the 37th minute. A cross from the right wing by Ishikawa and Kelly is cleared by the opposing DF. Shortly after, Shigetaka sends a pass between the DF and GK, but the GK catches it. However, in the 38th minute, a one-touch pass from the DF line finds Kelly on the right side of midfield, who then delivers a pinpoint pass to Amaral in front of the goal. Amaral jumps high in the air and heads the ball into the net, scoring the best header of the season for Tokyo. With this textbook header, Tokyo takes the lead and heads into the second half.

Amaral Heads TOKYO Ahead

Reysol took the initiative from the kick off with Sunakawa getting on the end of a cross from M. Watanabe. In the 4th. minute Edilson turned Fujiyama and found Sunakawa on the right; Kitajima pushed Sunakawa's low cross slightly too far and goalkeeper Doi hared out to smother the danger. Reysol had the better of the early exchanges but TOKYO, with the indefatigable Kelly working hard in midfield, gradually gained a foothold, and began to dictate play. A very close offside decision denied Toda in the 11th. minute but the game suddenly burst into life ten minutes later as Ishikawa scampered to the by-line but his cross evaded the TOKYO attack. TOKYO kept the pressure on from a throw in with Fujiyama bursting into the area on the left; the Reysol defence blocked the attempt and launched a lightening fast counter attack. Doi held his nerve as Edilson bore down on him and produced a fine block to deny the Brazilian's near post blast. Edilson nearly set up the opening goal two minutes later as he robbed Ito on the right and hit a low cross toward the far post. Jean lunged to intercept but succeeded only in returning the ball to Edilson, who looked up and picked out Sunakawa arriving at speed on the edge of the area; with most of the goal to aim at the Reysol man curled his shot straight into Doi's midriff.
The game settled into a pattern of TOKYO pressing and Reysol looking to counter attack. From the 35th. minute TOKYO began to tighten the screw: an Ishikawa cross into the danger area was cleared, Moniwa's ball behind the defence was held by the keeper and then a minute later TOKYO took the lead.
Neat one touch play from defence saw the ball reach Kelly whose sumptuous cross towards the penalty spot was met by Amaral at the peak of a prodigious leap between two defenders. The header was perfect: power, timing and direction left the Reysol keeper flailing and TOKYO were ahead.

With Edison's skillful assist, the game is tied...

　Tokyo continues to attack aggressively in the second half. In the 48th minute, Kelly catches up to a pass on the right side and receives a return pass from Ishikawa, but his looping shot is caught by the goalkeeper. However, Kashiwa also launches a counterattack from their tough press. In the 49th minute, left side MF Hirayama takes a shot from the left corner of the penalty area, but FW Kitajima narrowly misses the ball in front of the goal. In the 50th minute, Ederson takes a middle shot, but it goes over the goal. In the 51st minute, Watanabe (Hikaru) sends a sharp cross from the right side, but Shigetani clears it with a high header.

　However, it was right after that. A pass was sent to Adilson, who was waiting near the penalty area in front of the goal, and Adilson headed it down to the front of the goal, where it fell in front of Kitajima, who had slipped behind the defense. Kitajima neatly pushed the ball in for a goal.

　Tokyo had been tough and stable in defense, not allowing Kitajima to do his job, but they were distracted by Ederson and were equalized in an instant.

　However, Tokyo did not collapse here today. Kashiwa, who was in high spirits, shook the wide left and right from Edilson, but the Tokyo DF concentrated and responded. In the 59th and 60th minutes, a cross was sent from the right side after a side change, but the DF cleared it in the center. In the 61st minute, Toda returned a cross from Shigeta and Miyazawa aimed for a goal from the middle range. And in the 63rd minute, when Ishikawa faced the DF one-on-one on the right side, he cut back to the center with a one-fake and sent a sharp cross with his left foot. Once again, Amaral ran in on a pinpoint pass just like the first goal and scored a spectacular diving header! The ball, filled with soul, shook the goal net and Tokyo took the lead.

Edilson Shows His Class

TOKYO began the second half in aggressive fashion: Kelly overlapped down the right and played a sharp return pass to Ishikawa who advanced and let fly.
The keeper held the ball well and launched a counter attack which ended with Kitajima inches away from connecting with a low cross. Edilson fired narrowly over in the 50th. minute and Moniwa made a vital headed clearance under pressure soon after, as the home side upped the tempo. A minute later a floated ball found Edilson lurking just outside the area and his cushioned header fell perfectly for Kitajima who finished with aplomb. Although pegged back and bombarded from left and right TOKYO refused to buckle and could have retaken the lead in the 61st. minute as Toda knocked a Moniwa cross back to Miyazawa, but his shot came to nothing. As it was they didn't have to wait long. In the 63rd. minute Ishikawa beat a defender on the right and launched a long left footed cross towards the far post where Amaral, gliding in behind the last defender, flung himself full length to power another textbook header low inside the post.

King explodes! Hat-trick sinks Kashiwa

　"King of Tokyo" Amaral took his chance and Tokyo, who were on a roll, did not let up their attack. In the 69th minute, they substituted Miyazawa for Kina to try and score another goal. Kashiwa also made a substitution in the 69th minute, bringing on MF Ameagami, who had previously played in the World Cup for Japan, in an attempt to turn things around.

　However, in the 75th minute, Tokyo added another goal to crush Kashiwa's comeback hopes. Ishikawa passed the ball from the right side of the midfield to the front of the goal. Toda received the ball in the center of the goal and passed it directly to the right side. Amaral received the ball and brought it to the right corner of the penalty area, then shot with his right foot. The ball grazed the goalkeeper's hand with the speed of an arrow and pierced into the left side of the goal! With Amaral's outstanding finishing ability, he achieved his first hat-trick of the season and sank Kashiwa.

　Tokyo, who continued to attack, did not let up. The game was constantly changing between offense and defense, but despite having some good shots, they were unable to score. In the 44th minute, Ederson managed to get behind the DF, but the returning DF and Tsuchiho defended the goal with their bodies. In stoppage time, Watanabe (Hikaru) made a flying shot from the left side cross, but it narrowly missed the left side of the goal. They held on until the end and welcomed a resounding victory against Kashiwa.

　With this consecutive victory, we return to a draw with 5 wins, 5 losses, 2 draws, and a goal difference of 0, and will face the Kyoto match at home in the best condition.

[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "I thought Edilson's condition wouldn't be 100%, but he was involved in a dangerous situation in the beginning of the game. Also, Kashiwa put more pressure on us than we expected in the first half, and the ball movement on the field was fast, so we couldn't play with a good rhythm at first. After about 15 minutes, we settled down and were able to take advantage of the space behind their wing backs, and our rhythm improved. But today, the standout player was definitely Amaral. He received good passes, but his condition was also good and he scored three goals in important moments for us. The best thing was that even when we were caught up in the second half, we didn't lose heart and were able to play our own style of soccer. We were able to create good counterattacks from our defense. If I had to say one thing, I wish we could have scored 1 or 2 more goals there, but we stayed focused until the end and fought well. I think the team is gradually growing."

[Kashiwa Perryman Coach Press Conference Summary]

"We saw the parts where we lacked confidence. After equalizing, we showed confidence and the flow was in favor of Kashiwa. However, we lost the second goal and were more disappointed than expected. Until we conceded the third goal, we didn't know who would win... We had our moments, but the game is decided in an instant. That's where Tokyo got us. We didn't create many chances, but the opponent's shots were excellent."

Amaral Makes It Three!

With the "King of Tokyo" giving a masterclass in finishing, TOKYO went in search of a third goal; the tireless Kina replaced Miyazawa after 69 minutes and at the same time, Japan World Cup star Myojin replaced Nagai for Reysol.
Five minutes later, it was 3-1 to TOKYO. Ishikawa found Toda on the edge of the area and his first-time chip fell perfectly for Amaral at the right corner of the box. Amaral looked up and lashed a fierce volley across the face of the goal and inside the far post. Three chances, three stunning goals, the first hat trick of the season for the TOKYO No. 11.
Reysol flung themselves forward in a desperate attempt to salvage something from the game, but apart from a last-ditch save by Doi from Edilson in the final minute and an injury-time shot from H. Watanabe that bobbled fractionally wide, the TOKYO defense held firm.
The win improved TOKYO's record to W5 D2 L5 with a goal difference of 0 and boosted their confidence ahead of the next match, a home game against Kyoto Purple Sanga.

TOKYO Manager Hara :
"Edilson wasn't at his best today but even so he caused us a lot of problems early on. Reysol pressured us more than I had expected, played some good football and prevented us from finding our rhythm. From about the 15th. minute we settled down and began to get behind their wing backs. But today was Amaral's day. The crosses were great and his condition was good but the finishing was superb. The most pleasing thing was the way we fought back after Reysol equalised and were able to play our game. The defence performed well and, little by little, the team is developing".

Reysol manager Perryman :
"Our lack of confidence was evident today. We played well up until TOKYO took the lead and after we equalised. However, after conceding the second goal, we were more discouraged than I had expected. The result was uncertain until they scored their third... We didn't give TOKYO many clear-cut chances, but they took advantage of the few they had very well."