2nd Stage Opening, Approaching the First Match with a Fresh Mindset!

　After a two-week interval since the end of the 1st stage, the 2nd stage begins. Tokyo struggled with 3 consecutive losses towards the end of the 1st stage and could not produce results. In order to make a comeback in this stage, they will approach this opening game with renewed determination.

　JEF United Ichihara, who will face them, has managed to win 5 out of 6 games in the second half of the 1st stage and maintain their good form. It is expected to be a tough battle away from home, but it is an important first game in terms of predicting the future. We want to grab a victory and ride the momentum.

F.C.TOKYO Aim For Victory In Second Stage Opener

The opponents for the opening game of the second stage were JEF United who had finished the first stage strongly with a won 5 drawn 1 record in the final six games. A tough match was expected.

Did not allow a goal even to Ichihara's big chance

　The game started cautiously. Both teams maintained a compact formation and tried to attack from the left and right. In the 5th minute, Jean from Tokyo attempted a header from a left corner kick, but the opponent's goalkeeper caught it. In the 6th minute, Chae, the ace of Ichihara, connected a weak clearance ball from Tokyo's defense and took a shot. In the 8th minute, Tokyo's right side, Murai from Ichihara, cut back the defense and Mutoh ran in for a shot on a negative cross. While Ichihara attacked from both sides, Tokyo gradually became pushed back. However, led by Toda, they regained possession of the ball with tough checks in the midfield and Jean showed his strength in aerial battles in front of the goal, preventing any decisive chances.

　At 21 minutes, Kelly received a clear ball from Ichihara DF from the left CK and shot it outside the frame. At 23 minutes, Kelly intercepted a pass in the midfield and connected with Miyazawa, who received a return pass in the center of the penalty area and took a shot, but the GK caught it.

　Ichihara, who began to take the lead, reacted to a long pass from midfielder Abe in the 24th minute and broke through the defense line, but Doi caught it just in time. In the 38th minute, midfielder Hasebe received a throw-in from the right side of Ichihara and passed it back to the back, and Abe ran into the right corner of the penalty area and took a powerful shot. However, the ball narrowly missed the left goal, and Tokyo escaped the danger.

　However, Tokyo's attack is biased towards the center and is cut off in front of the opponent's goal. In the 43rd minute, Fukuda, Kelly, and Ishikawa launched a quick counterattack, but it was also unsuccessful due to the defense's net. On the contrary, in the 44th minute, Ichihara sent a cross from the left short corner to Abe, who was running parallel to the goal towards the far side. Tsuchiho jumped out, but couldn't reach it, and DF Milinovic received the ball and headed towards the unguarded goal. However, Ito did not give up and returned to clear the ball just before it could go in. Although Ito's superb play prevented a goal, the first half ended with a lackluster performance, heading into the second half.

JEF U Miss A Sitter

The game kicked off with both sides adopting a compact formation and looking to spread the play wide to the wings. Jean went up for a corner after only 5 minutes and made contact but the keeper held the ball cleanly. A minute later a poor clearance by the TOKYO defense allowed JEF ace striker Choi a shot on goal and in the 8th. minute Murai breached the defense again and pulled the ball back for Muto to shoot. The visitors slowly began to exert a grip on the midfield with the terrier-like Toda battling to regain possession and Jean dominating in the air.
In the 21st minute Moniwa latched onto a cleared corner and fired narrowly wide; soon after a midfield interception saw Kelly find Miyazawa whose neat return pass reached Kelly just inside the area but the JEF keeper held his shot.
In response JEF increased the tempo and a long ball over the TOKYO defense from Abe saw Doi race out to deny Muto. In the 38th. minute a throw in on the right reached Hasebe just outside the TOKYO area; he slipped the ball inside for Abe to thunder a shot fractionally wide of the left post.
The TOKYO attack had become one-dimensional, straight through the middle, and rarely threatened the JEF goal. With a minute of the first half remaining JEF won a corner, played short to Abe who floated a teasing cross into the TOKYO area. Doi decided to come for the ball but failed to reach it and JEF defender Milinovic seemed certain to score as his header flew towards the unprotected goal. From nowhere Tetsuya Ito appeared to hook the ball clear and save TOKYO's bacon. Thanks to Ito's dramatic goal line clearance the first half ended 0-0.

Tokyo Amaral's aggressive attitude has given them a sudden boost!

　Shortly after the start of the second half, Ichihara's Choi headed a cross from the left. It was a tense moment early on, but Tsuchiho made a save and nothing came of it. In the 52nd minute, Ishikawa received a pass from Kelly on the right side and forcefully attacked the center, showing a proactive attitude towards the goal for Tokyo. Then in the 55th minute, Amaral was substituted for Fukuda. This decision was a great success and the team became more lively.

　At 56 minutes, Kelly from the right side passed to Ishikawa in the center, who then connected with Toda on the left side. Toda entered the penalty area and sent a final pass to the front of the goal. Kelly and Amaral both went for the ball, but narrowly missed. In the 57th minute, a long pass reached Toda who had run behind the DF line, but his trap was too big and he couldn't make a shot. In the 58th minute, Kelly received a pass from Amaral and quickly sent it to the center. Toda ran in and drew the DF to the left side before passing to Ishikawa who was free and took a shot. The ball had too much power and missed over the goal, but Tokyo created consecutive chances.

The Right Stuff

JEF began the second half aggressively with Choi powering a header wide soon after the restart. TOKYO were on the back foot and only Doi was keeping them in the game. A surging run from Ishikawa in the 52nd. minute relieved the pressure, as did the introduction of Amaral for Fukuda soon after. The complexion of the game changed almost immediately; a sparkling move that began with Kelly in midfield saw Toda bursting into the area and crossing.
TOKYO players were queuing up for the ball but in their eagerness none managed to make contact. A minute later a pin point pass over the JEF defence found Toda but poor control let him down. In the 58th. minute Kelly and Amaral combined to present Ishikawa with a clear shot on goal but he fired over the bar.
TOKYO were creating chances almost at will.

Kelly's first goal was defended as a team, and we won the opening game!!

　Amaral's ability to keep the ball in the front line has allowed Tokyo to make sharp movements with Toda and Ishikawa attacking the spaces. In the 60th minute, Toda made a close offside run from a through pass by Miyazawa. In the 61st minute, Kelly took a shot after connecting with Amaral, who had switched to the left side, through Ishikawa. In response to Tokyo's movements, Ichihara made substitutions in the 67th minute, replacing left MF Murai with MF Hayashi and in the 69th minute, replacing Muto with attacking player MF Morafchik.

　However, Tokyo's momentum did not stop, and in the 71st minute, Shimodaira made a long pass to Kaji, who ran up the right side. Ishikawa followed and made a deep cut to the end line, sending a cross. Unfortunately, it was cut off by the defense, but it showed a good attacking form for Tokyo, starting from the side.

　And in the 76th minute, Kelly, who was keeping the ball on the right side of the midfield, passed it to Ishikawa near the penalty arc and dashed towards the goal. Ishikawa received the pass and, after closely watching Kelly's movement, made a perfect timing to head the ball into the right penalty area. Kelly ran in and powerfully struck the ball into the net, giving Tokyo their long-awaited goal!

　Afterwards, Tokyo substituted Kofune, who made his first appearance since April, for Kaji in the 78th minute, and Toda for Baba in the 80th minute. Kofune showed aggressive defense on the right side, while Baba displayed fresh plays and tenacity to recover when taken away, becoming a major highlight.

　In the 84th minute, Ichihara substituted speedy FW Hayashi for midfielder Hasebe in an attempt to make a comeback, but Tokyo's DF stayed focused and defended against the attack. They held onto Kelly's opening goal and the game ended. They showed a valiant effort in taking 3 points away from home and made a good start towards winning the 2nd stage.

[Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference] "In the first stage, we were leading by flying in the first half and then being reversed in the second half, so today we tried to be cautious in the first half. Then we became too cautious, didn't attack, and ended up defending halfway. However, we talked about not being afraid because we managed to do well in a bad way. From the second half, we were able to attack in a good shape by using both side backs as a starting point. Amaral's condition was not 100%, so I was thinking about when to put him in. I thought that if we could tire out the opponent and put him in at the decisive moment, the rhythm would change, and it turned out as planned. He was able to keep the ball in the front line and it became easier to push up. It was not a content that could be praised, but we managed to survive the time we had been conceding so far, and thanks to Amaral's entry, Kelly was able to score at a good time. If we had taken the lead, we could have put in Komiya, who is a defensive specialist, and defended. Winning this start will give the players confidence. If we can become more relaxed and play more freely, we want to attack, but when we need to be cautious, we can make strategic moves during the game."

[Summary of Ichihara VENGLOS's press conference] "The first half was a decent development, and I think both teams played a good game. However, in the second half, we couldn't move actively like in the first half, and our positioning was not good. In the second half, even when we had possession of the ball, we didn't move forward. If we had scored in the first or second chance in the first half, I think it would have been a different game. We played a different game in the first and second half."

Kelly Bags The Winner 

With Amaral maintaining possession upfield Toda and Ishikawa were able to attack the space in the JEF defence. The chances continued and a very close offside decision against Miyazawa in the 60th. minute saved JEF again. A sharp passing movement involving Ishikawa and Amaral set up Kelly for another effort soon after. JEF responded by replacing Murai and Muto with Hanyu and Moravcik respectively, as they sought to stem the tide by switching to a more attacking formation. TOKYO were not to be denied, however, and a typical move saw Kaji's long ball pick out Shimotaira on the right. Shimotaira fed Ishikawa on the overlap but the JEF defence scrambled to clear his cross.
The goal that TOKYO had been threatening for so long finally arrived in the 76th. minute. Kelly, on the right side of midfield, played a pass through to Ishikawa on the edge of the JEF area, and set off on a fierce run at the heart of the JEF defence. Ishikawa, with perfect timing, rolled the ball into Kelly's path and a superb first time shot sent the ball hurtling into the net. In the 78th. minute Komine replaced Kaji for his first appearance in nearly 4 months and soon after Baba replaced Toda. The aggressive defensive qualities of Komine on the right and the fresh legs of Baba in midfield effectively preempted the expected JEF bombardment of the TOKYO goal as full time loomed. Defensive midfielder Hasebe was replaced by speedy forward Hayashi as a last throw of the dice but the TOKYO defence held firm and Kelly's strike proved decisive as TOKYO held on to collect the win and a well deserved three points.

Manager Hara:
"Well, after the first stage where we often took an early lead only to fall behind later in the game, I told the players to be careful today. Unfortunately they were too careful and we couldn't really create much going forward, but in the second half we brought our wing backs into play and attacked well. Amaral wasn't 100% today and I was concerned about when to bring him on so I decided to wait until our opponents began to show signs of tiredness, and I think that it worked out very well. He was able to hold the ball up, we didn't concede a goal and Kelly scored at an opportune time. Our defensive specialist Komine came on and performed well. This result will boost the players confidence. Of course we would like to attack more but we must be pragmatic and use our cunning".

JEF U Manager Venglos:
"Both teams played well in the first half, but our movement and positioning were not good after the break. If we had only been able to take advantage of one or two of the chances we created in the first half it would have been a completely different game".