Aiming for a comeback, match against Kobe

　After a big victory of 4-0 against Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo in the previous match, Tokyo aims to make a comeback in the 2nd stage. However, they cannot afford to be complacent. This week, they face a tough opponent, Vissel Kobe. In past J1 League encounters, they have recorded 1 draw and 4 losses against Kobe. Although they managed to secure 1 win and 1 draw in the Nabisco Cup qualifying league this spring, they have yet to achieve a victory in the league against this challenging opponent. Both teams have an equal record in the 2nd stage with 4 wins and 4 losses. However, with the addition of FW Ozeas and MF Allison, Kobe has resolved their lack of scoring ability, and the team's morale is on the rise. The impact of their defeat in the 1st stage lingers, and they are at risk of relegation in 14th place overall, but they will likely respond with determination and pride to seize points.

　In past encounters, we were unable to break through Kobe's powerful defense and often lost narrowly after being countered. Therefore, a tough battle is expected. However, we want to dispel the negative data and aim for consecutive victories in this match.

　After returning from the Asian Games, Moniwa and Ishikawa showed their energetic forms, each being named in the starting lineup as center back and right midfielder, respectively. Although there are three defenders listed in the roster, they approached the match with a 4-5-1 formation placing Fujiyama as left back, starting in the rain at the Japan National Stadium with the kickoff from Kobe.

A Beef With Kobe

Following the 4-0 thrashing of Consadole in the previous game, TOKYO looked to have revitalized their season. Unfortunately, the opponents for the 9th game of the second stage were perennial bogeymen Vissel Kobe; in their five previous encounters, TOKYO had recorded one draw and four losses for one point from a possible 15. TOKYO managed a win and a draw in the group stage of this year's Nabisco Cup but were still searching for a first League win over the men in black and white. Both sides had identical W4 L4 records going into the match, but Vissel, boosted by the goals of Oseas and Harison, were definitely in better form.
TOKYO welcomed Moniwa and Ishikawa back from the Asian Games and both made the starting eleven; only three defenders were named but Fujiyama slotted in on the left in a 4-5-1 formation. Vissel started the ball rolling at a rain-lashed National Stadium.

Although they conceded the first goal, Amaral equalized immediately with a penalty kick!

　From the start, a back-and-forth battle continued. In the 1st minute, Tokyo's Miyazawa made a long pass to the left side where Toda caught up, and Ishikawa, who followed up, took a shot. In the 3rd minute, Kobe's right back Sugawara advanced and took a shot. In the 5th minute, it was Tokyo's turn. A ball from Asari was headed by Kaji into the space on the right side, and Ishikawa, who ran in, delivered a cross that Amaral shot. In the 9th minute, Kobe's midfielder Mochizuki passed to forward Bando, who used his speed to break through in front of the goal and took a shot, but Dohi made the save. Both teams defended well, and when they regained possession, they quickly switched to fast attacks to create chances.

　In the 16th minute, Kobe spread the ball from midfielder Saeki to the side, where MF Allison headed a cross from Mochizuki on the right. Shortly after, Tokyo's Ishikawa cut in from the right side and took a shot. In the 19th minute, Kobe's midfielder Shijikurei passed the ball, and FW Ozeas headed it down inside the penalty area, but Bando was about to take a decisive shot when Jean and Shigeno quickly closed in, averting the crisis.

　Until this point, Tokyo had been calm and responded to Kobe's attacks. However, in the 25th minute, Kobe's Ozeas became the focal point in the front line and maintained possession in the midfield, passing to Saeki, who advanced from the right side. Saeki, entering the penalty area on the right unmarked, sent a grounded cross in front of the goal, and while Tokyo's center backs were marking Kobe's two forwards, Mochizuki took a shot. This resulted in a goal, and Tokyo conceded the opening score.

　Tokyo was struggling to control the ball in front of Kobe's solid defense with a four-back and two defensive midfielders, but in the 29th minute, after a pass exchange between Kelly and Kaji on the right side, Kelly received the ball again inside the penalty area just as he was about to turn. A Kobe defender fouled Kelly, resulting in a penalty kick. Amaral calmly converted it into the bottom left corner, leveling the score.

　This goal brought back the momentum for Tokyo. In the 31st minute, after a quick counter, Ishikawa dribbled forward and delivered a sharp through pass into the space in front of the goal. Toda made a perfectly timed run to break free and took a shot, but the opposing GK made a brave save. However, today Tokyo was focused on having Toda run between the opposing GK and DF, and in the 34th minute, Toda broke free from a long pass by Kaji from deep in their own half and shot while unmarked. It was a decisive moment, but the ball hit the crossbar, and they unfortunately missed the chance for an additional goal as they headed into the second half.

Vissel Lead But Amaral Ties It

Both teams began in a positive mood with TOKYO registering the first shot on goal in the very first minute through Ishikawa, Vissel responding through Sugawara soon after. In the 5th minute Kaji nodded Asari's high ball into the path of Ishikawa who crossed for Amaral to shoot; Mochizuki released Bando with a smart through ball but TOKYO keeper Doi saved sharply. The passing was crisp, the tackles firm and the movement fluid. Chances came thick and fast: Mochizuki crossed for Harison to head wide, Ishikawa bore down the wing then cut inside and fired over and in the 19th minute Bando seemed certain to score from Oseas's knock down but a double block by Moniwa and Jean averted the danger.
TOKYO's approach play was the more incisive but it was Vissel who took the lead in the 25th minute. Oseas held the ball up in midfield and found Harison who fed the overlapping Saeki; Saeki rolled a low cross into the area for the surging Mochizuki to clip a right footed shot past Doi.
Parity was quickly restored, though, as Kelly had his heels clipped attempting to turn just inside the area following a sharp exchange of passes with Kaji and the referee unhesitatingly pointed to the spot. Amaral converted in his customary fashion.
Gaining the equaliser so quickly lifted TOKYO and a lightning fast counter attack in the 31st minute should have seen them take the lead but the Vissel keeper produced a superb save to deny Toda after a sublime through ball from Ishikawa had split the defence. The keeper was helpless in the 34th minute as Toda again streaked onto a long ball over the visitors' defence but saw his firmly struck effort rebound off the cross bar and away. The highly entertaining first half ended 1-1.

Take the lead with Jean's first goal, but...

　In the second half, which started with a 1-1 tie, the first big chance was for Tokyo. In the 49th minute, Ishikawa skillfully trapped a floating ball from the back on the right side, cut inside, and passed to the left side. Toda took a shot, but it was met with a great save from the opposing GK. However, the corner kick taken from the right was initially cleared by the GK, but at almost the same time, Jean jumped in and headed the ball into the goal! This was Jean's first goal in the J-League, giving them the lead.

　However, it was two minutes later. Sugawara from the right side of Kobe passed to the center. After Allison sent it in front of the goal, Bando managed to connect while losing his balance, and Ozeas quickly picked up the loose ball and shot. As Coach Hara later reflected, Kaji failed to clear the loose ball in his own territory, was dispossessed while trying to pass it forward, allowed the midfield play to develop, and ultimately, Ozeas, who has a keen eye for goal, scored the equalizer.

　In a completely opposite development from the first half, Tokyo found themselves being pushed back. In the 58th minute, Bando broke free from Shijikurei's pass and took a shot. In the 60th minute, after picking up a cleared ball from Tokyo's defense, Allison made a header shot. The situation saw every cleared ball being picked up.

　However, in the 62nd minute, Tokyo's Kaji made a long pass to Ishikawa, who skillfully broke through and earned a corner kick. In the 63rd minute, Kaji, seeing there was no pressure in midfield, advanced with a dribble to the front line and made a final pass to Kelly in the left penalty area. However, the ball was cut off by the defender during the trap, and they couldn't take a shot. In the 64th minute, Todai jumped in on Ishikawa's cross from the left side but just missed it. They created a chance by exploiting Kobe's gap but couldn't convert, and in the 68th minute, Fukuda was brought on to replace Todai.

　Amaral, with Fukuda as the two-top, moved Miyazawa forward to aim for an additional goal for Tokyo. In the 77th minute, Kelly picked up a cleared ball from Fujiyama's cross, and Ishikawa sent a grounded cross between the goalkeeper and defender from inside the right penalty area. Fukuda connected in front of the goal, but unfortunately, the shot was blocked by the defender and did not result in a goal. In the 79th minute, Kobe had a chance with a cross from the right side, and Saeki timed his run well to take a shot, but it went wide. Then, in the 81st minute, Tokyo had another big chance. After a counterattack, they circulated the ball looking for an opportunity, and finally, Kelly dove in to shoot directly from Kaji's cross in front of the goal. However, to their dismay, the ball hit the crossbar. In the 84th minute, Kobe had a free header from a free kick on the right side by Shijikurei, but it went just wide.

　In the end, both teams created chances but were unable to score, leading to extra time.

Jean Strikes But.....

The first good chance of the second half fell to TOKYO in the 49th minute.
Out on the right Ishikawa immaculately controlled a floated ball and crossed for Toda to strike first time; the Kobe keeper dived full length to tip the ball around the post. From the corner Jean rose imperiously to power a header down and over the line for his first goal for the club. TOKYO were ahead but it didn't last long. Just two minutes, to be precise, as Oseas reacted fastest to a deflected loose ball to fire home from ten metres.
TOKYO suddenly found themselves on the defensive as the pendulum swung back to Vissel Kobe. Bando latched on to Sidiclei's long ball in the 58th minute and crashed in a shot while a poor clearance presented Harison with a free header soon after but he was unable to take advantage of some defensive generosity.
TOKYO fought back and fashioned a few half chances that came to naught; Toda made way for Fukuda in the 68th minute as TOKYO switched to a twin striker formation with Miyazawa tucked in behind. Fukuda almost had the ball in the net in the 77th minute from Ishikawa's low cross to the near post but a desperate lunge from a defender deflected the ball around the post. Saeki fired wide following a neat Kobe counter attack shortly after and Kelly struck the crossbar with a first time effort from Kaji's cross in the 81st minute. Neither side proved capable of seizing any of the large number of chances created and the match moved into extra time.

First extra time victory of the season, Miyazawa sinks Kobe with a golden goal.

　After six matches since the Hiroshima game in Round 3, there was an extra time. However, for Tokyo, who has not won in extra time this season with 2 draws and 3 losses, whether they could hold on would be the key point. But the outcome was decided unexpectedly quickly.

　Tokyo connected the ball from the kickoff of extra time. They picked up the opponent's clearance well, passed the ball around, and approached the goal. Then, 40 seconds into extra time, Fujiyama's cross was cleared by the opposing DF. However, the ball hit a Kobe player and fell to Amaral, who was in front of the goal. Before Amaral could take a shot, Kobe DF Tsuchiya rushed in and cleared it again, but it was a weak clearance that spilled near the penalty arc. Miyazawa, who ran in, struck with his left foot, and it found the bottom right corner of the goal! It was as if the struggles up to this point were a lie, as the V-goal victory was decided effortlessly.

　Although it was only 2 points, achieving a second consecutive win with the first extra-time victory of the season against the challenging opponent Kobe can be considered a significant achievement.

【Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference】 "This season, we struggled to secure wins in extra time, leaving an impression of losing in V-goal situations. The flow throughout the stages improved but never quite reached its peak; however, with today's victory, I believe we can aim a little higher. I started Ishikawa and Shigeno because they have gained various experiences from the Asian Games. It seemed they had personal regrets and a strong desire to play in this match. I took a chance on their high motivation. Although they had been away from the team for a while and struggled to get into Tokyo's rhythm, I think they did a good job at key moments. Ideally, we wanted to secure all three points, and we need to tighten up on areas where we lost possession while trying to connect plays, leading to goals conceded from mistakes. Still, the fact that we were able to equalize after going behind and then again after being equalized, ultimately winning in V-goal, gives us confidence."

[Summary of Coach Matsuda's Press Conference] "I don't think the content was bad, so it's disappointing that we didn't get a result. I do appreciate that we scored two goals, and the goals we conceded weren't due to being broken down. Still, we have to win in this world, but it wasn't an unsatisfactory performance as we move on to the next match."

Miyazawa Bags First " V Goal " Win

TOKYO's record in matches requiring extra time this season wasn't good: drawn two, lost three. The key seemed to lie in maintaining concentration in defense. However, they began the first period going forward and moved the ball around with Fujiyama then launching a cross into the area. A Vissel defender attempted a volleyed clearance but the ball struck a teammate and landed at Amaral's feet. As Amaral lined up his shot, Kobe defender Tsuchiya stretched to poke the ball away; the clearance was underhit and Miyazawa, from just outside the area, struck left footed, low and hard, just inside the right post. TOKYO had snatched a dramatic and well-earned victory just 40 seconds into extra time. The triumph brought only two points but it marked the first League victory over bogey team Kobe, the first "V Goal" win this year and the second consecutive win.

TOKYO manager Hara:
" Given our record in extra time games this year I just have an impression of losing them. Today's win won't go a long way to alter the course of the season but should raise our sights a little. Ishikawa and Moniwa came back with some useful experience from playing in the Asian Games but, of course, they couldn't fit back in straight away after missing a few matches. We struggled to find our rhythm in places and made mistakes that led to goals but, after being behind and then being pegged back when we were ahead, the team fought well to earn a victory and that should be a confidence booster ".

Kobe manager Matsuda:
" I don't think we played badly at all, we just didn't get the result today. We scored twice and lost but that's football ".