Important match that leads to the future of the Nabisco Cup

　The Nabisco Cup qualifying league has reached its fourth round. Today's victory or defeat will greatly affect the possibility of advancing to the final tournament, making it an important match that will lead to the future. This will be the first match between Kashiwa Reysol and the league since the opening, but Kashiwa is currently in good form with two consecutive wins in the league. The members have also changed since the opening, and today, MF Ricardinho and FW Marcio will be absent due to accumulated warnings, so we cannot let our guard down.

　Tokyo started with both Amaral and Abe as starters for the first time this season. Abe took the left outside position in a 4-5-1 formation. The match began at 7pm at the Japan National Stadium, under a sky that seemed to be taking a break from the rain, with Tokyo's kickoff.

Ishikawa scores two consecutive fine goals to take the lead!

　Kelly sends a pass to the right side space, connecting the kickoff ball, and Ishikawa speeds up to cross to the far side. Abe runs in and makes a diving header. The shot misses to the left, but Tokyo creates a chance right away in the first 15 seconds. In the 2nd minute, Amaral is fouled near the penalty area and earns a free kick.

　However, it was Kashiwa who found their rhythm afterwards. The game progressed within Tokyo's territory, but they did not allow any shots with their tough defense on the final line. In the 12th minute, Arai connected with a long pass from Ashikawa, and Miyazawa played a through pass to the front line. Ishikawa passed through and Kelly, who received the ball outside the penalty area, turned and took a shot with his right outside kick, but the ball that hit the upper right corner of the goal was stopped by Kashiwa GK Minami's fine save.

　Tokyo, who had been pushed back by Kashiwa's attacking, calmly waited for a chance and in the 17th minute, Kelly passed the ball to Kanazawa on the left side and dashed towards the goal. Kanazawa dribbled up and passed through to the penalty area. Kelly acted as a decoy for this ball and waiting in the left corner of the goal area was Ishikawa. He controlled the ball with one touch, turned around while being surrounded by defenders and took a volley shot! The goalkeeper couldn't even touch the ball as it flew into the goal with a stunning shot that was like a wake-up call. It was a super goal that showed Ishikawa's amazing technique and awareness of shooting, and Tokyo took the lead.

Miyazawa scores his first goal of the season, adding a valuable point!

　Kashiwa had a header shot from DF Nagata from the left CK at 22 minutes. It was a decisive shot that slipped through the hands of Tsuchi and almost went in, but Shigeta cleared it just before it could go in. Tokyo took the lead and found their rhythm both offensively and defensively. In the 24th minute, Kelly fought hard for the ball on the right side of the midfield and made a through pass to the front line. Ishikawa broke through and had a 1-on-1 with the GK in the penalty area, but his shot went just slightly to the left. In the 33rd minute, Kelly dribbled up from the midfield and passed to Abe on the right side. Abe made an artistic heel pass to the center from just outside the right penalty area. Kelly received the return pass and his finish hit the GK right in front of him.

　In the 37th minute, they attacked the goal from a wide passing play, picking up the clear and connecting it, and finally Amaral headed in a cross from Kanazawa, but it was blocked by a nice save from the GK. In stoppage time of the first half, they also couldn't score from a FK earned on the right side of the penalty area. Despite creating decisive scenes, they couldn't add another goal and the first half ended 1-0.

　Tokyo approached the second half with the instructions from coach Hara, "Don't back down from the start, press forward. When we steal the ball, open up quickly and use the sides to attack." The team showed an aggressive attitude as instructed. In the 47th minute, they won a corner kick and in the 55th minute, Kaji ran up to the front line and passed to Kelly. After a one-two with Amaral, Kelly took a shot from the penalty area. It missed the target, but it was a good attacking opportunity. Then in the 56th minute, Amaral checked the ball harshly from the right side of the Kashiwa defense. He then passed it to Kelly in the center. From there, Kelly passed it to Miyazawa who had run past him, and Miyazawa scored a powerful goal! The man who will turn 25 tomorrow on the 24th, gave Tokyo the much-needed second goal on his birthday eve with his first goal of the season.

Ishikawa's second goal! Abe also continues, explosive attacking soccer

　Kashiwa never gave up and in the 61st minute, they substituted FW Unozawa for MF Masuda. Both teams were trying to quickly attack after stealing the ball from the DF line. However, in the 63rd minute, Kashiwa's left back, DF Tanoue, received his second yellow card of the day and was sent off. In response, Tokyo substituted DF Toda for Amaral in the 64th minute. They placed Abe as the lone striker and Toda on the left, in an attempt to take advantage of Kashiwa being one player down.

　In the 67th minute, Toda took a long pass from Miyazawa and shot. In the 69th minute, Ishikawa invaded the penalty area from the right side and connected with Kelly, who ran in from behind and shot. Shortly after the chance, there was also a danger as the ball was passed to FW Unozawa on the left front line from a counterattack by Kashiwa, but FW Yano's shot from the center narrowly missed the right goal and nothing came of it.

　And in the 71st minute, when Ishikawa caught up with the ball that came out to the right side, he cut inside with a dribble and took a shot with all his might from just before the penalty arc, seeing no pressure! The ball he shot with his left foot was sucked into the bottom right corner of the goal, leaving Kashiwa behind.

　In the 73rd minute, Kelly was replaced by Baba, and in the 76th minute, Miura was replaced by Miyazawa. Then in the 79th minute, Abe picked up a clearance ball from the opponent's DF in the Kashiwa area and advanced. He quickly broke through three Kashiwa DFs with lightning-fast steps, entered the penalty area, and took a shot, scoring a goal! With an additional goal to seal the deal, they defeated Kashiwa 4-0. They took the top spot in the Nabisco Cup qualifying league with a goal difference.

【Player Comments】《Ishikawa》"I think my condition is good, but there are some parts where I lack concentration. I want to contribute to the team's victory by scoring goals. Exactly one year ago today, on April 23, I participated in FC Tokyo's practice for the first time. I want to continue to grow even more in the future."《Asari》"We started the game poorly and were pushed back by the opponent. We wanted to create a rhythm by keeping the ball and spreading it to the sides. But it was good that we didn't concede during that time."《Miyazawa》"In the past, we were often pushed back in the second half, but we were able to move the ball and pass it around, and I think it was important that we scored the second goal. I was really happy with the goal."

[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "We have the Nabisco Cup running parallel to the league, but by winning today, we have a high chance of advancing to the final round and we will face Kashima without changing the members. However, since Abe's condition has improved, I tried pairing him with Amaral. Although the trial is not yet perfect, I think the opponents will have a hard time because the rhythm of the two is quite different. If Kelly and Miyazawa are involved, it will be even more interesting and the combination will develop during the game. We got into a good rhythm with Ishikawa's opening goal, but then we missed chances one after another and I thought of the Nagoya game in the previous round of the league. However, we were able to fight in a good situation with the second goal and the opponent's red card. I think it was good that we scored four goals with players other than Amaral and Kelly. This season, we have made it a goal for Japanese players to score goals, but Abe, Ishikawa, Toda, and Miyazawa have been staying after practice every day to practice shooting. I think the results are starting to show little by little. We will face the league soon, but we have never won against Kashima away, so we want to beat them at Kashima Stadium."

[Kashiwa · Aurelio coach's press conference summary] "Today's FC Tokyo had a wonderful development and did not give us any chances throughout the 90 minutes. I don't think there were any defensive problems until 0-1, but we couldn't keep compact. In the second half, we became 10 players and Tokyo brought in speedy players and took advantage of chances. Kashiwa also created a few chances, but unfortunately couldn't score. However, there is no time to be disappointed. We want to rebuild the team and aim for victory."