Betting on Victory! Match against Shimizu S-Pulse

　1st Stage, Sec. 13. Today, we will face Shimizu S-Pulse, who are currently in 12th place, at our home stadium, Ajinomoto Stadium. Last week on the 16th (Wed), we had a stunning comeback victory in the Nabisco Cup, and Tokyo is feeling energized. We are concerned about fatigue from consecutive games, but as we approach the end of the stage, everyone knows that we cannot afford to lose a single game.

　However, in this round, Amaral is suspended and the starting lineup will be led by Abe. On the bench, Kajiyama, who played in last week's Nabisco Cup, and the young players Wu and Kelly, who will make their league debut, will all come together to go for the win. On the other hand, Shimizu started the league with a few losses and struggled with experimenting with their system, but in the Kashima game after the break, their 3-back defense kept a clean sheet and they won with 2 goals from FW TUTO, who used to play for Tokyo. In this round, losing TUTO to injury will be a big blow, but they have a reputation for attacking with FW Yasuharu An and MF Mitsudomoe and Ichikawa on both sides. Also, they will be coming into the Nabisco Cup from the final round, so they will be fully prepared. This important game for both teams to climb up in the rankings started at 7:04 PM with Shimizu's kickoff.

Unable to take advantage of the opportunity together

　3 minutes into the game, Tokunaga and Ishikawa send crosses from the right side, but Toda and Kelly are unable to finish. In the 5th minute, Shimizu attacks. Doi deflects Mito's early cross, and Yasu picks up the loose ball and swings it to the right side before making a run into the penalty area and heading the ball. In the 13th minute, a long pass from the right side to Yasu after an intercept by Shimizu's defense. Ito receives the ball and sends a cross to the center, but no one is able to finish. In the 18th minute, Mito's sharp cross from the left side is cleared by Jean. In the 19th minute, Tokunaga exchanges passes with Ishikawa and sends a cross, but no one is able to reach it. In the 20th minute, Jean jumps into the box for a free kick from outside the right area, but it is called offside. In contrast, in the 23rd minute, Shimizu's FW Kitajima runs up the left side and Yasu takes a direct shot in front of the goal area, but it goes over the goal.

　Shimizu's attack, which carefully connects and passes to the front line, is safely defended by the DF, but Tokyo struggles to make quick developments due to the lack of coordination between the duo after taking the ball. In the 25th minute, Miyazawa's through pass after breaking through the center was expected to create a chance between Toda and Abe in front of the goal, but the opposing DF cleared it and escaped with a corner kick. In the 26th minute, Ishikawa cut into the center and passed to the front line. Abe, who received the ball, took a shot while being guarded by two DFs, which became the first shot of the day.

Although aiming for a goal from a stable defense,

　At 31 minutes, Shimizu DF Emerson's clear ball passed through the front line, and Doi cleared it by jumping out of the penalty area. After picking up the loose ball, Mitsushu aimed for the goal with a floating ball, but Shigeta, who entered the cover perfectly, cleared it. Tokyo gradually gained rhythm from solid defense, and at 33 minutes, Kanazawa overlapped with a pass to Miyazawa on the left side and shot directly. At 35 minutes, Toda jumped in near the FK from the right side, but couldn't catch the goal. At 41 minutes, Shigeta intercepted and attacked, and Abe chest-trapped and shot directly from the cross, but the GK saved it. In the attack, both teams occasionally showed their strengths, but overall the performance was lackluster, and the second half began.

　In the 47th minute of the second half, a pass was sent to Toda who had run behind the Kanazawa DF, but the cross from Abe to Ishikawa was not able to result in a shot. In the 48th minute, Kelly went to retrieve the ball in the opponent's territory and received a yellow card for rough play (accumulated points resulting in a 2-game suspension from the next match). However, without getting discouraged, Toda intercepted the ball in their own territory in the following 49th minute. A quick counterattack was launched and a big side change pass was sent from Abe on the left side to Ishikawa on the right. Kelly and Toda were able to connect with Ishikawa's cross, but unfortunately, they were blocked by the DF and GK.

Kajiyama and Wu are put in, but the substitution strategy fails to break through...

　Substitute Toda for Baba in the 56th minute. In the 60th minute, a pass from Jean to Kelly sets up a counterattack, and a pass is sent to Ishikawa who breaks through the right side at an excellent timing. Abe jumps into the cross, but is unable to make contact. Shimizu substitutes Kitajima for MF Hiramatsu in the 61st minute. In the 67th minute, a shot is taken by DF Takagi from a free kick near the right goal line, but Jean blocks it and it becomes a corner kick. From this corner kick, Takagi heads the ball in the right area, but it hits the crossbar and Tokyo escapes the danger.

　Tokyo, who does not allow goals with a stable defense, tends to have a monotonous attack and cannot finish. In the 68th minute, Kajiyama replaced Abe. Kelly was placed at the top, and the introduction of fresh players was expected to change the rhythm. In the 72nd minute, Kelly received a throw-in from Baba on the left side and hit an overhead kick, but it went to the right of the goal. In the 73rd minute, Shimizu's cross from the right side was cut off by Shigeno. Shimizu tried to break through from the side with a sharp cross from Hiramatsu after a throw-in, but Doi bravely came out and made a save.

　Shimizu continued to be pushed back, but in the 77th minute, Kelly persisted in front of the goal and passed to Kajiyama on the right side. Kajiyama then sent a through pass to Kelly, who was making a run in the center of the area. However, Kelly's shot from the left side was off target and did not result in a goal.

　In the 83rd minute, Tokyo made a bet on the remaining time by replacing Miyazawa with Wu. In the 86th minute, Kelly, who received a side change from Asari on the left side, dribbled to the front line. However, the shot that cut back the DF in the penalty area grazed the post and crossed the line, and the cheers from the stands turned into sighs. In the midst of a counterattack, in the 89th minute, Kajiyama ran alone with the ball, but the last pass did not reach Ishikawa. In the end, both teams were unable to take advantage of their chances and the game ended in a scoreless draw. Although they updated their record of being undefeated in 9 home games this season, including cup matches, it was a great opportunity to make a claim for the championship if they had won. However, they could only take one point, which is nothing but regrettable.

【Player Comments】《Kajiyama》"Before the game, all the players talked about the possibility of winning the championship if we win, and we approached the game with the determination to win. When I came on as a substitute, I tried to attack with Kelly while keeping possession of the ball, but I was also nervous. I felt that we couldn't waste any chances."《Jean》"In terms of defense, I had good coordination with Shigetaka on the wings and in midfield, and our balance was good. In terms of attack, we were trying our best to take advantage of opportunities despite tough marking from the opponent. It's disappointing that we couldn't win, but we will continue to give our all in the remaining games and work on improving our ability to connect plays."

[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "Since Amaral is suspended, we wanted to thoroughly utilize players like Abe, Toda, and Ishikawa who have speed and can make quick runs, and when the opponent gets tired, we wanted to bring in players like Baba and Kajiyama who have technique and can connect passes to aim for a goal. We wanted to attack from both sides while spreading the ball more, but Shimizu also had players like An Jung-hwan who were unpredictable and tricky, and Kuboyama has been in good form since the previous match, so we had to be careful of them. Mitsutomo and Ichikawa are strong players who can make their way forward, so it was difficult to break through. We thought we would be vulnerable if we tried to defend too much, so we decided to use young players like Baba, Kajiyama, and Chan (Wu) and move forward. They were nervous and made mistakes, but we also saw their potential. We wanted to get 3 points in this kind of game and stay close to the top. It's a shame we couldn't do that. We realize once again how important Amaral is, but we still need to score without him and create patterns. We need to improve our accuracy to reach the next level."

[Summary of Shimizu-Okiki's press conference] "We couldn't win 0-0, but I think it was a very good game. From now on, I want to win games like this. The players worked hard and had the desire to win. I think what we have been doing so far is gradually bearing fruit. The reason we couldn't score was because the precision, strength, and timing of the final play were off. We had a plan, but there were moments where we didn't enter near the cross, and there were inconsistencies. It's very disappointing to have lost in the 1st stage, but it's not over yet."