Decorate the final home game with a victory and advance to the top

　Sec. 14 will be the final home game of this stage, facing Kyoto Purple Sanga at Japan National Stadium. It will be held on Sunday, one day later than the other matches, and at this point, our hopes for the championship have been dashed. In addition, we will face a difficult situation today without Kelly and Baba, who are suspended. However, if we are easily defeated here, not only will our chances of advancing to the top be lost, but it will also affect our future battles. With Amaral leading the team, Ishikawa on the right, Abe on the left, and Toda in the second row, we aim for victory.

　Meanwhile, Kyoto is currently at the bottom with only 7 points, in a difficult situation. However, with the arrival of new coach Pim, the mood has been refreshed. A desperate counterattack is expected in order to rise up. However, they cannot afford to lose in front of their home crowd. The afternoon was clear for the first time in a while, but as evening approached, a coolness could be felt as the game kicked off in Tokyo.

DF breaks through and Toda scores with a looping shot to take the lead!

　1 minute, a pass from Miyazawa to the back of the left side DF, and Abe breaks through. Abe rushes into the penalty area and sends a sharp ground pass to the front of the goal, and Toda jumps in from the center. Toda's foot barely missed the ball, but Tokyo had a big chance early in the game. Kyoto got a goal kick from this play, but Tokyo picked up the ball in their own half and connected it to Amaral. Despite being blocked by the opponent's defense, Miyazawa picked up the loose ball and quickly floated a pass to the front line. The ball landed perfectly at the feet of Toda, who had run behind the DF, and Toda took a looping shot over the head of the jumping goalkeeper. The ball drew a trajectory that seemed to be imbued with the prayers of the stands and went into the goal! With this play, Tokyo achieved their goal of breaking through the opponent's defense and scored the opening goal.

　Tokyo aggressively advances the game, giving a sense of a large number of goals with an early lead. In the 3rd minute, Ishikawa received a free kick from Miyazawa on the left side and took a shot. In the 8th minute, Toda and Amaral dashed forward vigorously, chasing a long pass from Kanazawa. Amaral picked up the clearance ball from the GK and took an overhead shot. In the 9th minute, Ishikawa stole the ball from a midfield battle and made a smart through pass from his own half. Toda once again broke through the defense and had a big chance with a 1-on-1 against the GK, but unfortunately his shot was saved.

　Tokyo, aiming for the goal by repeatedly sending the ball between the GK and DF. In the 12th minute, Amaral picked up a loose ball after the opponent DF struggled to deal with Ishikawa's early cross and took a shot. However, the shot missed to the left of the goal, and this would be the last shot as Kyoto took control of the game.

Tsuchihi unleashes a series of fine plays despite being dominated

　16 minutes, Kyoto MF Matsui makes a tricky pass from the left side of the midfield. This is passed to MF Ishimaru, who is free in the center, and then passed to MF Suzuki Shin, who runs in from the left side to the front of the goal. The pinch was cut through by Doi's bold jump, but in the 25th minute, DF Kakuta overlapped from the right side from Matsui and crossed, and Doi escaped to CK. This CK fell at the feet of DF Hayashi, who was close to the goal, and a decisive shot was made. However, Doi also blocked it with his left hand.

　Tokyo, who does not allow goals, also has great plays by Doi. However, in the midfield, they do not press and continue to be dominated by Kyoto, allowing them to push forward. Until the 12th minute, they had 6 shots, and Kyoto was held to 0, but after that, they were shot 6 times by the 37th minute. Finally, in the 42nd minute, Abe ran into the right side of the penalty area from a goal kick and took a shot. In the 43rd minute, Ishikawa ran down the right side after stealing the opponent's goal kick. He cut inside and took a shot, but the opponent's defender blocked it. They only managed to score one goal and headed into the second half.

　In the second half, Tokyo replaced Miura with Asari, placing Toda on the left and Abe on the front. Kyoto brought in MF Ono instead of Matsui. Immediately after the start, Ono ran into the area and sent a through pass to FW Machida, but Tsuchi caught it. In the 47th minute, Miyazawa took a middle shot, but couldn't hit the frame. However, Kyoto's dominance in moving the ball around remained unchanged, and in the 54th minute, Ono sent a pass to the space on the right side, and Kakuta, who had moved up freely, took a shot. In the 56th minute, Machida received a ground cross from MF Nakabara on the right side, turned around and took a shot. In an instant, he became free and took a shot at close range, but Tsuchi made a brave dive and saved the decisive chance. In the attack, in the 63rd minute, Amalao made a drop pass and Miyazawa made a long pass to Asari, who flew to the front line. Asari brought the ball into the penalty area and took a shot, but was blocked by the DF.

Achieved victory while struggling, rising to 4th place!

　Kyoto made a substitution in the 64th minute, replacing DF Suzuki with FW Kurobe, who returned from injury after about 2 months. They approached the game with an attacking formation of 3-4-3. In the 65th minute, Kyoto launched a quick attack and used Kurobe's post to penetrate the goal, but Kanazawa countered and created a chance. They brought the ball to the counter and Ishikawa took a shot from the right side, earning a corner kick. In the 70th minute, Suzuki was substituted in for Abe. In the 73rd minute, Kyoto's Ono took a middle shot, and in the 74th and 75th minutes, they defended consecutive dangerous situations from corner kicks. Then, they launched a counter attack from Doi's throw-in, and Suzuki dribbled up the right side and took a shot from inside the right area. However, the ball curved to the left.

　Asari risked his body, and Shigeta showed his strength with uninterrupted defense. In the 86th minute, Fujiyama was substituted for Miyazawa, and they were able to stop Kyoto's attack. However, in the end, they couldn't create any chances, and the time was up. However, although the game was not going well, they were able to hold onto their one point and achieve a clean sheet victory for the 5th consecutive league game. They also moved up to 4th place and finished the 1st stage home game with 5 wins, 2 draws, and no losses.

　After receiving passionate support from the stands throughout the stage, all players gathered together after the game to show their gratitude. Manager Hara stated, "We were only able to score one point today. However, we will continue to work hard to score more points by utilizing our current defensive strength. We always receive passionate support and we ask for your continued support in the future as well." He also pledged to make a leap forward towards the final match against Iwata and future battles.

【Player Comments】《Fujiyama》"I entered with the aim of picking up in the midfield. The role was the same whether it was in the defensive midfield or center, so it wasn't difficult. Kyoto's attack was okay when they were shooting from a distance. But there were some dangerous moments. It's important not to lose here. I think that's the reason we're in this position."《Suzuki》"When Ishikawa had the ball, I thought about moving quickly, picking up the ball near Amaral, and running into the space created by Toda. I wanted to keep challenging when I received the ball. (There was a close shot, but) it was a situation where we should have scored, so I can't be satisfied. I think I should have shot with my right foot."

【Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference】"It was a very tough game. Kyoto, who welcomed new manager Pim, thought that if they could get the ball behind the defense, it would be a chance, and they actually scored right away. Today, Kelly was suspended, so it was difficult to ask someone to replace him. We simply sent Toda out from the second row to the space and had Abe run as well. At first, we were able to pressure and take the ball to the space. If we could have scored one more goal at that time, there was a possibility of a large number of goals. Kyoto is compact, and they quickly push up when the ball is put in the front line, and they were able to counterattack while we were passing the ball. It was difficult to develop in the midfield or change sides. Miura is not in top condition due to a foot injury, so in the second half, we put in Asari and thoroughly implemented the strategy of picking up loose balls and crossing from both sides to Amaral. Of course, Tsuchi is also defending well, but we were able to get 3 points in a difficult situation without Kelly or Baba. However, we need to improve the quality of our play in various ways. I think our true value will be tested in the next away game. We will go for the win, including last year's revenge. I think that will also move the team forward."

[Kyoto Pim Coach's Press Conference Summary] "We were in last place and considering the away situation, we had to do something completely different from the way we played today. We conceded a goal in the first 2 minutes and had to play with risk for 88 minutes, which is not something we should do considering our current situation. In the first 15-20 minutes, it seemed like we forgot about the tactics we talked about before the game and I was very disappointed. Our organization was completely lacking, but it was lucky that we only conceded one goal. In the last 20 minutes of the first half, we kept possession and controlled the game, creating a few chances. In the second half, we were able to push the opponent into their own half for most of the time. We substituted Matsui for Ohno to keep possession. In the last 25 minutes, we brought in Kurobe to put pressure on the Tokyo defense. We took risks to score and tried every possible means, but unfortunately we couldn't score. Maybe luck is also necessary to score. However, we played too easily and allowed the opponent to score, so we need to play more professionally."