Seeking Revenge Against 1st Stage Champions!

　The 3rd round of the 2nd stage will welcome Yokohama F. Marinos, the champions of the 1st stage, at home. This season, they have faced F. Marinos twice in the 1st stage and once in the Nabisco Cup qualifying league, suffering two losses and one draw. Today marks their 4th match against the same opponent, and they cannot afford to lose again. They also need to shake off their defeat in the 2nd round against Nagoya and their loss in the Nabisco Cup quarterfinals against Urawa, and achieve victory to dispel any negative atmosphere.

　However, Amaral was absent due to injury in the Urawa game. Abe took on the role of the top striker, and Kaji started as the right fullback for the first time since August 13 (first leg of the Nabisco Cup quarterfinals). On the other hand, F. Marinos have been plagued by injuries in the 2nd stage. It has been a difficult situation with only 2 points so far. Today, they are also missing FW Kubo, MF Oku, DF Hato, and GK Enomoto. The lineup includes Marquinhos and Sakata as the two top strikers, Ohara as the right fullback, and Yan Soo-Tae as the left MF.

　On the last Saturday of summer vacation, tonight, the game started with a kick-off in Tokyo, gathering the highest number of spectators this season, 35,109, in the stands.

Abe and Kanazawa score from Ishikawa's intended cross!

　Both teams pressed each other fiercely and the game started with a fast pace. In the first minute, F. Marinos connected passes and Marquinhos took a shot from a distance. In the third minute, Jean received a warning for stopping F. Marinos' attack from the right side with a foul. Then, Marquinhos made his way into the right penalty area and Yagi took a volley shot from a negative cross, but it didn't hit the target. In the fourth minute, Tokyo's Abe received Kelly's pass on the right side and tried to score with a dribble, but was blocked by the DF. In the sixth minute, Toda broke through the defense with a lob pass from Miyazawa, but his jumping volley shot missed the target. In the ninth minute, Miyazawa stole the ball from F. Marinos' defense and took a long shot.

　Today in Tokyo, the press from the front line is working, stealing and launching fast attacks, repeatedly breaking through the back of the DF from the side and center. Then, in the 16th minute, F. Marinos' Yagyu, who received a pass near the center circle, was fiercely surrounded by Miura and Ishikawa. When Miura took the ball, he dribbled up and passed to Ishikawa on the right. Ishikawa made a sharp ground cross between the GK and DF from the penalty area, just as planned by coach Hara, and Abe jumped in and slid to score! As coach Hara said before the game, "A beautiful cross will be bounced back. Let's put in a low and fast cross," the side attack was successful and they took the lead early on.

　After gaining confidence with this goal, Tokyo continued to dominate for the next 20 minutes. Kelly quickly restarted the game with a throw-in from the right side, sending it to Ishikawa. Ishikawa carefully made his way up and crossed the ball back to the center. Abe was making a run towards the near post, but it was Kanazawa who found himself free in the open space in the center and took the shot. The powerful shot deflected off the opposing defender and changed direction, finding its way into the goal! Thanks to Ishikawa's precise cross, Tokyo scored two goals in quick succession.

Kaji and Toda combine to score the third goal!

　F.Marinos, who conceded 2 goals, had an accident during the game. DF Matsuda, who was playing through an injury, was substituted by DF Kawai in the 21st minute. However, Tokyo's aggressive press, along with Miyazawa's effective pushing up and precise short and long passes, kept attacking F.Marinos' goal. In the 28th minute, Miyazawa took a direct shot from the clear ball of the right corner kick taken by Ishikawa. The goalkeeper caught it, but it was a solid shot on target. In the 29th minute, a through pass was sent to Kelly, who had made a run behind the DF from the left side. Although it did not result in a goal, F.Marinos' midfielder Endo was injured in the contact during this play and had to leave the field.

　30 minutes into the game, Tokyo picked up a clearance from the opposing DF in the midfield. A pass was made to the right side to Kaji for a side change. Kaji then ran up the center and passed to Ishikawa on the right side. Ishikawa dribbled past the DF with speed and cut into the center. Although initially stopped and knocked down by the DF, he persistently regained possession and returned the ball to Kaji who was providing support. Kaji then made a powerful cross from the right corner of the penalty area, and Toda perfectly timed his jump to head the ball into the far side of the goal! Tokyo scored their third goal in the best possible way!

　F. Marinos were forced to substitute Endo and bring in FW Abe. With Abe and Marquinhos up top, Sakata on the left MF, and Yanagi in the defensive midfield, they launched a counterattack. Then, in the 44th minute just before halftime, Miyazawa fouled Abe as he charged towards the Tokyo goal, giving away a free kick.

　From the front of the goal, PREMIST DUTRA kicked a free kick from near the penalty arc, missing the wall and scoring in the left corner of the goal. With no decisive moments created for F. Marinos so far, they allowed a frustrating goal from a set piece and headed into the second half.

Miyazawa's right foot explodes! ? Scored 4 points and won a crushing victory over F. Marinos

　The situation of conceding a goal just before the end of the first half, and the thought of a comeback against Nagoya, couldn't help but bring a slight unease. F. Marinos changed their formation to a one-man midfield with MF Kelly, and tried to attack. With RM Sato as the starting point of the attack, they threatened the Tokyo goal with a free kick and corner kick in the 48th minute, and in the 54th minute, Sakata jumped in on Sato's cross. However, the timing was off and Marquinhos' header went over the line. On the other hand, Tokyo continued to intercept and pick up second balls in the second half, and dominated the game. In the 58th minute, Toda took a shot from Kelly's cross on the left side and won a corner kick. However, during this corner kick, Miura got injured and allowed F. Marinos to counterattack, but Sakata's quick attack was cut off by Shigetaka who threw his body in the way. They also defended well during the consecutive corner kicks.

　In the 60th minute, Asari replaced Miura. In the 62nd minute, DF cleared Ishikawa's speedy early cross, but Kelly picked up the loose ball and ran up to the goal to take a free shot, but missed the goal by a large margin and missed the chance for an additional point. However, in the 65th minute, Ishikawa took a CK and passed it to Miyazawa in the right area with a short corner. Miyazawa said, "Yuki Sato tried to hold her left foot," and swung her right foot after cutting off the approaching DF to the outside! The powerful shot blew away the opposing DF and went into the goal. Miyazawa herself was surprised by her first right foot goal, which gave her a valuable fourth goal and pushed F. Marinos ahead.

　Afterwards, F. Marinos stubbornly tried to score a goal by placing DF Nakazawa in front. Against Tokyo's aim to attack the back of the DF, they raised their line even higher and repeatedly caught them offside. In the final minutes, they showed a desperate counterattack from Sato's cross, but Sakata's header in stoppage time missed the goal and the game ended. Tokyo's attacking football was just as planned. They celebrated their 50th J1 victory with a resounding win against champion F. Marinos, with goals from Abe, Kanazawa, Toda, and Miyazawa.

【Player Comments】《Kanazawa》"The press from the front was effective and we were able to attack aggressively. We were able to play more offensively than before."

I have been able to differentiate between defending and attacking, but today I had a good feeling from the beginning and was able to continue in a good shape. (After scoring a goal in the F. Marinos match in the 1st stage) It happened by chance, but I am really happy to be able to score at home because I have only scored away goals so far. The game is getting better, so I want to turn this into results. "Toda" "(I didn't want to lose any more after losing in the 2nd round and the Nabisco Cup) Everyone was talking about it and the way we entered the game was different. Without Amaral, we can't rely on him as a starting point for the front line, but we were thinking of chasing from the front and using our strengths with Abe to fight."

[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "After the back pass goal against Nagoya, we were in a bad rhythm, but in the Nabisco Cup match against Urawa, although we lost, the performance was not bad and we were able to gain some momentum. We didn't want to play defensively like in the 1st stage, but instead we wanted to go for the ball and quickly attack. However, in this world, results are everything, so we wanted to break the negative flow of losing to Nagoya and then Urawa, and approach the next match with a fresh mindset. Many fans came to support us during the summer break, and since our opponent was the champion of the 1st stage, we wanted to show our attacking style of football. Unfortunately, Amaral got injured, but I told Abe not to try to play like Amaral, but instead to move into open spaces and use his own strengths. Our plan to attack behind Dutra worked well, but Matsuda's condition was worse than expected, so I instructed Abe to attack the spaces. Including Endo's substitution, there were some lucky moments for Tokyo due to accidents happening to Yokohama. Our team has a naive side, and when we conceded a goal just before halftime, it was a bad feeling. That's why at halftime, I told them to not defend, but to go for another goal. I think we were able to calm down after Miyazawa's fourth goal. We were helped by Yokohama's condition, but it was great to be able to give a victory to our many fans. We want to continue playing the type of football that represents Tokyo and compete with the top teams."

[Yokohama Okada Press Conference Summary] "I apologize to all the supporters for playing such a sloppy game. It was my mistake to use Matsuda, who was not able to play at 100% in today's match. That's all there is to it. I judged that he could play after watching Thursday's practice, but I realized something was wrong after just 5 minutes. He said he was okay, but I should have substituted him earlier. We were easily scored 2 points in that state. Although we were able to return 1 point later, I still thought there was a possibility. However, Marquinhos is also in poor condition and it's difficult for the team to score. The attitude of going towards the ball that we were able to do initially is no longer visible. We have fallen this far, so we can only crawl back up from here. I want to throw away the pride of a championship team and start over with a beginner's mindset."