Revenge on the 1st Stage Champion!

　In Sec. 3 of the 2nd Stage, we will face the champions of the 1st Stage, Yokohama F.Marinos, at home. This season, we have already played against F.Marinos twice in the Nabisco Cup qualifying league, suffering two losses and one draw. Today marks our fourth match against the same opponent, and we cannot afford to lose any more. We want to achieve victory without being weighed down by the recent defeat against Nagoya in Sec. 2 or the loss to Urawa in the Nabisco Cup (Semifinal Round 2nd Match), and shake off the bad mood.

　However, Amaral is absent due to an injury sustained in the match against Urawa. Abe will serve as the lone striker, and Kaji will make his first start since August 13 (Nabisco Cup Quarterfinal Round 1) as the right side back. On the other hand, F. Marinos has been plagued by injuries in the second stage. They have struggled with two draws so far. Today, they will also be missing FW Kubo, MF Oka, DF Hato, and GK Tatsuya ENOMOTO, with a forward line of Marquinhos and Sakata as the two strikers, while Kohara plays right side back and Yang Sang-taek serves as left MF.

　On this last Saturday of summer vacation, the stands gathered a season-high 35,109 spectators, and the match started with a kickoff in Tokyo.

Abe scores from Ishikawa's perfectly aimed cross, Kanazawa!

　Both teams pressed each other fiercely, and the match started with a fast pace. In the 1st minute, F. Marinos connected passes, and from a distance, Marquinhos took a shot. In the 3rd minute, Jean received a warning for stopping a breakthrough from the right side of F. Marinos with a foul. Next, Marquinhos attacked into the right penalty area, and while Yanagi attempted a volley from a negative cross, he did not make solid contact. In the 4th minute, Abe received a pass from Kelly on the right side, dribbled forward, and aimed for the goal but was blocked by the defender. In the 6th minute, Toda broke free from a floated pass aimed behind the defender by Miyazawa, but his jumping volley shot did not hit. In the 9th minute, Miyazawa stole the throw-in ball in F. Marinos' territory and took a long shot.

　Today in Tokyo, the press from the front line was effective, quickly launching attacks after regaining possession, repeatedly exploiting the defense from the sides and the center. Then, in the 16th minute, F. Marinos' Yanagi, who received a pass near the center circle, was fiercely surrounded by Miura and Ishikawa. After Miura stole the ball, he dribbled forward and passed to Ishikawa on the right. Ishikawa, entering the penalty area, delivered a sharp low cross between the goalkeeper and the defense, following the theory. Abe dove in to connect with the ball and scored with a sliding shot! Following the pre-match strategy discussed by Coach Hara, 'Beautiful crosses get cleared. Let's put in low and fast crosses,' they quickly took the lead with a side attack.

　Tokyo, having gained confidence from this goal, continued for the next 20 minutes as Kelly sent a quick restart throw-in from the right side to Ishikawa. Ishikawa carefully advanced and delivered another grounded cross to the center. Abe was running in at the near post, but Kanazawa, who had run into the open space in the center, connected with a shot. The powerful shot grazed the opposing defender, changing its course and going into the goal! From Ishikawa's precisely aimed cross, they scored two consecutive goals.

Kaji and Toda collaborate to score the third goal!

　Although F. Marinos conceded 2 goals, an incident occurred during this time. DF Matsuda, who was playing despite an injury, was not in good condition and was substituted by DF Kawai in the 21st minute. However, Tokyo's aggressive pressing by Miura and effective support from Miyazawa led to a variety of passes that threatened the F. Marinos goal. In the 28th minute, Miyazawa took a direct shot from a cleared ball after Ishikawa's right corner kick. The goalkeeper caught it, but it was well on target. In the 29th minute, a through pass reached Kelly, who slipped behind the DF from the left side. Although it did not result in a goal, during this contact play, F. Marinos' midfielder Endo was injured and left the field.

　In the 30th minute, Tokyo picked up a clearance from the opponent's DF in midfield and passed to Kaji on the right side. Kaji surged into the center and passed to Ishikawa on the right side. Ishikawa made a quick dribble to evade the DF and cut into the center. He was initially blocked by the DF and lost the ball, but he persistently regained it and returned it to Kaji, who had followed up. From the right corner of the penalty area, Kaji delivered a powerful cross, and Toda dove in at the perfect timing on the far side for a header! The ball was sucked into the goal, and Tokyo scored their third goal in the best possible way!

　F. Marinos was forced to substitute Endo and brought in FW Abe. They positioned Abe and Marquinhos at the top, Sakata as left MF, and Yanagi as a defensive midfielder, preparing for a counterattack. Then, just before the end of the first half, in the 44th minute, Miyazawa fouled Abe, who was charging towards the Tokyo goal, resulting in a free kick.

　From directly in front of the goal, Dutrã's free kick taken near the penalty arc went past the wall and into the left corner of the goal. Until this point, F. Marinos had not allowed any decisive chances, but they conceded a frustrating goal from a set piece, allowing the opponent to close the gap as they headed into the second half.

Miyazawa's right foot explodes!? Scoring 4 goals, a crushing victory over F. Marinos

　The situation of conceding a goal just before the end of the first half brought back memories of the comeback against Nagoya, causing a slight unease. F. Marinos changed their formation to have MF Nasu as the lone defensive midfielder and tried to press forward. Using right MF Sato as the starting point of their attack, they threatened Tokyo's goal with free kicks and corners in the 48th minute, and in the 54th minute, Sakata rushed in to meet Sato's cross. However, the timing was off, and Marquinhos's header from the rebound went out of bounds. Meanwhile, Tokyo continued to intercept and collect second balls well in the second half, maintaining control of the match. In the 58th minute, Toda took a shot from a cross by Kelly drifting to the left side, earning a corner kick. However, during this corner play, Miura was injured, allowing F. Marinos to counterattack, but Sakata's quick forward run was cut off by Moniwa's committed defense. Consecutive corners were also firmly defended with focused concentration.

　In the 60th minute, Asari came on for Miura. In the 62nd minute, a speedy early cross from Ishikawa was cleared by the DF, and Kelly picked up the loose ball, charging towards the goal and taking a shot while free, but it went well wide, missing the chance for an additional goal. However, in the 65th minute, Ishikawa won a corner kick, and with a short corner, passed to Miyazawa in the right area. Miyazawa said, "(Sato) Yuki was trying to control it with her left foot," and he cut back outside to evade the approaching DF and unleashed a shot with his right foot! The powerful shot blew away the opposing DF and went into the goal. Miyazawa himself was surprised by his first right-footed strike, securing a valuable fourth goal and pulling ahead of F. Marinos.

　After that, F. Marinos, trying to pull one back, placed DF Nakazawa in front. In response to Tokyo's aim to exploit the gaps behind the DF, they raised their line even higher, repeatedly putting the opponents offside. In the final stages, they showed a desperate counterattack from Sato's cross, but Sakata's heading shot in stoppage time missed the goal, leading to the end of the match. Tokyo's attacking football, as planned, exploded into action. With goals from Abe, Kanazawa, Toda, and Miyazawa, they achieved a resounding victory over the champions, F. Marinos, celebrating their 50th win in J1 with a big win.

[Player Comments]《Kanazawa》"The pressure from the front was effective, and we were able to actively attack. Until now, we have been..."

I have been able to differentiate between when to defend and when to attack, but today I felt good from the start and was able to continue in a good shape. (I scored a goal against F. Marinos following the first stage) It just happened that way, but I have only scored away until now, so I am really happy to score at home. The quality of the game is improving, so I want to connect this to results." {TODA} "(After losing in the second round and the Nabisco Cup) I really didn't want to have any more consecutive losses. We all talked about it, and our mindset and approach to the game were different. With Amaral not here, I couldn't rely on him as a focal point in the front line, but I was thinking of chasing from the front and utilizing my strengths along with player Abe to fight."

[Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference] "After conceding a goal from a back pass in the Nagoya match, we had a bad rhythm continuing, but in the Nabisco Cup match against Urawa, although we lost, the content was not bad and we felt a sense of progress. Unlike the 1st stage where we endured, we had started to play by pressing from the front and launching quick attacks. However, in this world, results matter, so we aimed to break the unpleasant streak of a comeback loss against Nagoya and consecutive defeats against Urawa, and approach with a fresh mindset. Many fans came at the end of the summer break, and since the opponent was the 1st stage champion, we wanted to show our attacking football. Amaral got injured, but I told Abe not to try to play like Amaral, but to move into space and bring out his own strengths. Attacking behind Dutra was as planned, but Matsuda's condition was worse than expected, so I instructed Abe that if he exploited the space, he could definitely succeed. Including Endo's substitution, Yokohama had some accidents, which was lucky for Tokyo. So far, the team had some naivety, and conceding a goal just before halftime felt unpleasant. That’s why at halftime I said, 'Don’t go into defense, let’s go for another goal.' I think we settled after Miyazawa’s fourth goal. We were helped by Yokohama’s condition, but I’m glad we could give many fans a victory. We want to continue playing Tokyo-style football and keep fighting for the top positions."

[Summary of Coach Okada's Press Conference] "I apologize to the supporters for such a sloppy match. My mistake was using Matsuda, who was not able to play at 100% today. That's all there is to it. I judged that he could play based on Thursday's practice, but I realized something was wrong within the first five minutes. He said he was fine, but I should have substituted him earlier. In that state, we easily conceded two goals. It was fortunate that it only ended up being two, but after we scored one back, I thought there was still a chance. However, Marquinhos is also not in good condition, and given the current situation of the team, it's hard to score. The attitude of going towards the ball, which we initially had, has also disappeared. We've fallen this far, so from now on, we can only climb back up. I want to set aside the pride of a championship team and return to our roots to start over."