Aiming for the first victory in 5 games

　Since winning against Yokohama FM on August 30th, Tokyo has been struggling with 3 draws and 1 loss in the past 4 matches. Despite being in 9th place at the end of Sec. 7, the top teams have also been struggling and the gap with 1st place Nagoya is only 4 points. In a highly competitive season, Tokyo is still in a position to aim for the top.

　On the other hand, Kyoto, the opponent of the day, has been struggling with a tough battle as they are currently ranked 15th in the annual standings and in the relegation zone. However, in the previous match, they managed to draw against the top-ranked Kashima with a new addition, Regi, scoring his first goal, showing signs of improvement. With the difficult experience of being relegated to J2 in the past, it is expected that Kyoto will come to this match at home with the support of passionate supporters, fighting with all their might.

　Both teams want to win points, even if their goals are different. Tokyo, who wants to stay in the top ranks, is aiming for a solid 3 points with a victory after 5 games. As a replacement for Miura, Asari, who hasn't started since the 13th round of the 1st stage, was used as a defensive midfielder. Ishikawa, who was injured and had to leave the previous game against Iwata, also showed a lively appearance and was ready for the decisive match. The temperature was 24℃, which is normal for this time of year, but the strong sunlight made it feel like midsummer. The kickoff whistle blew at 2:02 PM.

Difficult situation where the second ball is picked up

　The match started with both teams cautiously observing their opponent's movements. While Tokyo tried to compactly maintain their midfield and shut down Kelly, Kyoto constantly sent long passes behind Tokyo's defense, with Miyazawa making runs and Toda creating opportunities. However, their predictable rhythm was easily read by Kyoto's defense and they were unable to break through. Originally, they wanted to use Amaral's aerial abilities to create chances for the second line to support, but Amaral often dropped back to the midfield to receive the ball and play as a target man, making it difficult to establish a foothold in the front line. In the 8th minute, after a successful interception by Shigetaka, Amaral and Kelly linked up with four quick direct passes and made a central breakthrough, but Amaral's final pass did not reach Kelly and they were unable to take a shot. In the 11th minute, Miyazawa made a dribble into the open space in the midfield and took a shot, which was the first shot of the day.

　On the other hand, Kyoto's FW Jean, one of the two top players, became the target man on the front line and frequently received long balls from the fullbacks. In response, Tokyo's Shigetaka and Jean marked tightly, but the second ball that was cleared fell to Kyoto's midfield, where midfielder Ishimaru spread the ball to the sides, and right midfielder Nakabara, or left midfielder Matsui, or defender Suzuki aggressively attacked the sides and sent in crosses. In the 9th minute, Kyoto's left fullback Suzuki sent in a cross from a counterattack, and on the far side, Jean headed the ball back into the goal area, but Tokyo's DF cleared it a moment earlier. In the 19th minute, DF Kakuta, who joined the attack, sent in a low cross from the right side, and there, Regi jumped in, but Tokyo's DF blocked it and the ball was then shot by a Kyoto player who was following up, but Tokyo's DF threw themselves in front of it and it went out for a corner kick. New addition FW Regi didn't seem to fit in with the team, but he showed a strong presence with his 183cm tall body, using it for post play and making sharp runs into the goal area.

　Tokyo also had chances. In the 17th minute, Toda quickly passed the ball to Kelly on the left side, who then passed it back to Toda for a breakthrough in the center. Toda then passed it to Amaral, who was free on the left side. Amaral entered the penalty area and sent a ground cross, but the diving player just missed it. In the 37th minute, Kanazawa broke through with a combination with Ishikawa on the left side and made a perfect pass to Ishikawa, who ran into the center. Ishikawa took a powerful shot with his right foot from just outside the penalty area, but the Kyoto GK barely punched it away, preventing a goal.

　When Tokyo missed a decisive chance, Kyoto was allowed to counterattack. In the 39th minute, Kurobe jumped into the cross from the left side, but Jean cleared it with a header. In the 43rd minute, MF Bijou broke through in front of the goal for a moment, but Tsuchi wisely jumped out and made a brave save. In the following 44th minute, Regi headed in a cross from the right side, but it was not hit hard enough due to Kaji's competition and the shot went over the bar. In the end, the first half ended 0-0. The game was postponed to the second half.

Allowing the first goal from a PK

　At halftime, Coach Hara instructed, "Moriya and Jean are competing well, but they are struggling to pick up second balls. Let's try to make the ball ours as a whole. Not only by kicking long balls forward, but also by creating a base on the sides with Kaji and Kanazawa, and then having Toda and Ishikawa move forward. Amaral is pulling back too much. I want him to compete more on the front line." In the first half, Tokyo was held to only two shots due to the wind, but they will launch a counterattack from the start of the second half.

　Tokyo had a chance in the 50th minute when Toda dropped the ball from a counter attack and Ishikawa made a run, passing to Amaral on the left side at the perfect timing. Amaral took a shot with his left foot just outside the penalty area, but missed the target. In the 56th minute, Kelly took a long shot from a throw-in on the left side, but it went over the bar. In the 58th minute, Ishikawa sent a high pass to Toda in the center from the right side, but Toda's header pass to Amaral in the penalty area was slightly off. The highlight came in the 62nd minute when Ishikawa received a throw-in from the right side and turned around to take a shot with his left foot. The ball flew towards Kyoto's goal with a powerful and beautiful trajectory from about 35 meters, but hit the crossbar and did not go in.

　As Tokyo was able to pick up second balls and create chances from the side as confirmed at halftime, they were able to find their rhythm. However, in the 63rd minute, Kaji, who was marking Regi as he attempted to turn and break through from ball retention in Tokyo's penalty area, ended up fouling him and giving away a penalty. In the 65th minute, this was converted by Kurobe, resulting in Tokyo conceding the first goal.

Jean equalizes with a pinpoint free kick from Miyazawa, but...

　Kyoto Eleven and supporters are ecstatic. In the midst of wanting to accumulate even one point, there is no way to not be excited about this development. However, that excitement will soon subside.

　In the 68th minute, 3 minutes after conceding a goal, Tokyo earned a free kick from a distance of about 40m from the goal. Miyazawa sent a pinpoint pass with a sharp curve from his magical left foot, which Jean ran onto and changed the direction of the ball with a header, scoring to the left of the goal! The stadium fell silent in an instant, as if someone had poured water over it, with the equalizing goal. It was the exact same play that Yusuke Kondo scored against Sendai in the previous match, once again proving the accuracy of Miyazawa's kicks.

　Tokyo, who desperately wanted 3 points, increased their momentum and headed towards Kyoto's goal. In the 70th minute, Miyazawa crossed from the right side and Jean once again headed the ball towards the far side, but unfortunately it hit the top of the bar. On the contrary, in the 72nd minute, Kyoto's Matsui took advantage of a momentary gap and took a powerful shot from the center, but it was blocked by the goalkeeper, Doi, with a superb save. In the following 73rd minute, Toda broke through on a long ball kicked by Jean towards the front line, but while competing with the defenders, his overhead shot hit the opponent and resulted in a corner kick.

　Tokyo, who desperately wanted 3 points, substituted a fresh Abe for the tired Amaral in the 74th minute. In addition, in the 83rd minute, they also substituted Kondo Yu for Ishikawa and showed a greedy attitude to aim for a goal until the end. However, in contrast, Kyoto took the opposite action. In the 76th minute, they substituted DF Hayashi for Regi and changed to a 5-4-1 formation with an extra DF, and also in the 87th minute, they substituted Matsui for DF Nakamura to solidify their defense. Tokyo did not give up and continued to attack until the end, and in stoppage time, Toda took a volley shot from Kelly's pass from behind, but unfortunately it hit the crossbar. In the end, the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Once again, victory was postponed, but it can be said that they achieved a result that will lead to the next game by equalizing while struggling with conceding the first goal away. They will definitely aim for 3 points in the next home game against Kashima.

【Player Comments】《Miyazawa》"Kyoto played a compact 4-4-2 formation and didn't give us much space to work with. We were surrounded by Kelly and Amaral and couldn't find a way to pass the ball. The goal was similar to the one we scored against Sendai, so that gives us confidence, but we need to score from the flow of the game. We need to become a strong team that can win even in tough away matches."《Jean》"The ball from Miya was just like in practice, and I was able to get past the defender and score. It was great to equalize with my goal when we were down by one. Of course, it's not the best result, but considering we lost last match, it was good to be able to come back and draw in a tough away match. Next match is at home, so we really want to win. Kashima is a strong team, but we need to defend well and hope for our attacking players to step up."

[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "Kyoto is in a difficult situation in the annual ranking, and we knew they would come at us with all they've got. We expected a tough battle. We knew from watching the Kashima game last week that they would compact their midfield, so we were thinking about who would come out on top in terms of picking up loose balls. In the first half, Kyoto was able to pick up a lot of balls from the sides. We made some adjustments at halftime, so we were able to get the ball more in the second half, but their midfield was very compact and they always had two players on Kelly, so he couldn't hold onto the ball or create space to move it forward. Not just us, but looking at the past few games, a lot of teams have been drawing, so it's tough to get three points. It was good that we were able to equalize quickly after conceding, but we really wanted to come back and win. We thought Kyoto would come out more, but towards the end, we didn't expect them to defend so tightly. Next week we're playing at home, so we'll prepare well for the Antlers game and aim for a win."

[Kyoto Purple Sanga Pim Coach's Press Conference Summary] "We knew that Tokyo would kick long balls and come for second balls, but I think our DF did well against that. We were able to take second balls and Suzuki and Matsui did a good job of breaking through, especially from the left side. Tokyo's DF is strong in one-on-one situations and well organized, so it was difficult to score, but overall we were satisfied with our performance in the first half. We knew that in the second half, as Tokyo's DF and FW got tired, there would be space between them, and Regi did well at the right time. After taking a 1-0 lead, we had to control the game, but it was unfortunate that we gave up an easy goal. However, that free kick was a fantastic quality ball. It was the same in the Sendai game. Regi got injured and had to be substituted, so we couldn't have a strong attack up front and were pushed back, but if we could have controlled the game for 10 minutes at 1-0, I think we had a chance to win."