The beginning of a survival race for the championship

　At the point where there are only 3 matches left, the 2nd stage of the J.League is showing an extremely close battle with 5 teams within a 2 point difference. In the midst of this, Tokyo, who had a great victory in the previous match against Kobe, is currently in 2nd place, trailing the top team Urawa by only 2 points. For Tokyo, this late stage title race is the first experience since their promotion to J1, and with only 3 matches remaining, they will enter a true survival race to compete for the championship.

　The 13th round, which will be held on this day, will face Gamba Osaka away. Gamba is currently in 9th place, but with 17 points, they still have a chance to enter the championship race if they win this match. Their motivation should be high. In the previous round, they managed to catch up with Kashima away and bring the match to a draw, showing an upward trend. Looking at the past league match results, they have 3 wins and 4 losses against Tokyo, so they are not an easy opponent and a tough battle is expected.

　However, once we've come this far, it doesn't matter how the opponent is doing. We just need to believe in the soccer we've been playing up until now and execute it on the pitch. Technical and tactical discussions are important, but as it's said that "the team with the strongest desire to win will win", from here on out, it's the team with a strong mentality that will show their strength. In that sense, in this situation where the presence of a "strong mentality" is questioned, what kind of soccer can Tokyo show? It became a match to measure Tokyo's true strength.

　Tokyo's starting eleven will have the same formation as the previous match. On the other hand, Gamba has changed both wing backs from the previous match and has brought in MF Hashimoto and MF Okubo, who will start for the first time in a while. In the refreshing autumn weather, at 2:03 pm, the whistle for the kickoff of the survival race sounded.

Overwhelming Gamba with high concentration in both offense and defense

　Backed by the loud cheers of approximately 800 supporters who came all the way from Tokyo, Tokyo was aggressive from the start. In the 1st minute, Tokyo switched to attack and quickly built up the play, flowing from Ishikawa on the right to Kelly in the center and then to Kanazawa on the left. Kanazawa took a direct low shot from the left corner of the penalty area, but it narrowly missed the right goal post. In the 6th minute, Miyazawa quickly intercepted the ball in the center and sent a long pass behind the Gamba defense line. Toda broke free and attempted to beat the Gamba goalkeeper who had come out to challenge, but his shot was blocked by a desperate defense that could have been called a handball. Once again, Kelly's outstanding ball control, Ishikawa's speedy runs from the right, and Miyazawa's versatile passing overwhelmed the opponent on this day.

　On the other hand, Gamba targeted the 192cm FW Maguron with long balls, but Tokyo's 184cm Jean was able to respond. The powerful aerial battle was one of the highlights of this match, but it was dangerous in the 11th minute. When a long pass was sent from Gamba DF Miyamoto to the front line, Maguron headed it down and FW Yoshihara ran in and took a powerful volley shot, but the goalkeeper, Doi, was able to deflect it with one hand and did not allow a goal. After that, Jean won many aerial battles and sealed off post-play with sharp marking, including the defensive midfielder. Gamba's attacks from the side were also lacking in power as the ball could not be controlled in the front line. MF Nikawa and FW Yoshihara, Gamba's sharp attackers, also attempted to break through the center with dribbles and short passes, but the strong defense line centered around Mogi shut them out. They did not allow any dangerous situations with their high concentration and stable defense.

A devastating goal from just one mistake

　Tokyo's attack was sharper than the previous match. In the 15th and 18th minutes, Kelly and Ishikawa broke through the right side with a hot line, and in the 23rd minute, Kelly ran into the space on the left and passed it to Miyazawa. Miyazawa made a direct low cross to the center, and Kelly ran in at top speed and hit it with his right foot, but the decisive shot flew to the right of the goal and was brilliantly saved by Gamba GK Matsushiro, preventing a goal.

　Tokyo continued to attack without letting up. In the 25th minute, Kelly crossed from the right side and Amaral competed for a corner kick. In the 28th minute, Amaral exchanged passes with Miyazawa in the center and sent a floating pass to Kelly, who had taken position in front of the goal, but it narrowly missed. The game continued at a completely Tokyo pace.

　However, in the 34th minute, Tokyo connected passes in their own goal area, and Miura passed the ball back to Shigeno who intended to kick the ball forward, but it hit an opponent player and bounced to Hashimoto on the right side. Hashimoto quickly sent a low cross into the disorganized Tokyo goal area, and Okubo ran in to score the first goal.

　Tokyo, who was overwhelmingly dominant, allowed a goal in a one-chance reversal, but they did not collapse and instead turned their sharp fangs towards the Gamba goal again. In the 35th minute, the biggest chance of the day came. Toda once again broke through the Gamba DF line with a long pass from the midfield and took a shot with his right foot from a close distance on the left side of the goal, but the GK made a sharp save. Then, Ishikawa picked up the ball that had drifted to the right side and sent a perfect cross to the center of the goal, where Amaral was waiting and took a decisive header shot, but the perfect shot that flew to the lower left corner of the goal was once again saved by Gamba GK Matsushiro with a super save. In the 41st minute, Ishikawa made a deep run on the right side from a pass by Kelly and sent a ground pass with a precise aim to the center of the goal, where Kelly, who had run in from behind, took a shot, but the ball hit the bar. In the end, despite creating numerous decisive chances, Tokyo was unable to score against Gamba GK Matsushiro and ended the first half with a one-point lead.

Despite shooting three times more, they were only able to score one goal against the god-like defense of Gamba GK.

　"We are creating far more chances. Let's continue playing with confidence. We can't afford to lose with so many supporters coming from Tokyo. In the second half, we just need to score towards those supporters. Let's definitely win and return to Tokyo." Tokyo Eleven responded to Coach Hara's halftime pep talk with renewed determination for the second half.

　The weather has changed dramatically before the game, with thick clouds covering the sky. However, the intensity of Tokyo's football has only increased. Just 30 seconds into the game, Ishikawa crossed the ball from the right to the far side, but the Gamba DF cleared it with a header. However, the GK couldn't catch the ball that floated in front of the goal, and Amaral took the ball and shot. The ball hit the DF and rolled to the left side, where it was crossed back to the center. This time, Kelly took a shot from close range, but it was caught firmly by GK Matsushiro.

　In the 52nd minute, Miyazawa ran into the penalty area from the midfield and sent a perfect pass to Ishikawa, who took a direct shot with his right foot. The powerful shot was caught by the top of the goal, but GK Matsushiro made a super save and pushed it out for a corner kick. Miyazawa aimed directly for the goal with his magical left foot from the corner kick, but GK Matsushiro punched it away. Miyazawa then sent a low, curved ball into the goal area again, and Kelly headed it, but it went over the bar.

　Tokyo not only dominates the game, but also quickly checks the opponent in the midfield, preventing them from making quality passes to the front line and maintaining a good defensive balance. However, in search of a goal, Tokyo substituted Miura for Suzuki in the 68th minute. While increasing the number of attacks, the defensive balance changed slightly, allowing Gamba's Japan national team midfielder Endo to break through in the midfield and distribute the ball to the sides. In the 71st minute, Endo dribbled through the midfield and passed to Yoshihara on the right, who crossed to Magron in the center of the goal, but his header missed to the left of the goal.

　The dangerous situation is just that, and the rest is a one-sided game in Tokyo. In the 78th minute, Amaral dropped a cross from Kaji and Kelly ran in at a good timing, but missed. In the 79th minute, Ishikawa put in a ground ball from the right side and Kelly ran in and took a free shot, but it went wide to the right of the goal. In the 80th minute, FW Abe was substituted for Toda. In the 83rd minute, Suzuki broke through the left side and put in a perfect cross to Abe, who took a powerful header that seemed to go into the bottom right corner of the goal, but was stopped by GK Matsushiro's superb save. In the following 84th minute, Suzuki once again showed his cutting movement on the left side, and with a series of precise passes from left to right by Suzuki, Kelly, Suzuki, Amaral, Kelly, and Abe, they overwhelmed Gamba and Abe took a powerful shot from inside the penalty area, but it was also stopped by GK Matsushiro.

　The remaining time was getting shorter and shorter, but Tokyo continued to attack fiercely without giving up until the end. In the 88th minute, Ishikawa forcefully broke through on the right side and sent a minus cross into the center, where Miyazawa ran in from the front of the goal and took a powerful left-footed shot. The ball was caught by GK Matsushiro with a low trajectory, and in stoppage time, Miyazawa's free kick from the right side threatened the Gamba goal, but GK Matsushiro cleared it with a punch. In the final moments, Kaji sent a ball from the center to the front of the goal with a header, but Amaral's back header was unfortunately offside. Despite showing a fierce attack until the very end, the game ended with no goals, and they were completely defeated with a shot count of 19 to 6, with Gamba taking more than three times as many shots. Although they ultimately lost in the battle for the championship, they continued to show an aggressive attitude until the end with their best game performance of the season, which will surely lead to the next step. Fortunately, there were unexpected results with top teams losing in other matches, and the situation is still unclear with two matches remaining. Today's game performance and fighting spirit proved that Tokyo still has a good chance of winning. In the next match, they will aim for the best result in their last home game of the season and keep their dreams alive for the final match.

【Player Comments】《Miura》"We had multiple chances in the first half, but they were all stopped by the GK, so I had a bad feeling. We ended up losing, but we're not the only ones. Today's loss was definitely painful, but we'll switch our mindset and fight at home next time."《Toda》"We were able to approach the game with a more tense mood than usual. We were able to enter the game in a good shape, and if we had scored first, the result would have been different. If I had scored in the first chance..."《Miyazawa》"It's a shame that we lost despite being able to play our own soccer. We have to score when it counts. I heard about the other results, but we still have a chance. We'll give it our all and win at home next time."《Ishikawa》"The opponent's GK was amazing. No matter how many shots we took, they wouldn't go in. We're playing good soccer and it's not bad. We won't look down and we'll switch our mindset to face Verdy."

[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "The performance was the best among the past few games. I think it was better than the previous match, but today we were stopped by (Gamba's GK) Matsushiro. It was a god-like performance. The team was in a good state as we were able to exploit their weaknesses, but we couldn't win without scoring. We conceded a goal from a mistake, but the worst part was not being able to score. We have to continue our current approach and improve our precision in the details. As the top teams are losing, there is still a chance for us. We don't have time to look down. We want to switch our mindset and prepare for the Verdy match."

[Gamba Osaka Manager Nishino's Press Conference Summary] "I think it would be better for Matsushiro to come here and comment today. We were expecting to be pressed by Tokyo, who currently has the most scoring power. Despite that, everyone was focused on defense and fought hard. It's not the usual way for Gamba to defend and then counter, but being able to play this kind of game gives us confidence. Matsushiro helped us today, but from Magron to Matsushiro, everyone had a high level of defensive awareness and did well. The gap between the top and bottom is getting smaller, so we can raise our motivation and fight. We want to prepare well for the next match."