We cannot lose. The match against Verdy at home

　The 1st stage will welcome Sec. 3 after a two-week interval, facing Verdy in a home game. As teams based in the same Tokyo, it is natural that neither can afford to lose, but consecutive defeats following the match against Oita in Sec. 2 and the Nabisco Cup match against Kashima can no longer be tolerated. Given that the two matches lost were not lacking in content, we hope for attacking football that leads to goals.

　With today's match, Dohi has achieved a total of 200 appearances in the J1 League. He has just returned from the Japan national team's World Cup qualifiers in Singapore, but showed a lively presence on the field. On the other hand, Kaji, who played the full match against Singapore, did not join the bench considering his condition. The right side back will be Tokunaga, continuing from the Nabisco Cup, and the center backs will be Moniwa and Jean, forming their first combination of the season. Additionally, Kurizawa, who has been registered as a special designated player by the JFA and J-League since the end of February while studying in his fourth year at Ryutsu Keizai University, made his first appearance on the bench.

　The opposing Verdy is drawing attention with the "monster" striker Momoto, who set the record for the youngest appearance in the J-League at 15 years and 10 months. Additionally, Mboma has returned from injury. Along with a powerful two-top, the midfield features skilled players such as Hirano, Nezume, Hayashi, and Daigo Kobayashi, and their fast passing game is sure to be a threat to Tokyo. They want to increase ball possession and disrupt Verdy's attack.

Unable to grasp the rhythm, conceding the opening goal

　The match started with Verdy's kickoff. From the beginning, Verdy struggled to connect their passes, while Tokyo advanced the game with an advantage. After winning two consecutive right corner kicks, in the 6th minute, Toda broke through the left side, and Abe, who ran for the last pass, took a shot. In the 7th minute, Ishikawa took a powerful shot from a left free kick in the area. Although Jean was there to follow up after the goalkeeper deflected it, he couldn't hit the target. In the 11th minute, from Konno's interception, the ball was passed from Toda to Konno to Kanazawa, and finally, Konno, who entered the penalty area, received the pass. Although his trap was too big to take a shot, he displayed his characteristic play by stealing the ball and advancing the attack.

　Verdy, in the 14th minute, received a through pass from MF Kobayashi Dai, with FW Morimoto breaking free on the right side to deliver a cross. FW M'boma was waiting in the center, but Shigeno and Tokunaga closed in, preventing a shot. Early on, Verdy's only clear chance was this one. However, in the 18th minute, Tokyo was caught offside, and immediately after the restart, Jean intercepted a pass intended for M'boma on the right side of the Tokyo half. However, the feed went over to Verdy MF Taira. Taira advanced with a dribble and took a decisive shot. The ball, struck with a looping trajectory, sailed over Doih's head and into the right side of the goal. A slight mistake allowed Verdy to take the lead with a single strike.

　With this momentum, Verdy quickly took action in the 19th minute, as Morimoto received a through pass from Mboma, evaded two Tokyo defenders in the area, and took a shot. It was a decisive moment, but a nice save with Doih's left foot prevented an additional goal. In the 21st minute, Mboma broke through in front of the goal during a counterattack and took a shot, but it missed the target. Tokyo retaliated, starting with Ishikawa, who was in good form. In the 26th minute, Ishikawa, who had drifted to the right from a cross by Kanazawa on the left, unleashed a powerful volley shot directly, but it was saved by the goalkeeper and resulted in a corner kick. In the 29th minute, Ishikawa picked up a loose ball from a cross and aimed with his left foot, but it went over the goal. In the 30th minute, from a quick attack, Lucas passed to Ishikawa for a cross, and Konno picked up the loose ball and passed to Kanazawa. The cross was connected through Toda and Ishikawa, and Lucas took a shot from directly in front of the goal. It seemed like they had regained the momentum with a wave of attacks, but it did not reach the goal. Conversely, towards the end of the first half, they lost momentum and went into halftime trailing by one goal without creating any chances.

Although we fell behind, we showed our resilience to catch up!

　In the first half, Tokyo was caught offside seven times while trying to exploit Verdy's shallow defensive line, but in the 50th minute, Jean's long ball to the front allowed Toda to make a clever trap with the outside of his right foot and break free in front of the goal. He shot before the pursuing defender could catch up, and the ball rolled into the left side of the goal! Coach Hara's strategy of "one step quicker to the back" paid off, and they equalized. Eager to take the lead, Tokyo brought in Baba for ABE in the 51st minute, positioning Baba as an attacking midfielder to go for another goal. In the 54th minute, Lucas aimed for a free kick just outside the area due to a handball by the opposing defender, but it went over the bar. In the 57th minute, Lucas held on on the right side, and Toda connected the play, leading to a shot from the advancing Konno, but the GK made a save. Tokyo regained possession and continued to attack, but they couldn't find their rhythm.

　In the 63rd minute, a back pass from Konno led to a crisis, with a pass from the left side by Mboma to the substitute midfielder Hugo, who was closing in on the goal. As he evaded Dohi, the pass reached Hirano in front of the goal, who took a decisive shot, but it was cleared by Konno, who had come back to cover. However, the current issue for Tokyo seems to be that they keep inviting danger in quick succession. In the following 64th minute, Kanazawa and Mboma made contact in the penalty area. Taking advantage of Kanazawa's moment of being down, Yoneyama, who had penetrated the area, passed to the left side. Hirano received the ball and delivered a cross, which was headed in by Mboma, allowing them to take the lead again.

　Tokyo, which was pushed back by Verdy, could not easily give up. In the 70th minute, Kurizawa was brought in to replace Toda. Verdy also brought in forward Sakurai to replace Morimoto, with both teams aiming for 'one more goal'. Then, just after the substitutions, in the 71st minute, Tokyo earned a free kick on the left side of the center. Miyazawa's kick was met by Jean, who shook off his marker and dove in for a header to the far side! This goal equalized the match immediately.

Dramatic comeback victory with Baba's final goal!

　In the 80th minute, Miura was brought on to replace Miyazawa, marking the last card played by Tokyo. Despite the back-and-forth nature of the match, their concentration never wavered. Just after that, they applied pressure in the midfield to win the ball, passing it to Lucas. Connecting the ball to the right side, Ishikawa crossed it to Kurizawa, who was free on the left side of the goal. Kurizawa calmly sent a precise header pass to Baba, who ran into the goal area. Baba dove in with impeccable timing, reminiscent of a volleyball quick play, easily directing a header shot into the net, scoring a goal! With the combination of Lucas and Ishikawa, and the new heroes Kurizawa and Baba, Verdy secured their third goal, pulling ahead.

　In the 82nd minute, Lucas made a straight run forward from Kurizawa's pass, evading the goalkeeper and facing an open goal, but this was thwarted by Verdy's defender Ubeda's determined sliding tackle, preventing an additional goal. Verdy's subsequent counterattack was also defended collectively until the time was up. It was a tough match that allowed them to fall behind twice, but they never gave up and truly earned the victory together. They secured three valuable points from this challenging match that will lead to future success!

【Player Comments】《Kurizawa》"In the moment of the decisive goal, I made eye contact with Ishikawa before the cross came. I thought about going for the goal directly, but I realized Baba was coming in, so I switched to a pass. I felt a bit of tension, but I was aware of getting involved in scoring in front of the goal and thought it would be good if I could show my play. I think it's just the beginning. The university matches will start next week, but when I participate in practice, I want to give my all and continue to improve my level." 《Baba》"(Regarding coming on as a substitute) Coach Hara instructed me not only to shoot but also to pass to the side and to break into the goal area. I have a gap since the end of last year due to injury, and I still feel some pain in my foot. However, I feel that I am in good form as the ball is sticking to my feet. Personally, I regret not being able to participate in last year's World Youth, but I want to keep making an impression in the J-League from now on."

[Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference] "In the match against a team from the same hometown of Tokyo, both the players and staff had a strong desire not to lose. Verdy had also lost good matches against Iwata in the opening game and Kashiwa in the second round, so I expected them to come with a high motivation today. However, I thought they would connect more passes, but surprisingly they were able to get the ball to the forwards Morimoto and M'boma quite easily. There were many scenes where M'boma's strong header dropped and was picked up. The first goal conceded came from Jean's mistake, leading to Hirano's wonderful goal, which gave momentum to Verdy, who had not scored in the league. In the first half, Tokyo was actively shooting, but lacked creativity. They were shooting from a distance without really breaking through, so it would have been better to try again with one-twos or one-on-ones to break through. I instructed them to do this thoroughly at halftime. Also, Verdy's defensive line was shallow, and if they confirmed before passing, they would be offside, so I mentioned that if they could play one tempo faster, Abe and Toda would definitely break through. I hoped that the use of Baba and Kurizawa would create a completely different rhythm from Abe and Toda. Perhaps due to this year's slogan, it turned into a dramatic match (laughs), but with Kelly's return expected, I want to pick up the pace and improve our form from here. The absence of each representative player will continue, but we must still find ways to win and give more opportunities to the players. If we can overcome that, we will become a stronger team."

[Summary of Verdy's Coach Ardiles' Press Conference] "It was the best game since the opening, and there are aspects I am satisfied with. Mboma played a significant role in that, becoming a threat to the opponent when we launched our attacks. The combination with Morimoto was also very good, and Morimoto himself remained a dangerous presence. However, there was a situation where if we could have scored one more goal, the match would have been decided, but we couldn't secure a two-goal lead. As our attack improved, our defense slightly worsened. Although we were supposed to launch a counterattack, we lost the ball in midfield and allowed the opponent to counterattack, making it difficult for the defense to handle the situation. We made three naive mistakes, and the consequences were significant. I feel dissatisfied with the goals we conceded, which came from almost nothing. There are still many issues to address."