A match against Júbilo Iwata, where our strength will be tested.

　Facing Júbilo Iwata in the 2nd Stage Sec. 9 match, just 3 days after the Nabisco Cup Semifinal Round. Our record against Iwata so far is 1 win and 8 losses. They have been a tough opponent for us. However, this season's Iwata is not the same as before and they are currently at the bottom of the league. Since Sec. 5, they have a new coach, Suzuki, and have been showing some improvement with 1 win, 1 loss, and 2 draws. We cannot underestimate them as an easy opponent, but they are a wall that we must break through. Can we continue our victory from the Nabisco Cup and defeat Iwata today? This will be a crucial match to test our strength.

　Tokyo, with newly returned Tsuchi and Kaji from the Japan national team's World Cup qualifiers, started the game. On the other hand, for Iwata, it's their first official match in two weeks, but DF Suzuki is suspended, GK Sato is injured, and Japan national team's DF Tanaka is also absent. GK Iwamaru and DF Oi started for the first time this season, and they approached the game with a 3-5-2 formation. The temperature dropped below 20 degrees, but the game started at Tokyo's National Stadium on a sunny autumn day.

Grab the rhythm from the start and go on the offensive

　Tokyo, who took control of the pace from the start. They stole the ball with coordinated pressing and created chances with quick passing. In the first minute, they attacked Iwata's goal. In the fourth minute, Jean's long feed was dropped by Lucas, and Kelly returned it to Lucas who quickly made a run towards the front line. Despite being surrounded by defenders, Lucas managed to break through and take a shot, narrowly missing the chance to take the lead. In the sixth minute, they switched the play from left to right, and from the combination of Ishikawa and Kaji, Kaji made a run down the right side and crossed the ball. The ball was cleared to the far side, where Miura picked it up and took a shot from the center, showing an aggressive attack.

　However, in the 9th minute, Iwata also picked up a clear ball from Tokyo's MF Kawamura and passed it to FW Maeda in front of the goal, who took a shot. In the 11th minute, midfielder Fukunishi expanded to the right side and Kawamura took a shot. In the 17th minute, midfielder Hattori passed to Maeda in front of the goal, who connected directly and MF Fujita attacked in front of the goal. Immediately after, Lucas, who picked up a loose ball in the midfield, launched a quick attack with Kelly, creating a 2-on-1 situation with the opposing DF. However, Kelly's shot from the right side of the area missed the goal, once again missing a big chance.

　Tokyo, who is dominating the game, but Iwata also calmly endures and waits for the opportunity to turn the tide and attack. In the 22nd minute, Maeda heads in a cross from DF Kikuchi. Tokyo, who missed their own chance, ends up losing their momentum. In the 34th minute, Maeda takes a shot from a quick restart by Iwata. It misses the target, but shows the "Iwata style". However, in the 36th minute, something happened. Iwata's DF Oi's ball is passed to Imakawa in the midfield, and Oi slides in with too much force. This tackle, where he lifted his foot, is deemed a serious foul play and Oi is sent off. Following the Tokyo V match in the Nabisco Cup, Tokyo now has to face their opponent with 10 players from this point on.

Despite dominating against a short-handed Iwata...

　Iwata moved Hattori from the defensive midfielder to the DF position, and pushed attacking MF Nabu to the defensive midfielder position, while Maeda was moved down one line to adjust. In the 44th minute, they attacked the goal with a quick pass play, and Fujita took a shot. Tokyo was unable to create any decisive chances despite having a numerical advantage. In stoppage time, Kelly picked up a cleared ball from the opponent and passed it to Lucas, who broke through in front of the goal. Lucas sharply cut back against the DF and took a shot while free, but the ball went to the left of the goal. In the end, looking at the first half, Tokyo had 4 shots while Iwata had 7. It wasn't a bad performance, but they couldn't seize their chances and the game was carried over to the second half.

　In the second half, Iwata changed their formation to a 4-back, with Morishita replacing Fukunishi. Tokyo brought in Abe for Baba. Throughout the second half, Tokyo dominated against Iwata's 10 players. In the 45th minute, Kelly scored a header from a right cross after picking up a loose ball and attacking. In the 47th minute, Kelly again headed in a cross from Ishikawa, but Iwamaru, the opposing GK, made a nice save and it resulted in a corner kick. Tokyo earned two corner kicks from this, but were unable to score. Despite continued attacks from Tokyo, they were unable to break through Iwata's solid defense and the game remained in a stalemate.

Lack of decisiveness leads to a disappointing draw

　At 64 minutes, Inamoto and Lucas created a decisive scene. Inamoto, who had taken the ball in his own half, quickly passed it to Lucas on the front line. Lucas continued to show sharp runs, but he just couldn't score. Shortly after, Miyazawa was substituted for Miura. However, when aiming for the back of the opponent's DF, he was caught offside, and the cross was bounced back in the center, unable to break through the solid Iwata goal defense.

　At 76 minutes, they get a FK from the left diagonal of the goal. Here, Suzuki replaces Ishikawa. Suzuki, in his first play after the substitution, aimed directly for the goal but the powerful shot was saved by the GK. At 77 minutes, Abe takes a strong shot from the right area after a cross from Kanazawa, but the GK saves it again. They then get 3 CKs and Miyazawa takes a direct shot from a FK near the right corner, but the GK makes a nice save again and they don't score. At 80 minutes, Suzuki picks up the rebound from Kelly's shot in front of the goal and takes a shot. It looked like it would shake the net, but unfortunately it was offside.

　In the 3-minute stoppage time, Kelly's shot from Abe's left cross was blocked by the opponent's defender. Then, Miyazawa's shot from the front of the goal went over the goal. From a right throw-in, Abe connected with a header and Kelly's shot hit the top of the bar. In the final minutes, the game was mostly played in Iwata's half, but they couldn't find the goal. In the end, the game ended in a scoreless tie. For Tokyo, it was a game they could have won, but they ended up settling for just 1 point.

　【Player Comments】《Suzuki》"I was told to go for the shot and entered the pitch. I wanted to score the first FK there, but the way we started the game was good and I was able to approach it relaxed. However, if we were winning 1-0, this might have been enough, but when it's 0-0, my job is basically zero. I wanted to score."《Imano》"Today, we were going for it from the front and we wanted one goal when it was going well. It felt bad when the opponent became 10 players, but I tried to pick up the loose balls. I think we were able to create a wave attack from there. I don't have any fear of playing against 10 players, but drawing against Iwata doesn't give me confidence. (What do we need to do to take advantage of our chances?) I think we just have to practice as the voices from the stands say."

　[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "After the Nabisco Cup ended, we first switched our mindset. Especially against Iwata, we haven't won in the past few years, so we approached the game with the intention of breaking that streak. We put pressure on them from the start of the first half and I think it was going well. We were able to take the ball from them for about 20 minutes and Lucas and Kelly created chances, while Ishikawa and Kaji broke through from the right side with their speed. We wanted to score during that time and we had some clear chances, so we needed to convert them. When the opponent was down to 10 players, we tried to attack from the sides by bringing in Abe, but they defended well and we couldn't break through in the end. In the second half, we had some good crosses from the right by Kaji and Ishikawa, but we couldn't control the headers in the center, so that's something we need to work on. Also, when the opponent is down to 10 players, we tend to struggle. Our movements become awkward and we don't go after the ball as aggressively. However, the players were able to focus and fight in the Nabisco Cup on Wednesday, and I think they did well considering the fatigue from that dramatic game. Kaji, who just returned from the national team's training camp, played with Ishikawa for the first time in a while, but they showed a good understanding by switching positions multiple times. We really wanted to win, but we were able to play that kind of soccer against Iwata, and we want to continue playing that way. And then we want to score. If we score one goal, we want to score a second, and if the opponent is down to 10 players, we want to keep possession and aim higher. The 2nd stage is still wide open. In the next match against F. Marinos, we want to play the same kind of soccer we showed in the beginning and win."

　[Iwata Suzuki coach's press conference summary] "The players understood Tokyo's soccer well and tried to play Iwata's soccer on top of that. We were able to develop from the movement around the 25th minute and play good soccer with a good rhythm, but then Oi was sent off. We didn't want to break the team's shape, so we stayed in a 3-5-1 formation in the first half and changed to a 4-4-1 in the second half considering physical condition. We changed the system because both sides of Tokyo were stretched, but the players didn't give up and were able to get 1 point. However, we were not aiming for a draw and were trying until the end to score. After switching to a 4-back, Nabe and Fujita became the starting point and Maeda got involved, but we couldn't break through. Nabe was also tired, so we thought about putting Ota, who has speed and physicality, to break the right side. However, in the end, we were unable to create much time in the midfield and ended up with a draw."