Defeat the league leaders Gamba Osaka at home!

　In Sec. 29, we will face Gamba Osaka at home. After achieving a comeback victory against Verdy in the previous match, we have risen to 9th place. However, the point difference with the lower-ranked teams is not that far, so we cannot afford to let our guard down here. We want to maintain our focus and aim for consecutive wins. However, on the 27th (Thursday), Kajiyama complained of back pain, and on the 28th (Friday), Moniwa had a back issue and Lucas injured his leg, missing practice, which caused some concern, but they returned in good spirits by the weekend. Regarding Kaji, Coach Hara mentioned, "At this point, participating carries a high risk," and we will approach the match with the same starting lineup as in the Verdy game.

　Currently at the top, G Osaka has scored "73 goals and 48 goals conceded" so far, making their scoring ability formidable, despite losing to Oita in the previous match. DF Miyamoto has left the team due to injury, and this match will also see FW Okuro, who ranks 3rd in the scoring chart (16 goals), on the bench. However, including FW Yoshihara, who will start for the first time since Sec. 18, FW FERNANDEZ and MF Araujo are noted by Coach Hara as "difficult to stop when they move forward and enter the area." It is crucial to take care of them, as well as to suppress MF Endo and Hashimoto, who are the sources of passes. "Especially Endo can kick all kinds of balls, such as direct passes and soft passes. He also makes runs forward and has high accuracy on free kicks, so it is important to neutralize his movements," he warns.

　Furthermore, "If we try to defend, Gamba will seize the pace. Instead of pulling back, we want to aggressively attack and win the ball as a team from the front (Coach Hara)." In the away game on April 23, Sec. 7, we lost in a shootout of 3 to 5 against the opponent, but if the game starts moving quickly today, there is a possibility of a back-and-forth scoring match. However, that would likely play into Gamba's strategy, which boasts strong attacking power. Tokyo aims to bring the match to a tight contest in a "Tokyo-like" manner and strive for victory.

Taking On The Leaders 

League leaders Gamba Osaka visited Ajinomoto Stadium for the 29th game of the year. The win over Verdy in the previous week had put some daylight between TOKYO and the relegation-threatened pack but there was no time for the team to take anything for granted. Kajiyama, Moniwa and Lucas had picked up knocks in training but were recovered by the weekend. Manager Hara felt it unwise to risk Kaji just yet and named an unchanged team to the one that beat Verdy.
League leaders Gamba had lost at home to Oita Trinita in the previous round but boasted phenomenal firepower in attack, with 73 goals in 28 games. Captain Miyamoto was injured and Japan striker Oguro was on the bench but Araujo, the league top scorer, and Fernandinho both started. "If you let them get into the area facing the goal they're very difficult to stop", commented manager Hara. Preventing Endo and Hashimoto from delivering service to the front men also posed problems, "Both are excellent passers. Endo has a wide range, from direct balls to delicate one touches. They can also make runs from deep positions and strike free kicks. We will have to guard them closely throughout the game". The reverse fixture in April had finished 5-3 to Gamba and another high scoring game was always a possibility.

Although they conceded a goal immediately after the start, they regained their pace, and Baba scored the equalizer.

　The weather improved at Ajinomoto Stadium after the rain the previous day, and the match started with a kickoff from Tokyo. However, just one minute in, G Osaka earned a corner kick from a right throw-in. Midfielder Endo took the right corner kick with high precision, and defender Shijikurei scored with a header. Jean's marking on Shijikurei was late, allowing an early goal to be conceded.

　A tense atmosphere flowed, but Tokyo did not get discouraged, and from there, a fierce battle for the ball continued. By the 10th minute, Tokyo began to create chances. In the 13th minute, Baba's floating pass found right midfielder Yoshiro ABE breaking through the front line, earning a corner kick. Jean headed Baba's right corner kick, but it went over the bar. In the 16th minute, Dohi caught a fast cross from G Osaka. From there, they launched a quick counterattack, with Kajiyama taking a shot from midfield. In the 19th minute, from quick passing in the opponent's half, Toda became the pivot, and Baba took a shot. It was aimed straight at the opposing GK, but gradually, they began to dominate the ball against G Osaka, who were loosening their press.

　In the 20th minute, Lucas shot from the right area after a forward run by Fujiyama. In response, G Osaka approached the Tokyo goal with a free kick initiated by midfielder Endo. However, in the 21st minute, a free kick from outside the left area was blocked by the Tokyo DF wall. In the 23rd minute, there was an incident where Toda injured his right heel, leading to a substitution with Noriyuki SUZUKI. Shortly after, from a left free kick by G Osaka, DF Jitsuyoshi had a shot from close range at the near post, but it went wide left. Tokyo regained possession well and controlled the pace, but in the 28th minute, a switch from Fujiyama on the right to Yoshiro ABE on the left led to a cross from Kanazawa. Baba seized the clearance from the opposing DF in front of the goal and took a shot, but it missed, wasting a chance.

　In the 37th minute, Tokyo's defense cleared a free kick from G Osaka taken from the right outside the box. The loose ball was picked up by midfielder Endo, who unleashed a powerful shot, but Dohi made the save! In the 40th minute, G Osaka's free kick was blocked by the wall, and they attempted a quick counterattack, but the pass didn't connect well. Just when it seemed the first half would end like this, in the 44th minute, Kajiyama's cross-field pass found Kanazawa on the left. Kajiyama received the return pass and cut into the center towards Baba on the left. Baba created a slight pause with a dribble and then took a well-aimed shot. This grazed the right post and bounced back into the goal! They equalized just before the end of the first half, raising hopes as they headed into the second half.

Baba Belter Ties Early Goal

TOKYO kicked off on a warm afternoon at Ajinomoto Stadium but found themselves behind while late arrivals were still taking their seats. Gamba won a corner in the first minute and Sidiclei rose to meet Endo's outswinger and bullet a header past Doi. Sidiclei evaded Jean's attentions all too easily and Gamba had the lead. 
The home side then launched themselves at Gamba and began to make headway. In the 13th minute Baba floated a pass over the visitors' defence and Abe won a corner. Jean met Baba's ball with a powerful header that flew just over the bar. In the 16th minute Doi cleanly held a cross then launched a counter attack that ended with Kajiyama shooting from outside the Gamba area. In the 19th minute Baba shot from distance, as did Kajiyama in the 23rd. Toda was injured and had to be replaced by Suzuki. Saneyoshi fired wide from point blank range following a free kick a few moments later. In the 28th minute a sweeping crossfield move found Kanazawa steaming down the left but Baba failed to make firm contact with his centre and a good move came to nothing. 
A key moment came in the 37th minute. The TOKYO defence partially cleared a free kick and Endo pounced on the loose ball, raced into the area and unleashed a thunderous drive that Doi could only parry away. The ball evaded the onrushing Gamba players and TOKYO breathed a sigh of relief. The game seemed to be headed into halftime with the visitors ahead until Baba produced a goal out of nothing in the 44th minute. Following some neat interplay in midfield Kajiyama slipped the ball to Baba around 25 metres from goal; Baba unleashed a beautiful drive that Fujigaya got his fingertips to but couldn't prevent from hitting the back of the net. TOKYO had tied the game on the stroke of halftime.

Konno scores the go-ahead goal, achieving a perfect victory!

　G Osaka made substitutions in the second half, bringing in Daigoku for FW Yoshihara and Nikawa for MF Matsushita. As Coach Hara mentioned before the match, "Nikawa is the one who pairs well with Daigoku. How they are brought into the game is key," they went all in. However, it was Tokyo that seized the pace from the beginning. In the 47th minute, Noriyuki SUZUKI's left cross found Lucas with a perfect header, but DF Shijikurei blocked it. Connecting the loose ball, Kajiyama entered the right area and took a decisive shot, but it was thwarted by a great save from the opposing GK. In the 48th minute, Noriyuki SUZUKI's left cross was met directly by Tadashi BABA for a shot, but it was blocked by the DF.

　In the 53rd minute, Lucas picked up a clearance from Kanazawa's cross and shot, resulting in a corner kick. From this corner, Kajiyama shot from the right area, but the opposing DF blocked it. Lucas delivered a sharp cross from the rebound, but the opposing DF cleared it. Although no goal was scored, a wave of attacks centered around Norio SUZUKI's breakthrough on the left side was initiated. In the 57th minute, Fujiyama's early cross was cleared by the opposing DF. Konno persistently picked up the loose ball near the end line and passed it to Lucas in front of the goal. It was a decisive moment, but he was thwarted by the opposing DF. In the 63rd minute, Konno intercepted and charged forward fiercely, and in the end, Lucas shot from outside the area, but it went to the right.

　In the 64th minute, G Osaka MF Araujo broke through on the left side and passed in front of the goal. FW Fernandinho made a run and took a shot, but it went over the bar. In the 65th minute, G Osaka created a decisive scene. Once again from Tokyo's left side, MF Hashimoto penetrated near the end line. He received a backward pass, and Daigoku, free in front of the goal, took a shot. However, he missed the ball, and Doih was able to save it! In the 68th minute, from a quick counterattack, FW Fernandinho rushed in front of the goal, and finally, MF Araujo, who had run in from the left, was in a shooting position, but the Tokyo defense blocked him with a quick approach.

　With focused play, they prevented a crisis. In the 71st minute, Jean won a header from a left free kick by Kanazawa, and Noriyuki SUZUKI, who was waiting in the center, made a perfect heading shot. Although it was initially blocked by the opposing GK's nice save, Konno, who was quicker to the loose ball than the opposing DF, pushed it in for a goal!! They took the lead with an additional point. In the 82nd minute, Lucas broke through on a through pass from Baba and found himself one-on-one with the GK, but his shot was saved, missing a crucial chance.

　After that, there were moments when G Osaka threatened the goal with their counterattacks. In the 84th minute, Daigoku received a pass from MF Kaneko from behind, broke into the right area with a trap, and shot. It went over the bar, but it showed a moment of danger. However, Tokyo never fell back into a defensive stance and continued their attacking posture. In the 84th minute, Noriyuki Suzuki sprinted down the left side. He advanced to the goal area and shot from a tight angle, but it was saved by the goalkeeper, resulting in a corner kick. In the 2 minutes of stoppage time, they were attacked by G Osaka, but their concentrated defense repelled it, and they moved forward after regaining possession. Ultimately, throughout the match, they excelled in ball contests and duels, taking 22 shots compared to G Osaka's 11. With a passionate performance, they achieved a convincing victory over the league leaders G Osaka. Following the comeback against Verdy, they secured consecutive wins.

　【Player Comments】《Konno》"I scored because the opponent didn't clear the ball, so I stretched out my left foot. Gamba has a strong attack, and when we conceded early, I thought it might be tough, but I think we were able to play to our rhythm from the first half. I enjoyed playing. Before the match, Coach Hara told me, 'Gamba has offensive power, but we can attack too. Let's show that our attack is stronger than Gamba's.' I'm glad we were able to come from behind and win." 《Baba》"Lately, I've been taking a lot of shots, but they rarely went in during matches. I was always tense, so today I aimed calmly with a curled ball instead of striking hard. I think that kick represents my style, so I want to keep showing my strong patterns. The first half was tough, but I believed if we endured, the second half would be our pace. Gamba is not originally a difficult opponent to face, and I thought we could win if we played normally. Our team is in good shape, and everyone is playing with full effort. We don't want to waste this momentum and aim to win all the remaining five matches."

　[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "We were able to stay calm against Gamba, who scored 73 goals. When Gamba wins, they often score 2 or 3 goals, sometimes even 6 or 7. If we only score one goal, we will lose to them. However, they concede far more goals than us, and our matchup is not bad at all. Last season, we won three times, and in this season's away game where we lost 5-3, we scored three goals but conceded from an own goal and immediately after kickoff following a goal, so if we had prevented those, we would have had a good chance to win. We talked about exploiting the fact that Tokyo's two wingers opening up seems to work well against Gamba. However, Gamba's attacking power is destructive; when the ball gets to MF Araujo, FW Yoshihara, FERNANDEZ, Fernandinho, or Oguro, even if one or two players mark them, they skillfully break free. We aimed to mark them tightly and prevent them from receiving the ball. We tried to bring out our strength of defending as a team from the front and attacking as a team. However, conceding a goal in the first minute gave us a bad feeling. We felt, "Here we go again," but thought we could manage if it was just a one-goal difference. There were several dangerous moments, but after conceding one goal, if we conceded again on a counterattack, it would be tough, so we tried to avoid that at all costs. When Baba scored during a good period in the first half, we talked about how the halftime would be our pace. Since Coach Nishino made two substitutions early to try to change the game, we thought if we could get through that, we would have a chance. Despite the poor results, so many supporters cheered for us, and to repay them, we tried to show our strengths. If we feared Gamba and played defensively, packing the area in front of the goal, we would probably be beaten instead. The players fought well without fear and played our style of football, earning a big 3 points. Today, Fujiyama held firm in the back line, Kanazawa tracked back, and Kaji's condition is improving. Today, since Moniwa's hips were stiff, I considered using Kaji, but I am cautious not to risk injury again. Once Kaji returns, I think a more attacking style will come back. We want to aim for even more aggressive football."

　【G Osaka Coach Nishino's Press Conference Summary】 "In the last match and today, it was not the way a team aiming for the championship should fight. The development forced us to acknowledge the opponent's strength. We were defeated as expected. We were considering various approaches, but overall, we were not functioning well. Especially the front triangle, where three players lead the attack, has been countered in every way, disrupting both individual play and the connection among the three. Both Oguro and FERNANDEZ are playing under stress. Given this situation, considering our defense, it resulted in a performance like today. That is everything. The functionality of the front three is insufficient. Next is the Nabisco Cup Final, and we tried to prepare for that today. Naturally, we aimed to challenge while achieving results and to fight at our best, but in that sense, it turned out to be a game without any gains."

Konno Grabs Winner

Gamba made changes at halftime: Oguro replaced Yoshihara and midfielder Futagawa replaced Matsushita. Before the game Hiromi Hara had said, "Oguro works best with Futagawa. How and when they make use of that combination will be a key point." Gamba were clearly going for a win and were not prepared to settle for a draw. It was TOKYO, though, who began the second period strongly. Sidiclei blocked Lucas' powerful header after good work down the left by Suzuki in the 47th minute. Kajiyama pounced on the loose ball and shot powerfully but Fujigaya produced a fine save to deny TOKYO the lead. A minute later the Gamba defense again blocked a goal-bound effort, this time from Baba.
In the 53rd minute Kanazawa had a shot blocked away for a corner. Kajiyama was quickest to the clearance but again the Gamba defense blocked his effort and Lucas' low cross was somehow scrambled away. TOKYO were enjoying a purple patch with Suzuki's pace down the left causing Gamba all kinds of problems. Konno's tenacity set up a glorious chance for Lucas in the 57th minute but again some desperate defending from Gamba kept the scores level. Lucas flashed a shot wide of the right post in the 63rd minute.
Gamba suddenly roused themselves and created two fine chances within a minute. Araujo raced down the left wing to the byline and cut the ball back in the 63rd minute but Fernadinho scooped his shot over the bar. In a repeat move less than a minute later Oguro missed an absolute sitter, scuffing his shot from 6 yards out with only Doi to beat.
That miss would prove costly as TOKYO soon took the lead. Kanazawa curled in a free kick in the 71st minute, Suzuki outjumped the Gamba defense and smacked a firm header that drew a flying save from Fujigaya. The ball bounced up in front of Konno who poked it into the goal with great alacrity and TOKYO had the lead. Lucas could have killed the game off in the 82nd minute; he raced onto Baba's through ball and bore down on the keeper; Fujigaya kept his eye on the ball and made a fine save.
As the game entered the final few minutes Gamba launched a succession of attacks on the TOKYO goal. In the 84th minute Ienaga opened a chink in TOKYO's defensive armor that allowed Oguro a sight of goal; Oguro shot fractionally too high and let the home side off the hook. Suzuki then ran the full length of the field, cut into the area and drew another good save from Fujigaya, winning a corner. Suzuki's pace kept Gamba off balance and the TOKYO defense held firm. The final score was 2-1, the second time in a week TOKYO had come from behind to win.

Players' comments 
Konno 
"For the goal our opponents hadn't cleared the ball so I just stuck my leg out. Gamba have a very strong attack and after we conceded so early in the game I thought things were going to be difficult but we fought back playing at our own rhythm. I really enjoyed the game today. Before the game the manager said, 'Gamba have a good attack so that will allow us to attack. Let's show we are better than they are'. To get the come from behind win was just great".

Baba
"I've been shooting a lot recently but they haven't been going in. I usually put a lot of power into them but today I decided to try to relax and place the ball. I think that shot is becoming my speciality. We were under some pressure in the first half but came through it and always believed we could win it in the second half. Gamba aren't the most difficult team to beat so we felt if we could play our normal game it was possible. The team is in really good form at the moment and we hope to win the last 5 games".

F.C.TOKYO manager Hara 
"Gamba score a lot of goals; they can completely overrun teams but they have conceded more goals than us and aren't such a difficult opponent for us. We beat them three times last year and could easily have won the reverse fixture in April. There's always space for our wide men to get into. Their attack is very strong though and it's difficult to contain them. We had to mark them tightly and prevent them from getting the ball so we had to concentrate on defending from the front. Then they scored in the first minute and it was deja vu all over again. But we felt we could always make something; we had many chances but were concerned about scoring and then conceding again on a counter attack. Baba scored at a perfect time and we discussed playing the second half at our pace. Mr.Nishino changed two players at half time and went for the win; we felt that could work to our advantage. Even though our record this season isn't great a lot of supporters turned out today and they inspired us in the second half. We weren't afraid of Gamba, we played the game at our pace and took the three points. Fujiyama played in defence, Kanazawa has come back and Kaji is on his way. Moniwa had a back niggle today but we decided against playing Kaji as it might be a little early yet. When he comes back we will have our best attacking style. We want to be more aggressive". 

Gamba manager Nishino
"We didn't play like champions last week and we didn't play like champions again today. The game allowed our opponents to play to their best and they did what we should have done. We tried various things but didn't play well as a team today. Our front triangle didn't work well together or individually. I think Fernandinho and Oguro are playing under heavy stress. Next week is the Nabisco Cup Final and I think we can look at today's game and say we've learned some things from our performance".