A league match after two days, aiming for victory away

　Under a schedule of playing three matches this week, in Sec. 6 of the league, we will face Yokohama F.Marinos away. The match will be held on Saturday, one day earlier than other matches, and Tokyo has a two-day break since the Nabisco Cup. In the match against Urawa, Baba and Jean were injured and will miss this match. Therefore, Masushima and Kurizawa will be used as starters. Additionally, Doih and Moniwa, who returned from the Japan national team's expedition yesterday, will also be in the starting lineup. Asari will make his first appearance on the bench this season, and Akamine will be a substitute for Sasa, as we tackle this crucial match with full force.

　Yokohama FM is currently in 2nd place in the league. They quickly transition the ball to the front line from a solid defense, utilizing a variety of attacking patterns starting from the FW players, including runs from the sides and the second line. Today, DF Nakazawa and FW Kubo, who participated in the Japan national team match against Ecuador, are absent. MF Oka is also out due to injury. However, in the Nabisco Cup match against Fukuoka, they made five changes to the starting lineup and secured a solid 1-0 victory. They boast a deep player pool and are maintaining good form.

　In response, Tokyo will counter with thorough man-marking. Inoha will mark FW Marques, Konno will mark MF Shimizu, Kajiyama will mark MF Magron, and Suzuki and Tokunaga will also take measures against their opposing players. First, they aim to prevent goals with strict defense, enhance their coordination, and shift to offense, hoping to create chances. The match will start at Nissan Stadium away at 15:02 with Tokyo's kickoff.

Yokohama, who maintained control throughout, forced their opponents into a disadvantageous position.

　Right from the start, they seized a chance from a set piece. Kawaguchi was fouled, earning a free kick from just outside the left side of the area. Kajiyama sent the ball to the front of the goal, and Suzuki connected with it directly, but the shot went wide to the left. However, as time passed, Yokohama FM began to find their rhythm. With quick passing, FW Oshima firmly controlled the ball in the front line, initiating an offensive play from FW Marquez's direct play.

　In the 7th minute, FW Oshima and FW Marques held on in the area, and finally, MF Ueno, who ran into the goal area, took a shot, resulting in a corner kick. The ball kicked by MF Dutra was punched away by Dohi, but Dutra picked it up again and entered the area. However, Masushima calmly cut it off. In the 12th minute, FW Oshima dropped MF Dutra's left cross, and MF Maguron took a shot. In the 14th minute, from a throw-in by Yokohama FM, the ball spilled in front of MF Shimizu at the goal, but Konno kicked it away while falling down.

　In the 27th minute, FW Marques evaded Inoha's mark and advanced, connecting with MF Shimizu to FW Oshima for a play that led to a shot in the area. In the 29th minute, FW Marques again broke free behind the DF and took a shot while unmarked. Both shots went off target, avoiding danger. In the 33rd minute, a sharp middle shot from MF Tanaka on the right side was saved by Doi. As they were on the defensive, in the 44th minute, a sequence from Tokunaga on the right side to Kawaguchi to Kurizawa led to Suzuki advancing and taking a shot, but this too went off target.

　In the first half, Tokyo fell behind in all plays, allowing Yokohama to completely dominate. However, in terms of "defending the goal," they remained focused and were also aided by the opponent's missed shots, ending the half at 0-0 before heading into the second half.

In the closing moments, Masushima's first J-League goal leads to a draw!

　In the second half, Miyazawa was brought in to replace Kajiyama. However, the momentum was with Yokohama FM. In the 48th minute, from a counterattack, MF Tanaka dribbled forward towards the goal, and MF Shimizu received a last pass in the right area and took a shot. In the 57th minute, from the hold-up play of substitute MF Yoshida, DF Kawai joined the attack. The shot taken inside the area was blocked by Mashima, but the loose ball was picked up again by DF Kawai and passed to the free FW Marques in the right area. The header shot went over the bar.

　Still, Tokyo is looking for chances and counterattacking. In the 61st minute, from a play by Miyazawa, Suzuki's left cross was dropped by Tokunaga at the far post, and Konno was in shooting position. However, he was blocked by the opposing defender who quickly closed in. Immediately after this chance, in the 62nd minute, Yokohama FM won a right throw-in. MF Tanaka threw it in, and MF Maguron kept possession. Receiving a return pass, MF Tanaka boldly charged into the area and struck with his right foot. This shot found the bottom left corner, resulting in a goal conceded. They were caught off guard by the marking right after the restart.

　Tokyo, having no choice but to attack, creates chances by taking risks and pushing forward. In the 67th minute, from Suzuki's cross, Lucas makes a perfect header but it goes straight to the GK. In the 73rd minute, there was a moment when Yokohama FW Oshima's close-range looping shot hit the bar, but in the 74th minute, Miyazawa quickly caught up to a loose ball in the opponent's half and took a well-aimed mid-range shot. However, this was also thwarted by the GK's save. In the 75th minute, Akamine was brought on for Lucas, and in the 83rd minute, Abe was substituted for Kawaguchi, but the goal remained elusive.

　In the 89th minute, when it seemed like the game would end as is, just after entering stoppage time, Kurizawa made a dribble, was fouled on the right side, and earned a free kick. Kurizawa himself took the kick, which was received by Konno at the far post, who headed it down, and Mashima followed up with a powerful volley into the goal! Mashima's joyful first J-League goal equalized the score. Immediately after, they defended against a corner kick from Yokohama and managed to hold on until the time was up. Although they allowed Yokohama to dominate throughout the 90 minutes, they equalized just before the end with a never-give-up attitude, resulting in a game where they earned 1 point.

　【Player Comments】《Masushima》"When the ball came, I wasn't thinking about anything. I just stretched my foot. The goal in an official match was since the Emperor's Cup during my time at Ichifuna High School, the same match against F. Marinos today. I wasn't consciously thinking about it, but I thought, 'It would be nice to score again.' I didn't want to be told, 'We lost because I came in for Jean.' The way we defended was that Inoha marked FW Marques, and Shigeno and I watched the remaining FW. I find it easier to play this way, but I think it puts a lot of burden on the midfield players. In the second half, we changed to a method that utilized Miyazawa by flattening the DF line during the match. I think we are becoming able to make such changes based on our own judgment." 《Kurizawa》"Both the midfield and the fullbacks marked the opponents man-to-man. As a result, we ended up being absorbed into our own DF line. Even when we passed to the FW, the distance was long, and we couldn't get into a position to push up. We were just constantly chasing behind the opponents, and there were few scenes in the enemy territory, so we couldn't build momentum. With a deficit, we reached a situation where we had to go for the ball even if it meant abandoning our marks. Anyway, the players closest to the ball tried to go for it. I think that mindset led to the final goal."

　[Summary of Coach Garo's Press Conference] "From start to finish, F. Marinos were the superior team. There was a particular physical difference. I think we played a tough match against Urawa two days ago and were unable to recover, resulting in poor condition. I'm glad we managed to score a goal at the very end, but it was a match where F. Marinos were better. (Regarding substitutions) Initially, I considered substituting Kurizawa, but he started to deliver crosses from both sides. So, I decided not to substitute Kurizawa and instead replaced Lucas with Akamine, positioning him in the center of the crosses to utilize height. I substituted Kajiyama because he seemed to be struggling physically. In the first half, there was a big gap between the defensive midfielders and the forwards, and I wanted to fill that gap by bringing in Miyazawa. I instructed to place Konno on the right and Miyazawa on the left to fill that gap. However, the overall physical condition of the team was poor, and we were particularly late to the contested balls. Among that, Suzuki was doing his best on the left, but still, as a team, we couldn't win the second balls."

　[Yokohama FM Coach Okada's Press Conference Summary] "I am really satisfied with the content. They played a wonderful match. However, not scoring when we should have was a major reason for the draw. It's something that often happens in soccer, but the issue is how to stay focused until the end and secure points. I think there was a bit of complacency with the three free kicks we had at the end, thinking 'it will work out somehow.' If we don't eliminate that, we won't get closer to winning the championship. However, it's still the beginning of the league. It was very tough, and I see this as a warning to become a team without such complacency going forward. (Regarding the participation of defenders in attacks) It wasn't that we were holding back from going forward; both Kawai and Matsuda were pushing up. The opponent was defending man-to-man, so I told them to be careful only with counters and set pieces, but I didn't feel we were particularly threatened by counters, and I didn't give the instruction to the three backs to 'not go forward.' Kubo and Nakazawa were left out due to conditioning issues. As you can see, it wasn't that we struggled because they were absent... I don't think that was the reason for the draw."