Fight boldly against the strong Gamba

　In the 9th round of the J1 League, we will face Gamba Osaka away. In the previous round against Chiba, Tokyo's soccer was completely unable to perform in the first half, and was overwhelmed by Chiba in both offense and defense. In the second half, three substitute players were brought in, and although we launched a fierce comeback after Lucas' penalty kick, we fell just short and suffered a defeat. With this, we are now on a losing streak, including the Nabisco Yokohama game. It is a difficult situation, but this week we have a one-week interval and have been training carefully for the G Osaka game, so we can hope to be in perfect condition.

　G Osaka is currently in second place with a five-game winning streak in the league. While also competing in the AFC Champions League alongside the league, it will be a tough schedule. However, with the combination of new FW Magnoua Alves and Fernandinho, the technical MF players like Endo, and the attacking starting points from both sides of DF Kaji, who transferred from Tokyo, and DF Ienaga, their destructive power cannot be easily stopped. It is necessary to maintain concentration for the full 90 minutes without letting your guard down for even a moment. The match against former team DF Kaji is also highly anticipated.

　Tokyo, on the other hand, aims to be more aggressive in the midfield, with Konno playing as a defensive midfielder, Miyazawa and Kajiyama on the left and right respectively, and a 4-4-2 formation with Shigetomo and Jean as center backs. In place of Sasa, Kawaguchi will start as a forward. The key will be whether they can use the space left by the opponent's 3-back formation and create opportunities from the front. In addition, Ozawa, who has just returned from the Belinzona International Youth Soccer Tournament, will be on the bench in place of the injured Abe.

　Tokyo has not yet won away this season. However, Shigeki promises to fight fairly and squarely, saying, "The compatibility so far is not bad at all. We will go for the win with all our might." Manager Garo also aims to score 2 or 3 points even away, saying, "We will aim for an attacking attitude." The game started at 2:03 pm in Tokyo, with a temperature of 15.8℃ and cloudy skies.

Despite losing control in the middle, we managed to end the first half with only one goal conceded.

　Tokyo seizes the chance at the start. Right CK, Miyazawa's kick, Lucas heads the shot. It is deflected by the opponent's GK, but they regain the CK. This time, Jean heads it, but it doesn't hit. In the 4th minute, Miyazawa → Suzuki's left cross, Miyazawa picks up the loose ball from the DF and shoots. It hits the DF, and Kurisawa picks up the loose ball in front of the goal, and Lucas takes the left CK. Miyazawa also tries to shoot from the clear of this CK, but can't shoot. Tokyo attacks and G Osaka becomes completely passive in response.

　However, when G Osaka settles down and starts connecting the ball rhythmically, they cannot keep up with their passing and the game becomes one-sided. In the 8th minute, DF Kaji runs up the right side and crosses, but Jean cuts it off. In the 10th minute, FW Magno Alves receives a pass from left MF Ienaga on a counter and FW Fernandinho runs into the center for a shot. It was a decisive moment, but it missed the goal. In the 12th minute, FW Magno Alves and in the 14th minute, MF Endo take shots, but Tsuchi somehow saves and does not allow a goal.

　FW Magnol Alves on the front line, allowing DF Kaji and Ienaga to freely attack from both sides with the keeping power of FW Fernandinho, the situation continues to be one-sided defense. In the 22nd minute, Maeda took a shot after taking advantage of a pass miss by Shigeta. In the 25th minute, MF Ienaga took a shot after a central breakthrough by FW Magnol Alves and Fernandinho. It was a dangerous situation, but they did not allow a goal. Tokyo tried to attack by taking the opponent's ball, but they either made a pass miss or lost the ball, and they couldn't bring the ball to the goal.

　Tokyo concedes the first goal in the 35th minute. Although they clear the ball once from a right FK, FW Magnolauves receives a pass in the center and scores a beautiful shot from outside the area. After securing one goal, the opponent starts to create attacking opportunities. In the 39th minute, Tokunaga crosses from a counter attack, but Lucas is unable to connect in the middle. In the 44th minute, Miyazawa takes a left FK and Inokoshi heads the ball, but the opponent's GK saves it and it becomes a corner kick.

　G Osaka's attacking power was overwhelming in most time zones, and it was a situation where it would not be strange to concede 2 or 3 points, but everyone in front of the goal, led by Doi, threw their bodies and somehow managed to end the first half with minimal points conceded.

Second half, unable to score despite grasping the rhythm of the attack, resulting in defeat.

　Tokyo replaced Kurisawa with Akamine from the start of the second half, and Lucas was deployed as the top midfielder. As a result, Akamine's energetic movements gave the team momentum, especially in winning second balls and increasing ball possession in the midfield, allowing them to create attacking opportunities. In the 52nd minute, Akamine took a shot from a quick restart by Miyazawa, and in the 59th minute, Lucas passed to Kajiyama who then gave a final pass to Akamine in the box. However, he was unable to finish the shot due to being surrounded by defenders.

　60 minutes, Akamine, who ran into the right side from Miyazawa, kept the ball, and Imakano, who followed, crossed it, but Kawaguchi, who received it far away, chest-trapped it and brought it into a shooting position, but it didn't hit. In the 62nd minute, Kajiyama exchanged passes with Lucas in the center and shot from outside the area, but it was over the frame. In the 64th minute, Miyazawa also shot from the middle after a throw-in, but it was again over the frame. Kawaguchi and Akamine lead the front line and the team is able to advance to the goal and bring it to a shooting position, but they are unable to hit the goal frame.

　Substituting Miyazawa for the first time in the league match, Ozawa is put in and goes for a goal with a 3-top formation. In the 80th minute, Kawaguchi competes for Suzuki's left cross from a counter, but Akamine reacts to the rebound but can't finish. In the 81st minute, Imakawa dribbles up and draws the DF, then passes to Ozawa on the right area. Ozawa takes a daring shot, but the opposing DF cuts it off. In the 85th minute, Tokunaga dribbles up the right side and aggressively challenges the opposing DF, but they escape with a corner kick.

　In the 89th minute, Tokunaga made a move and crossed before cutting through the DF. Although it was cleared once in front of the goal, Imakano picked up the loose ball and took a shot, but it went over the frame. In the end, the game ended 0-1. In the second half, they created numerous chances and pushed G Osaka to the brink, but they couldn't find the winning goal, resulting in another loss in the league.

　【Player Comments】《Suzuki》"It's a shame we couldn't get any points. Personally, I feel like I've been forgetting my own play, such as breaking through and shooting vertically. It was a game where I felt the difference in individual abilities. I faced Kaji today, but I will continue to face Japan national team players and strong opponents in the future. It will be tough if we can't break through, but we need to switch our mindset. After the game, we had a meeting with Mr. Doi at the center and talked about switching our mindset."《Ozawa》"Since the team didn't get results, I couldn't evaluate my own play. We were in a losing state, so I just tried to be aggressive. The coach also instructed us to not think about defense. I was only thinking about being aggressive, but looking back now, I may not have been calm. There were moments where two opponents could slide and I couldn't finish, but if I had stayed calm, I think I could have turned and shot. I lacked composure. There were spaces to work with, so it was easy to play. My desire to play more has grown stronger and I think it will lead to the future."

　[Summary of Manager Gallo's Press Conference] "Until about 20 minutes into the first half, we were able to create a good shape and I thought we had a good start. However, after that, Gamba also improved and it became a 50-50 situation, and we ended up conceding a goal. In the second half, we put in substitute players in the front line and went on the attack with four forwards for the remaining 30 minutes, but we couldn't score a goal. At halftime, I instructed the midfield to put more pressure, but we were able to improve and in the second half, we were able to pass the ball well in the opponent's half. Overall, I think it was a 50-50 game."

　[Summary of G Osaka Nishino's press conference] "It was a very heavy game. There were various factors, such as it being a daytime game and the team being on a winning streak, but the overall movement and content were unusually heavy. However, there will be many games like this during the season, so I think it shows the strength of Gamba to be able to win in these situations. As for the attack, I think we lacked a bit of an accent. We also tried putting MF Ienaga in the top position, but we couldn't make much of a change. As expected, the battle between the two sides was close. Tokyo's Tokunaga and Suzuki have the ability to break through vertically, and there were times when they were able to do so, but there were also times when Ienaga and Kaji were superior. In the end of the game, it became quite defensive, which was not ideal for us. However, since we conceded 3 goals in the previous match, everyone had a high awareness of "not conceding today" and we were able to clear that challenge. We knew that this would be the type of game and we realized that we have to always have a high awareness or it will become difficult. However, it was good to start the consecutive games in this way and we want to maintain a good level of tension until the break."