Aiming for victory in the difficult away game!

　J1 League Sec. 11 will face Ventforet Kofu away. They will enter the Kose Sports Park Athletics Stadium for the first time since the match against Kofu in the Nabisco Cup on April 18, 2001. In the previous match against Nagoya, Tokyo dominated the game at their own pace and Lucas scored two goals from side attacks, making it an ideal development. With this momentum, they aim for their first away victory of the season.

　Kofu is currently in 13th place with 3 wins, 2 draws, and 5 losses. Despite being a newly promoted team to J1 this season, they have managed to defeat top teams like Kawasaki and Yokohama FM, making them a tough opponent. Ace FW Thales, who was absent in the previous match, returns to the starting lineup, with FW Rene and PREMIST Uruno in a 4-3-3 formation. They will press from the front with all players united in their intentions, looking to win back the ball and launch counterattacks. They also have a strong attacking presence from the midfield and wings. Manager Garo warns, "Kofu is strong in both physicality and pressing. They will likely come at us aggressively, fueled by the energy of their home crowd."

　Tokyo, on the other hand, will need to switch between offense and defense quickly and gain an advantage in the midfield in order to secure victory. From there, they will want to bring about side attacks like they did in the Nagoya game. Above all, it will be important to challenge with even more determination rather than just defending against Kofu's aggressive approach. While there may be concerns about fatigue from playing consecutive games, Kajiyama confidently states, "We have been able to take control of the game recently. We can also initiate attacks from our defense, so we are not tired. We'll be fine."

　The starting members are the same as the Nagoya game. Konno, who injured his left knee during practice on the 1st (Monday), had a separate menu but did not suffer any serious injuries. In order to advance to the top, we want to achieve consecutive victories before the break. Let's take 3 points away this round! The temperature is 22.4℃, the sun is strong, and the heat can be felt at the Kose Athletics Stadium. The game started at 2:04pm with a kickoff from Tokyo.

In the early stages, we were able to control the pace, but the first half ended with us conceding the first goal.

　From coach Garo: "Even on a holiday, so many fans came to support us in the away game. We cannot afford to have a shameful game." Tokyo gains momentum from the start of the game. In the first minute, Suzuki attacks from the left side and wins a corner kick. His own kick is saved by the opponent's GK, but Kajiyama picks up the rebound and takes a powerful shot, only to be saved by the GK again. Despite conceding a counterattack from Kofu, Tokyo manages to steal the ball and Kawaguchi orients himself for a shot from the left side of the box, but it is called offside.

　7 minutes, chance for FK from the right side of the opponent's field. Miyazawa's kick is bounced back by the wall. In the 12th minute, Lucas makes a lofted through pass in front of the goal. Miyazawa jumps out, but the opponent's GK catches it one step ahead. In the 15th minute, FK from the right side. Miyazawa aims directly but is blocked by the opponent's GK and results in a left CK. From the CK, Kawaguchi takes a direct shot from the right area. However, it is blocked by the Kofu DF.

　23 minutes, steal the right CK. Kawaguchi picks up this loose ball and Miyazawa makes a left CK. Kajiyama picks up Miyazawa's kick and dodges the opponent's DF to take a middle shot! It flew perfectly to the lower left corner of the goal, but once again it was blocked by the opponent's GK's great play and did not become a goal... In the 26th minute, Akamine drops the ball from Suzuki's breakthrough and Lucas takes a shot with speed. However, it's over the bar. Although they completely dominate, they cannot make a decisive blow.

　Then, in the 29th minute, Tokyo was caught off guard and conceded the opening goal to Kofu FW Urano on a counter attack. After that, Kofu dominated the pace of the game. In the 31st minute, FW Vale took a shot, followed by FW Hosaka in the 32nd minute. The midfield marking was weak, and Tokyo was pushed back by Kofu's strong attacks.

　Tokyo tries to counterattack, albeit in small numbers. In the 39th minute, Miyazawa shoots from the right side of the area with an overhead shot, but the GK catches it. In the 42nd minute, Kawaguchi's shot from the right side after a quick attack goes over the goal. Despite their persistent defense, Tokyo is unable to score and goes into the second half trailing by one point.

Kawaguchi, Lucas's goal leads to a comeback victory! They secure their first away win of the season.

　Rychely was substituted for Akamine in the second half. "We want to aim for the space behind the opponent's DF," said coach Garo, but Kofu continues to dominate the game with the same momentum as the first half. In the 49th minute, Kofu's MF Yasusaka dropped a pass from the right to the front line, and FW Ishihara took a powerful shot. In the 54th minute, Kofu's left SB Yamamoto picked up a loose ball in the midfield and passed it to MF Yasusaka in the front line, but Tsuchi quickly caught it. In the 57th minute, Kofu launched a counterattack, with FW Vale on the right side and FW Ishihara shooting in the center, but it went to the right.

　In the 61st minute, Kofu quickly passed the ball and FW Urano broke free on the front line. Doi also came out and was shot with a decisive shot, but the ball hit the bar! It was a development that was not strange even if an additional point was allowed, but Doi managed to hold on somehow. Tokyo also aggressively moved around in both attack and defense with Ozawa, who was substituted for Miyazawa, and the passes to Kawaguchi and Rychely on the front line began to connect. Also, gradually regaining rhythm due to fatigue in Kofu.

　Then in the 62nd minute, Lucas skillfully evades the opposing DF on the left side and connects with Rychely. Rychely makes a strong ground pass in front of the goal. The ball flows to the far side and Kawaguchi scores, equalizing the game. With this equalizing goal, Tokyo completely takes control. In the 63rd minute, Ozawa dives for a cross from Tokunaga on the right side, but the ball goes just wide to the right of the goal. In the 73rd minute, Shigeno feeds the ball to the left front line. Kawaguchi attempts to break through and cuts back around the opposing DF for a shot! The ball narrowly misses the goal. In the 75th minute, Kajiyama dribbles and passes to Kawaguchi, who takes a corner kick on the left side. Suzuki's kick is perfectly headed in by Lucas in front of the goal, finally scoring the winning goal.

　Kofu also attacks from the FW Valley. In the 78th minute, a shot from the right area is deflected and passed to FW Yamazaki in the left area, but Tokunaga blocks the shot by getting close to him. In the 80th minute, a through pass is sent to FW Valley who runs through the area, but the shot misses the target. In the 82nd minute, Inaba is substituted for Kajiyama, forming a double pivot with Imakawa to stop Kofu's attacks in the midfield and slow down their momentum.

　Boosted by the loud cheers of the home crowd, Kofu launched a counterattack. In the 89th minute, Tokyo countered from the right side with a ball played behind the opponent's defense by Ozawa. Kawaguchi caught up to the ball and sent a cross to the far post. Lucas, who was left unmarked, received the ball and aimed for the goal with a shot. The ball curved beautifully and found its way into the right side of the net, sealing the victory. The match ended with this score, and Tokyo celebrated their first away win of the season.

　【Player Comments】《Lucas》「My first goal was from a corner kick, Norio gave me a good ball. It was a different position than usual, but I was able to score well by switching with Jean. For the second goal, I was wondering whether to shoot or keep the ball at that time. But the goal was open, so I took a chance and shot. Both the team and myself are in a very good state. I can play with confidence. It's tough to play 90 minutes as a top midfielder and have consecutive games, but I need to have that physical ability. On the other hand, I think I can improve by continuing to play in games. I may not be able to score in every game, but I feel that the team is definitely improving.」《Miyazawa》「After conceding a goal, the atmosphere of Kofu became more aggressive and scary. It would have been good if we could have scored before that. There was a moment in the first half where I flew out to the goal after receiving a pass from Lucas, but I wanted to score there. If I can continue to make moves that surpass the opposing FW, spaces will open up and I will be able to contribute. Today, we continued to attack quickly by aiming for the back of the opposing DF, but maybe we could have been a little more composed. However, Kofu maintained a high DF line throughout the game, so I think our strategy was okay for today.」

　【Summary of Manager Garo's Press Conference】"We played a very good game. Looking back at the first half, we were able to pass the ball well and dominate the game, creating chances and even having some scoring opportunities. However, we couldn't convert them and ended up conceding a goal, which allowed the opponent to gain momentum. Our marking in the midfield became weak and we were dominated. In the second half, we brought in Rychely and launched attacks with his speed, which was very effective. Ozawa also did a good job marking the opponent and connecting passes. In the previous match against Nagoya, we couldn't get the result we wanted, but in the Nabisco Yokohama match before that, we played well for three consecutive games. I am happy that we were able to win. (What was your strategy against Kofu?) We knew that Kofu would be a tough opponent, especially with the support of their home fans. However, we didn't do anything special in our training for this match. Instead, we focused on our own style of play. We wanted to pass the ball well and play our own football. (Regarding Ozawa's substitution) We were losing, so we brought in Ozawa to connect passes and play more offensively. Kofu's number 31 (Lins) was their key player, so our first priority was to mark him. We also instructed our players to connect passes with Kawaguchi and Rychely while marking. As a result, we were able to score after Ozawa came in and we were able to prevent Kofu from creating chances."

　【Kofu・Ogi Coach Press Conference Summary】"We immediately fell into the opponent's flow and felt like we were going to be defeated, but we were able to score one goal from a counter and take control of the pace. From around the time we were tied in the second half, it gradually turned into a physical battle and we were pushed back. The last goal was inevitable. It's true that there is a one-day difference between us and the opponent, but it's not because of that. We just couldn't hold on. The opponent didn't have many chances and we also created chances, but we couldn't score. In other words, the difference in finishing ability. It feels like we were defeated even though we weren't controlling the pace. Tokyo's strength is coming forward. Instead of responding to the ball, we thought it was important to control the source, so we played without lowering the DF line. We have been unable to score and have been conceding goals while controlling the pace to some extent, and the content has been gradually declining. In the midst of two consecutive losses, the team's toughness is being tested, including the mental aspect."