Fireworks Night, aiming for consecutive wins at home at Ajinomoto Stadium!

　In Sec. 16, Sanfrecce Hiroshima will face off against C Osaka. They will aim to continue their winning streak at home at Ajinomoto, following their big victory in the previous match. Lucas and Inonami will be suspended due to accumulated warnings, but Kurisawa will join the midfield and Kawaguchi will take the left MF position. Kajiyama, who injured his ankle in the C Osaka match, will also be able to start without any major issues.

　Hiroshima is currently in 15th place with 3 wins, 4 draws, and 8 losses. During the break, they welcomed new coach Petrovic and in the 3 games in July, they had 1 win and 2 losses. FW Weslley has scored 4 goals in these 3 consecutive games, and the other FW Sato also has 1 goal, showing their scoring ability. However, they have not had a clean sheet in any of the 3 games, revealing their weakness in defense. However, in the previous game against Kofu, although they conceded 3 goals in the first half, they switched from a 3-back to a 4-back in the second half and showed a well-balanced game. Basically, they defend man-to-man against the opponent's attacking line, but how they will defend against Tokyo's side attacks will be one of the key points to watch.

　In response to this, Tokyo needs to keep moving and stir up the front line with fluid movements, and attack the sides. It will be a test of strength after a big win to see if they can have a game like the one against C Osaka where "anyone can score from anywhere". The match will be held at Ajinomoto Stadium for the first time since the 12th round on May 6th, and the game started with Hiroshima's kickoff at 6:34 pm.

Unable to show momentum, allowing the first goal due to loss of concentration

　The start of the game saw both teams playing with intense passion. The game went back and forth with attacks and defenses. In the 2nd minute, Jean made a run from a free kick and won a corner kick on the right side. Kicker Kajiyama received the return pass and passed it to Jean in the middle. From there, a through pass was made to the front line, but no one was able to connect. In the 10th minute, a pass was made to Jean who had made a run on the inside of the left side by Kawaguchi. From there, a cross was made, but the opponent's GK caught it. In the 14th minute, Kajiyama connected with Jean's interception and attacked the goal, but was unable to take a shot.

　Hiroshima is in a 4-4-2 formation on the team sheet, but MF Nakazato is playing as a right stopper in a 3-back formation. DF Komano is positioned as a right MF, and has been able to contain Tokyo's left side attacks in combination with Nakazato. In the center of the 3-back, Kazuyuki TODA, who has just returned from suspension, is placed to launch counter attacks from the midfield and DF lines, gradually gaining momentum. In the 20th minute, Mochizuki fouls FW Weslley on the left side of Tokyo's defense, giving Hiroshima a free kick. As Weslley slowly gets up from the ground, Tokyo loses focus and is unable to organize their defense. FW Sato jumps in and scores, giving Hiroshima the lead.

　At 33 minutes, Rychely was substituted for Kurizawa, who was struggling in defense and unable to get involved with the ball up front. Baba was moved to the midfield and Rychely's speed was utilized. However, at 36 minutes, Baba → Konno's header from a right FK earned from Kajiyama's foul went over the bar. At 38 minutes, Rychely was fouled near the penalty arc and Baba took a direct shot from the FK, but it also went over the goal. At 39 minutes, Kajiyama started a counter attack and passed to Rychely on the left, but he was caught offside. Without being able to create any decisive chances, they went into the second half trailing by one goal.

The additional point was taken away, and the attacking team ended up with no points...

　At halftime, the usual fireworks night was held and the fireworks were launched, exciting the stands in anticipation of a comeback in the second half. In the second half, Abe was substituted for Miura as the top player, Kajiyama was moved to the defensive midfielder position, and the formation was changed to a two-top in an attempt to change the flow of the game.

　However, in the 47th minute of the second half, the ball that was taken from Doi's goal kick and entered the opponent's territory was taken by Hiroshima MF Morisaki Hiroshi → FW Weslley with one touch to the front line. FW Sato, who ran into this ball, scored a precise second goal. Jean tried to chase after Sato and stop him, but he couldn't make it in time. They allowed an additional goal in a situation where they were trying to attack.

　Substituted Toda for Kawaguchi in the 56th minute. After that, both teams' movement decreased and the line stretched, and Tokyo also created a decisive chance. In the 58th minute, Ishikawa received a pass from Rychely on the right and took a powerful shot from inside the penalty area in front of the goal! However, it was blocked by the opponent's GK.

　At 66 minutes, Shigetaka passes a vertical pass to Abe in the right area. Abe traps the ball, turns towards the goal, and takes a shot, but it hits the opposing GK and narrowly misses to the left by one ball's width... From the resulting left corner kick, Rychely takes a header shot, but it hits the crossbar.

　In the 72nd minute, Rychely took a shot at the goal where the opponent's goalkeeper had jumped out, but it was blocked by the opponent's defender at the last minute and the goal was not scored. In the end, Tokyo took 13 shots but failed to score. Hiroshima thoroughly executed counterattacks from their solid defense and scored 2 goals with 14 shots. It was a game at the home stadium Ajinomoto, where both teams fought with all their might, but Tokyo's unbalanced play led to a disappointing defeat. They were unable to continue their winning streak from the previous match.

　【Player Comments】《Kajiyama》"There were a lot of defensive situations and it was a tough game as we were chasing. It wasn't due to injury, but in the second half my legs started to cramp up and I had to stop. The opponent was marking tightly and pressing quickly, and we couldn't move enough to break through. It would have been better if we had more explosive movements. Even if we were booed today, it was understandable. We need to switch gears and make adjustments during this break."《Miura》"We've been conceding first in the past few games, and the way we concede and the timing of the second goal are the problems. Our game management was poor today. I should have given more instructions to concentrate during the first goal from a set piece, and I'm reflecting on not being able to control the game. It was after the big win against C Osaka and it was our first game at Ajinomoto Stadium in a while, so we talked about not letting our guard down before the game. But we couldn't express that well on the field. Our challenge now is to reduce the number of goals conceded. We need to hold on when we have to and then build momentum when we can. We'll regroup in the next two weeks!"

　[Garro's Press Conference Summary] "Today was a very bad game. It was probably the worst game we've played so far. We made mistakes in various areas and although we had two good games against Kashima and C Osaka, we couldn't continue that momentum. As a team, all the mistakes are my responsibility. Hiroshima was better than us in every aspect today. It could have been a game where we conceded more than just two goals. Our defense, midfield, and forwards all played poorly. Our defense couldn't mark well and we couldn't get the ball to our forwards from the midfield. We lost against Kashima, but we had 19 shots compared to their 12. Our game against C Osaka was also good. However, it was the fourth game in a row and we dropped significantly. (Why was Kurisawa substituted?) We couldn't mark well and Kurisawa was shut down. Our attack slowed down because of that, so I decided to use Rychely's speed. (Why stick to a 3-back formation?) It's true that our 3-back didn't work today, but regardless of whether we play with a 3-back or 4-back, our team didn't function well in any aspect. I repeat, it's all my responsibility."

　[Hiroshima Petrovic's press conference summary] "It was a very difficult game. In July, we had a good start by winning against Nagoya, but we lost to Chiba and Kofu. The most important thing today was that we were able to win and earn points. We dominated the game from the start, played good defense, and were able to create good attacks from there. After taking a 1-0 lead, FC Tokyo put pressure on us and there was a period where we couldn't play our own soccer, but the important thing was that we didn't concede during that time. In the previous two games, we conceded, but it was good that we were able to get through that period without conceding. At halftime, we talked about continuing what we did in the first half and going for another goal, and it was successful. Today, I think Hiroshima showed great soccer on Tokyo's ground. We lost two home games, but I think we played very good games as a team in these four games. We are very happy about Kazuaki Morisaki's return. He played very well in the last three games, but there were some parts where his condition wasn't catching up, so we substituted him. The reason we used Nakazato as the right stopper was because we wanted a player who could keep up with the speed of FC Tokyo's top striker and two offensive players."