Win over Nagoya with momentum!

　J1 League Sec. 26 will face Nagoya Grampus Eight away. They have finally suffered 6 consecutive losses and are in a desperate situation. However, players such as Shigetaka Morinaga, Jean, and Ishikawa have returned from injury and are gradually regaining their strength. They are refreshed both physically and mentally, and as a team, they want to aim for a new mindset to break their losing streak.

　Nagoya, on the other hand, is currently in 11th place with 31 points. They have managed to get through 4 games in September with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss, and their form is on the rise. In particular, since the addition of FW Yonson, their attacking line has been working well together. In the previous match, FW Sugimoto even scored a hat-trick, showing their high scoring ability. Manager Kuramata says, "It's important to control the two top players, FW Yonson with his height and FW Sugimoto with his speed. Especially Yonson, who has great ball control and also chases after the ball from the front line. We want to focus on him and then have Sugimoto and the second line players pick up the loose balls and make plays, so we need to be thorough in our defense against that."

　Tokyo changed their system to 4-2-3-1 with Hirayama as the lone striker, and Kajiyama playing as the attacking midfielder. "When playing as the attacking midfielder, I want to stay close to the forward and not drop back too much. Hirayama also connects well with short passes, so I want to make penetrating passes. When the ball is in the air, I want to win the second ball and press from the front in defense," Kajiyama is also fired up. In addition, Toda and Ishikawa on the wings will not lose in running against Nagoya's attacks, and they want to dominate with momentum without being passive in the physical battles.

　In the previous match, despite taking the lead, we conceded 4 goals and lost the game. In the match before that against Kashima, we also conceded 3 goals and had concerns about our defense, so the return of Shigetoshi Mochida can be considered a big boost. Tsuyoshi Imano also said, "With Mochida back, my role becomes clearer. Nagoya is good at counterattacks, so I want the defenders to hold back and I will try to get back quickly." The match started at 2:04pm in Nagoya's kickoff at Mizuho Athletic Stadium, with clear weather but strong winds blowing.

Hirayama's first goal gives us the lead, and we end the first half with a 1-point advantage.

　Choose the windward side in the coin toss before the match and start attacking. In the 6th minute, Kajiyama → Hirayama receives a wedge and goes to the left side. Fujiyama raises an early cross directly, but the opponent's GK catches it. In the 9th minute, Doi's kick falls in front of the opponent's goal, and Toda runs in and takes a volley shot, but it floats. Up until this point, Nagoya has only been attacking with long balls, but after 15 minutes, they start attacking with FW Yonsen as the starting point. In the 16th minute, FW Sugimoto shoots from the right area after a persistent post by FW Yonsen, but Shigeta cuts it. They connect the loose ball, and this time MF Fujita shoots, but Miura cuts it. In the 17th minute, FW Sugimoto cuts in from the right and is initially cut by Fujiyama, but the loose ball is taken by Fujita who runs in freely and takes a decisive shot, but it goes over the bar.

　Tokyo struggled to create attacking opportunities and find their rhythm even after winning the ball, but in the 22nd minute, Hirayama scored the first goal with his first J-League goal. Miura kept the ball in the midfield and passed it to Ishikawa on the right side. He then passed it to Tokunaga who made a run from behind, and he crossed it on the ground. Kajiyama was left free to take a shot, but it was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper. However, Hirayama reacted quickly to the rebound and calmly slotted it into the goal.

　Then the team starts to gain momentum. In the 24th minute, Kajiyama aims for a direct left FK and steals a left CK. From that CK, Hirayama competes and Tokunaga crosses the ball, and Kajiyama volleys it directly over the goal. In the 28th minute, Ishikawa → Miura shoots from long range. The ball hits Kajiyama and Ishikawa tries to score directly, but it floats too high. As time passes, Nagoya dominates the ball and the game progresses in Tokyo's territory, but with Shigeno and Jean at the center, they organize and compact their defense, not allowing any dangerous situations to arise.

　In the 42nd minute, Nagoya's Kajiyama chased after the ball in the opponent's half and induced a mistake, but Toda's shot from the left narrowly missed the top of the bar. In the 44th minute, Ishikawa ran up the right side from Kajiyama's through pass and crossed. Toda ran into the center at the perfect timing, but his shot missed the target. The game ended with Nagoya leading by one point at the end of the first half.

Ishikawa's winning goal secures victory and breaks the losing streak

　Nagoya, starting from the second half, tries to regain momentum and attacks, but Tokyo does not allow any goals with their focused defense. In the 46th minute, MF Nakamura takes a shot from a counter, but Doi catches it. In the 49th minute, FW Yong-sun jumps in on a right cross from DF Omori, but Jean firmly blocks him and the header goes straight to Doi. On the contrary, Tokyo quickly counterattacks from here, with Fujiyama passing to Hirayama, who then passes it directly to Toda on the left side. Toda runs behind the DF and takes a shot, but it is saved by the GK. However, the game was not going badly, but they were caught off guard for a moment and ended up conceding a goal.

　57 minutes, FW Yonsen cuts in from the right area and easily allows a shot, which is forcefully taken by FW Sugimoto, who jumps out to the center of the goal and kicks it in. Although they returned to the starting point, Tokyo switches their mindset and begins their attack. In the 58th minute, Ishikawa crosses from the right side and Inakano keeps it and enters the right area. He carefully passes to the center, but it is cut off. In the 62nd minute, Jean enters behind the opposing DF and Nagoya GK Narazaki jumps out, but Toda picks it up well and shoots at the empty goal while losing his balance. It was a decisive chance, but it goes over the bar.

　Nagoya also threatened Tokyo's goal multiple times with a powerful left-footed shot from MF Honda and sharp movements from FW Sugimoto utilizing his speed, but Tsuchi was determined not to allow any goals with his spirited saves. Both teams continued to go back and forth in their attacks, but it was Tokyo who scored an additional point. In the 79th minute, a quick restart led to Inamoto → Tokunaga dribbling up the right side and passing to Hirayama in the center. Despite being surrounded by the opposing defenders, he aggressively dribbled into the area but was eventually cut off. However, the ball bounced to Inamoto who took a shot with his right foot, which was deflected to the left where Ishikawa was waiting to score with his left foot, sending the ball into the net.

　After that, Nagoya launched a counterattack with all players pushing forward. Tokyo also made substitutions, bringing in Abe and Akamine for Toda and Hirayama who showed signs of fatigue. They focused on defending from the front and prevented the opponent's attacks from gaining momentum. However, in the 85th minute, FW Sugimoto and in the 89th minute, FW Yonson both took shots but missed the target. The game ended with this score, finally breaking the losing streak. Additionally, the key to victory was the resilient defense of the DF line, led by the returning Shige, which only conceded one goal. This result will have a positive impact going forward.

　【Player Comments】《Taira SHIGE》"I had some concerns about my foot, but my voice didn't tire out. It may have been an energy-saving play, but as a team, we were able to show our perseverance. In the first half, there were moments where we were continuously shot at in the area, but everyone put their bodies on the line and blocked them. I think we showed our Tokyo style. Personally, I'm still playing while deceiving myself, allowing fast opponents to run and skilled opponents to hold the ball. I was thinking that if we could stop them in the end, it would be good. We conceded one goal, but I think we did our best. I'm also happy that we won in my comeback match, and also happy for Hirayama's goal. While I couldn't play, I felt like we lacked perseverance...but we are a team with momentum. I think this victory will be a good starting point for our comeback in the future."《Ishikawa》"It's good that I scored a goal, but my performance was not good at all. I should be able to move more and not lose in running. However, looking back at a year ago, I couldn't even imagine standing on the pitch due to injury. Considering that, I feel very happy. I want to switch gears and do my best to contribute to the team."《Hirayama》"I'm very happy that the team won. The goal came from creating a numerical advantage in the area. Kajiyama's shot came out well. We were dominated by Nagoya in the beginning, but I think we got better as time went on. We were kept in check by Nagoya, but we also held the ball, so I don't think they were able to control the pace. However, our defense did a good job. But we are still in the lower ranks, so it's important from here on out. We want to practice and find our rhythm from the start. I was also happy to hear the support from the fans. Even though we lost at home in the previous match, they came all the way to the away game and I am grateful."

　[Summary of Manager Kuramata's Press Conference] "For today's match, we focused on how to prevent Nagoya's FW Yonseon from scoring. It's good that the results turned out in our favor. (About Hirayama's play?) After taking the ball, we were conscious of putting it through to him, so I think we were able to do that to a certain extent. However, I would like to see him move more and make more runs into space."

　[Nagoya - Vergoossen's Press Conference Summary] "Today's game, the first 20 minutes were a good game with a high tempo. The wind was strong and it wasn't an easy game, but we still created a few chances. However, after 20 minutes, we were completely finished with the game after being down 0-1. The remaining 70 minutes were a game of one step forward and one step back. The game lacked tempo. I think FC Tokyo's great organization was a factor, but we also made the game difficult with our own mistakes. We had good plays, but then the next play was not good. There were also several technical and tactical mistakes, which made it difficult to create a good tempo in the game. FC Tokyo played a lot of long balls and they were able to pick up most of the second balls. I think we lacked concentration and aggressiveness. We didn't create any chances in the second half. It was also difficult to put pressure on the front line due to the strong wind. It wasn't just one player making mistakes, it was 8 or 9 players. The players played below their usual level. In my 28 years of working in soccer, I know that you can't win with just 20 minutes of good soccer. It was a disappointing game."