Reorganize the defense and win with Tokyo's rhythm!

　Sec. 28 will be held on Sunday, one day later, welcoming Gamba Osaka at home. In the previous match against Hiroshima, they suffered a comeback defeat after leading by 2 points. This match, they will need to improve their defense and play in their own rhythm. There is hope for a long-awaited victory at home. In this match, Jean will be suspended due to accumulated yellow cards, and Inaba will be used as a center back. Hirayama will be in the front line, Lucas in the attacking midfield, and Konno and Kajiyama will form a double pivot. In addition, Suzuki, who had been injured in his right shoulder, returned on July 22 against Kashima and was on the bench.

　G Osaka, who is currently in 2nd place, will be facing them. They have not won in the last 3 games and cannot be considered in good form, but with yesterday's 1st place Urawa drawing, they will surely be aiming for a win today. Although MF Endo has been absent due to illness, they have a wealth of talent, especially with Japan national team FW Hasebe and FW Magno Alves, who is currently 2nd in the scoring rankings, providing an astonishing attacking force. They can also aim for goals with just the two of them as a combination, and with MF Futagawa as the starting point, they will continue to make central breakthroughs. If the center is marked, they can also break through from the sides with the well-known right MF Kaji and left MF Ienaga, showcasing a variety of attacking variations.

　Tokyo, on the other hand, wants to clearly determine the position and timing of their press, take it away, and quickly transition to attack. They want to break through the wall of G Osaka's DF Miyamoto and Shijikurei, utilizing Hirayama's height and Toda's speed. In last week's practice, coach Kuramata talked about the challenge of "still being slow to switch", but they want to aim for victory by paying attention to the coordination between the DF line and the front line, and following Tokyo's rhythm.

Exploited the defensive gap and conceded 2 goals in the first half...

　Cloudy Ajinomoto Stadium. Sec. 26 and 27 were both away games, so the home game will be the first since the Niigata game on September 30th. Fans continued to pour in, gathering a total of 36,161 spectators, and the game kicked off at 3:04 PM in Tokyo. From the start, both teams showed their fighting spirit and engaged in intense attacks and defenses. In the 7th minute, Lucas won the first corner kick of the day. Kajiyama's right corner kick was headed by Konno, but the opposing DF blocked it. Kajiyama picked up the loose ball and advanced towards the goal area. Hiraoka tried to connect with a negative pass, but was unfortunately blocked by the DF.

　Until now, G Osaka had not created any decisive scenes, but in the 11th minute, FW Magnor Alves persistently kept the ball on the right front line and was able to cross it back while moving away from the goal. The ball went over Inoha's head in front of the goal and went to FW Hato. Hato controlled the ball with his chest and scored a quick goal. He did not miss the gap in Tokyo DF's defense and conceded the first goal early on.

　Still, Tokyo created chances from Ishikawa and Kajiyama's bold attacks. In the 23rd minute, Kajiyama went up the left side, passed to Lucas with a one-two, dribbled up to the left area, and passed to Lucas with a minus. Lucas' shot was blocked by the opposing DF. However, in the next minute, G Osaka MF Nikawa stole the loose ball, floated a pass behind Tokyo DF, and FW Magnouaube chased it down at high speed, controlling it with his head in the left area. From there, he scored a skillful shot and conceded the second goal.

　Although they showed vulnerability in defense, they were not completely pushed back. Even when they fell behind, they did not give up and attempted to counterattack. In the 29th minute, Ishikawa carved through the right side and won a corner kick from a fast ground cross. Kajiyama connected with the corner kick and now Kono headed it, but Lucas' header shot missed to the left. After that, Ishikawa moved well and attacked from the right side, but they struggled to keep possession in the front line. In the 42nd minute, Tokunaga broke through on the right side and was fouled, earning a free kick from the right side of the box. Ishikawa attempted a volley from the loose ball that hit the G Osaka defender, but the opposing GK caught it. They were unable to score and went into the second half trailing by two goals.

Konno, Suzuki, and Ishikawa! They scored 3 goals in 7 minutes, leading to a dramatic comeback victory.

　In the second half, G Osaka found their rhythm. They put pressure on Tokyo's goal through set plays, but they did not lose focus and did not allow any additional points. In the 54th minute, Bamba was substituted for Hirayama. Lucas was placed in the front line, aiming for a goal. In the 58th minute, Bamba took a long shot when he saw no press from the opposing team in their own territory. Although it was caught by the goalkeeper, it was a good attempt and became the turning point for Tokyo to find their rhythm.

　61 minutes, Tokunaga attacks inside and Kajiyama runs in from the scramble in front of the goal. However, he is closed down by the opposing DF and unable to finish. In the 64th minute, Suzuki is substituted for Toda. Gradually, Baba dominates the ball from the keep and Imakawa also shows a bold attacking run, resulting in longer periods of attacking. Still, they are unable to finish and continue to concede counterattacks from G Osaka. In the 74th minute, a shot from FW Magnouaubez, who broke through on a pass from G Osaka MF Nikawa, is saved by Doi with his whole body, preventing a dangerous situation.

　Tokyo made a substitution, replacing Kajiyama with Miyazawa in the 76th minute. With this player change, they completely took control of the pace and finally broke through the G Osaka goal. In the 77th minute, as Fujiyama fed the ball to the front line, the opposing GK came out. Here, Imakawa started running and skillfully avoided the GK with a trap, scoring into the empty goal, GOAL! They caught up to within one point.

　As the mood for a comeback increased with this goal, in the 81st minute, Suzuki, who received a pass from Fujiyama to Baba on the left sideline, advanced forward with a dribble and flashed his left foot. He struck a powerful shot into the top right corner of the goal net! The stadium heated up even more with this spectacular equalizer. In the following 84th minute, Inoue overlapped on the left side and persistently connected with a loose ball, passing it to Suzuki who advanced towards the goal. Suzuki sent a fast ground ball inside, which Ishikawa trapped perfectly and calmly slid into the goal, GOAL!! They continued to pile on with 3 goals and achieved a brilliant comeback, reaching the peak of the stadium's excitement.

　As the remaining time dwindled, G Osaka also attacked from set pieces, and tense moments continued. In stoppage time, a penalty was given for a FK just outside the penalty area, creating a tense scene. FW Magnoua Uves aimed directly and sent the ball flying into the left frame, but it was saved nicely by Tsuchi, and right after that, time was up! The substitute player created a rhythm and scored 3 points in the second half for a dramatic comeback. With the support of the stands, they were able to get a valuable 3 points at Ajinomoto on April 29th against Nagoya, and defeated G Osaka.

　【Player Comments】《Suzuki》"I had been cut off on the side for a long time, but in that moment I saw space in the middle. I thought it was a chance because the opposing DF didn't come close, so I shot towards the goal in a frenzy. I was able to hit it cleanly, so I was able to shoot without hesitation. (Assist to Ishikawa) G Osaka's DFs are tall like Shijikurei, so I was thinking of sending a fast, shooting ball into the middle. When I came on, we were losing, so I wanted to play aggressively because that's what I can do. I was finally able to make the squad last night, and I was itching to play. I feel like the three months I've been injured have paid off. It's a motivation for players to have their names called by the supporters. Today, the calls were louder than usual, and it gave me even more motivation. However, we've only played one game. The real question is how much we can do from here."《Imano》"We conceded two goals at the beginning, but everyone kept running until the end, and the atmosphere in the stadium was amazing, so we were able to turn it around. At halftime, we talked about how we were reversed in the last game against Hiroshima, and if we could score one goal, the opponent would also get nervous. In the first half, Kajiyama was playing forward, and G Osaka's MF Nikawa was also coming out, so I stayed back a lot. In the second half, I thought I had to take risks and go out. The goal came from a good ball, and the GK was also coming out, so I felt like I could score if my first touch was good. My trap was good. Gamba has high individual abilities and is undoubtedly a strong team, but we believed that we could have a good game if we played our own soccer. Today, the whole stadium had a sense of unity and created an atmosphere of "we can do it". Scoring one goal changed the atmosphere in the stadium and gave us a lot of strength. We have a series of matches against top teams coming up, but the higher the opponent's motivation, the stronger our desire to beat them becomes. It's also exciting, and we want to make it difficult for the top teams."

　[Summary of Manager Kuramata's Press Conference] "Since becoming manager, we haven't been able to win at Ajinomoto Stadium and have always caused trouble for our supporters. The players have worked hard, but it was thanks to the strong support of our supporters that they were able to rise up. It was truly great. In the first half, G Osaka scored twice with their chances. We were able to play our own style of soccer to a certain extent, but we ended up conceding. In that situation, there were times when we couldn't keep the ball up front, so we tried to make adjustments for the second half. I told Hirayama to hold onto the ball, but G Osaka was very careful in passing to him. As a result, things didn't go as planned and the players around him became frustrated. Hirayama has height and created chances in the first half with three set pieces. We thought that he would attract a lot of attention from the defense, so we waited until the beginning of the second half to see if there would be any changes. But when nothing changed, we substituted Baba for Lucas and had him run into space. After that, we had a few chances and were able to score. We were planning to limit Suzuki's playing time on the left side. He's still recovering from an injury and can't play for a long time yet, so we wanted to take advantage of G Osaka's tiredness and make a move. We took a risk and used him for the remaining 25 minutes, and he was able to produce results. It was great."

　[G Osaka Nishino's press conference summary] "Yesterday, it was a big chance game because it was after Urawa drew. The players were also aware of that, but it was not a typical G Osaka game at all. After scoring two points, there was no attacking power or force. There was not enough consciousness to go forward, and there were many defensive times. With Hirayama, the defensive line drops, and the situation of contact play in the area, which is a weakness of G Osaka, increases, but the line actually dropped. At halftime, I emphasized that point and told the players, "This is a dangerous game," but it became a feeling of "wanting to defend." Also, even if the ball was taken, it was difficult to create a pause in the midfield, and I felt that there was some loss of confidence in the attack. MF Endo was absent, and although it was great to take the ball, it is difficult to ask MF Myojin and Hashimoto for development and connection from there. In the attack, FW Hato was restrained and could not make the game. Fuyama and Tokunaga entered the midfield, and Maeda was replaced for the sake of defending the midfield. In order to seal Tokyo's side attack, I wanted to put pressure on the opponent's center back with FW Magno and Hato and push down both SBs, but it did not go well. I didn't want Hirayama to be replaced. Baba added an accent with a grounder, and Suzuki came out there, which was the most unpleasant pattern. In that sense, I wanted to eliminate Tokyo's side attack early with the introduction of Maeda, etc."