Aiming for victory by taking advantage of home field advantage

　The 30th round of the league, which will be held after a two-week interval for the Emperor's Cup, will face Kawasaki Frontale at home. In the Emperor's Cup on the 5th, they scored a massive 7 goals and won, and are currently on a 3-game winning streak in official matches since the 28th round against G Osaka. The players were all saying, "It won't be that easy in J1," but the team's form is improving. We hope to see them achieve a 3-game winning streak in the league for the first time since 2002.

　Kawasaki, currently in 3rd place, is only 4 points behind the top spot and still has a chance at winning. They will press from the front and use the midfield trio of Nakamura, Taniguchi, and Maguinho to quickly launch counterattacks. The striking duo of FW JUNINHO and Watanabe are also a threat, making them a formidable opponent.

　In response to this, Tokyo will counter with a strategy of thoroughly targeting the opposing DF's back. In particular, using the space behind the 3-back DF that is left open after Kawasaki's MF Marcon and Mori move up, we want to create chances by aiming for the back. In that sense, the midfield battle should be one of the highlights. We want to take control without being chased on defense, and have Baba and Lucas also make runs up front, launching a strong attack from the sides.

　A battle aiming for victory by taking advantage of the home ground. The starting lineup includes players who did not have a chance to play in the Emperor's Cup Bandione Kobe match, namely Doi, Toda, and Ishikawa. The center-backs are Mashi and Inonami. Unfortunately, the match started at 3:04 pm with a kick-off from Kawasaki, in cold weather with rain since the morning.

Amidst the back-and-forth of counters, we allow a 2-point lead from a mistake.

　From the beginning, there was a fierce back-and-forth of counterattacks, with a fast pace of play. In the 7th minute, Tokyo gave a free kick on the left sideline. Kawasaki MF Maginun took the kick in front of the goal, and Tsuchiho made a save with one hand, but the ball hit the post and Tsuchiho made another save, only for MF Taniguchi to score on the rebound.

　However, 13 minutes into the game, Inamoto passed to Lucas on the right side. Tokunaga advanced into the goal area and won a corner kick. In the 14th minute, Baba's kick was initially cleared by the Kawasaki defense, but Baba regained possession and crossed the ball. The opposing goalkeeper came out to punch the ball, but it floated up and Lucas headed it into the goal! This equalized the game early on and brought it back to square one.

　However, after that, they ended up conceding points due to their own mistakes. In the 17th minute, they lost concentration during Kawasaki's left throw-in, allowing MF Taniguchi to dribble into a deep position in the left area. Then, a negative last pass was combined with FW Ganaha, and they were easily scored. Tokyo also attacked at a fast pace, but they were countered by Kawasaki after losing the ball in the front line. Even after 30 minutes, the pace did not slow down and the fast-paced battle continued.

　At 42 minutes, Imakano intercepted and attacked, but was surrounded and lost the ball, and Kawasaki MF Maginun ran up the left side. FW Juninho jumped on the fast cross and volleyed in the center. The powerful shot pierced the net... However, in the first half, Tokyo had 10 shots compared to Kawasaki's 8. Despite only scoring one goal, they showed promise for a comeback and headed into the second half.

Despite being down by 3 points, they managed to win the intense battle with a dramatic comeback.

　In the 49th minute of the second half, Tokyo's CK ball was passed to the opponent's GK, who then sent a long pass to the front line. The ball went over Inaba's head and reached MF Maginun, who had broken through the front line. Fujiyama also chased after him, but was outrun by his speed and the goal was scored in an instant. Even in this situation, our defensive weakness was exposed, and we fell behind by 3 points, but there was still time. In the 51st minute, we earned a free kick from a deep position on the left side, and Baba quickly restarted and sent it to the goal. Toda skillfully assisted and scored the first goal of the season, signaling our comeback.

　In the 53rd minute, Kawasaki FW JUNINHO received his second warning and was sent off. In response, Suzuki was replaced by Ishikawa in the 54th minute, Miyazawa was replaced by Kajiyama in the 62nd minute, and Toda was replaced by Hirayama in the 68th minute, one after another. They pushed forward with Tokunaga in front and Fujiyama in the center of the 3-back formation. They collected the ball to Hirayama from the side, and Inoue, Baba, and Suzuki picked up the loose balls one after another to create chances. However, as Kawasaki became more defensive and tightened the center, they were unable to score and time passed by.

　It was the 83rd minute when our persistence paid off. The opponent's goalkeeper came out to clear the floating pass from Inano to the front line. Suzuki connected the ball with a header and Hirayama pushed it in with a header! With only one goal behind, the mood for a comeback was rising, and in the 84th minute, Kawasaki MF Maginun was also sent off with a second warning. The game became chaotic, but Tokyo remained calm and launched a fierce attack against the 9-man Kawasaki.

　Although they completely grasped the flow, they entered into 6 minutes of stoppage time. However, they never gave up. In the 89th minute, Fujiyama's right cross was contested by Hirayama and the opposing DF in front of the goal. It fell into the area and Suzuki on the left took a shot-like cross in front of the goal from the loose ball that hit the opposing DF. Finally, Miyazawa from the far side headed it in, equalizing the score!

　And around the time when 5 minutes of stoppage time had passed, Imakawa, who received a lateral pass from Tokunaga, swung his right foot as soon as he saw that there was no opponent's press in front of the area! The ground ball slipped through the opponent's defense and went into the bottom right of the goal!! With a dramatic comeback, the time was up shortly after. They achieved a great comeback in a fierce battle and won. As a result, they accumulated 39 points with 3 consecutive wins in the league, securing their spot in the J1 league.

　【Player Comments】《Konno》"The biggest reason for today's win was that the opposing team had a player sent off. In the first half, we were sleeping and losing one-on-one battles with the opponent, which was frustrating to look back on. The atmosphere at halftime was not good either. I don't think Tokyo is a team that easily loses, so I was also frustrated. I was thinking of being more aggressive with the ball. I was hesitant to take a shot from outside the box, but I had been practicing it recently, so I took the shot and it went in. Before that, I had taken a shot with my left foot, but it was blocked by the Kawasaki defender. Maybe the opponent thought I wouldn't take another shot... The fans were really cheering us on and the atmosphere was like, 'We can't settle for a draw, we have to turn this around!' Tokyo is strong when we get too confident. It's not about bullying the top teams, every game is a battle. Above all, we can't afford to lose at home and we fight for the pride of Tokyo."《Hirayama》"The goal was just a matter of finishing off a good ball. I was happy, but everyone was in a mood of 'Let's go for another goal!' so I couldn't be too happy. Before coming on, I was told to do my job when the ball comes in from the side. When I was on the bench, it felt like we were losing because of our own mistakes, so I wasn't feeling pessimistic. We all helped each other and had a strong desire to win. I think scoring goals is the best way to make an impression, but I will continue to work hard to contribute to the team."

　[Summary of Manager Kuramata's Press Conference] "Once again, I realized that if we don't give up until the end, we can play this kind of game. In the first half, we played soccer that was close to our goal, but we gave up 2 points from set plays and 1 point from quick attacks. Kawasaki was attacking quickly, so we focused on not easily losing the ball, but the game turned into a situation where we were losing the ball due to many central attacks. In the second half, we approached the game with the consciousness of not breaking the flow of the first half and being careful of the opponent's quick attacks. I instructed the team to thoroughly break down the sides and create a numerical advantage, which should allow us to play our own soccer. I think we were able to do that to some extent. It was a game where we had to endure to some extent, but the opponent received a red card and we were able to turn the game around in the end. (Regarding defense) I instructed Inonami to man-mark FW Juninho and not let him do his job. I think he did a good job of sticking to him to some extent. I instructed Masushima to be aware of FW Ganaha and then gave Inonami instructions to cover. We need to make corrections, especially in situations where we are slow to switch and in the second goal from a throw-in."

　[Kawasaki · Sekizuka coach's press conference summary] "(Regarding refereeing?) I would like to refrain from speaking at this seat. We are doing training based on J-League's judgment criteria, but if it is too far apart, we cannot deal with it. It was a game that made me think very much about what I should teach. The players endured tough training and I think they did a really good job towards winning the title. All I could say to the players was "Thank you for your hard work, let's go home soon."