Aiming for 4 consecutive wins with the momentum!

　J1 League Sec. 31 will face Júbilo Iwata away. In the previous match, they achieved a great comeback victory by overturning a 3-point deficit, and the team is riding on momentum. Although the number of goals conceded is a concern, coach Kuramata said, "We know what our challenges are, so there is no need to worry," and aims to continue their momentum and achieve a 4-game winning streak, which they haven't done since 2002 (2nd Stage Sec. 8-11), while making adjustments on the defensive end.

　Iwata, on the other hand, is currently in 5th place with 49 points. With the arrival of new coach ADILSON in the middle of the season, the style of football has also changed. They firmly connect passes and frequently change positions with FW Maeda at the forefront, FW Ota, MF Fukunishi, and Funaya. They come at the defense with intense movements, so it is important to clearly communicate and mark in defense. The tactics against Iwata's attacking line will surely be one of the highlights.

　Tokyo, with Kawaguchi starting in place of Ishikawa, who injured his right foot, at right MF. It's his first away game at Yamaha since his transfer, so he should be burning with fighting spirit against his former team, Iwata. On the bench, Jean and Kurisawa are back. Jean said, "No matter the content, winning is the most important thing right now. I want to do my best to contribute to victory even as a substitute." Kurisawa is known as a "Jubilo Killer" for his ability to perform well against Iwata, so we hope to see him shine in crucial moments. We are prepared to play defensively to some extent as an away team, but we also want to launch quick counterattacks. The key will be how well we can navigate through Iwata's tough midfield and how much we can push forward from the second line.

　Although it is a fact that there has never been a victory at Yamaha Stadium in the past, Kajiyama confidently says, "I have never lost to Iwata since joining the team. I have no fear." Currently, Iwata is in a higher position, but Tokyo has the upper hand in momentum. Let's fight without hesitation and aim for victory! The match started at 2:04pm with a kickoff in Tokyo under cloudy skies.

Despite gaining momentum towards the end, the first half ended with a score of 0-2.

　1 minute into the game, Lucas attempts to dribble through the area. In the 2nd minute, Kajiyama sends a last pass to Kawaguchi in front of the left area, but the trap is missed. Tokyo had a decent start, but after that, their defensive line dropped back against Iwata's passing game, making it difficult to win the ball in the front. As expected, FW Ota, Maeda, and MF Fukunishi freely change positions, causing delays in marking and allowing Iwata to attack. And in the 7th minute, FW Maeda heads in a cross from FW Ota on the left side, giving up the first goal.

　Tokyo also counterattacks from here. In the 10th minute, Tokunaga overlapped and flowed to Kawaguchi on the right side. He shoots from an angleless position, but it goes just above the goal. In the 11th minute, Lucas, who had quickly restarted, entered the left area and took a shot, but it was saved by the goalkeeper. In the 13th minute, Toda → Lucas shoots from a pass cut, but it goes outside the frame. In the 15th minute, Kajiyama keeps the ball on the right side and passes it to Kawaguchi who runs in from behind, but the opponent's defender cuts it off and he can't take a shot. They started attacking from the right side, but in the 16th minute, Iwata MF Fukunishi takes a shot in front of the central area and hits the left post. The ball bounces back and is scored by FW Maeda, widening the lead to 2 points.

　Tokyo, who wanted to regain the flow of the game, couldn't do it as they wished. With Iwata extending their lead, they started passing the ball with ease and Tokyo, who had been pushing forward, were now being attacked on the counter. Tokyo tried to take advantage of their opponent's mistakes and go on the offensive, but they were caught in a vicious cycle of losing the ball in half-hearted attempts. However, after 35 minutes, their opponents started to tire and their defense from the front line became more stable, allowing Tokyo to control the ball and create decisive opportunities.

　At 37 minutes, Lucas on the left side breaks through after exchanging passes with Toda and takes a well-aimed shot that goes just right of the goal. At 38 minutes, Masushima heads down Baba's right corner kick and Lucas takes a shot from the loose ball. It seemed like it would be a goal, but Iwata MF Fukunishi clears it with a heel at the goal line. A great scoring opportunity is blocked... At 41 minutes, Inoue, Kawaguchi, and Tokunaga cross into the area from the right side. Toda runs in and takes a shot from just left of the goal, but the GK saves it. In stoppage time, Kawaguchi, Kajiyama, and Lucas combine on the left side and Lucas makes a direct pass to Toda, who breaks through and takes a shot, but once again the GK blocks it and it's not a goal. In the end, the first half ends 0-2.

Only Lucas' goal in the second half was able to mount a comeback. The league winning streak ends at 4.

　In the latter part of the first half, they tried to counterattack with the momentum they showed, but they easily allowed an additional point. In the 49th minute, Iwata's MF Fukunishi entered the right area from a counterattack. Although two defenders went to steal the ball, it was crossed back to the center and FW Ota was able to score freely. In the 52nd minute, Tokyo substituted Suzuki for Masushima and put Fujiyama in as CB. Four minutes later, they attacked again by substituting Hirayama for Kawaguchi. In the 61st minute, Suzuki on the left side entered the area and passed to Hirayama. He then passed it to Toda on the right for a shot, but it was blocked by the opposing defender. In the 62nd minute, Toda received Inaba's cross and took a one-touch shot, but this time it went outside the frame.

　At 64 minutes, Lucas → Baba shoots a looping shot, but the GK catches it. At 68 minutes, Suzuki dribbles forcefully from the left side to the center and takes a shot, but GK Kawaguchi makes a great save and it goes out for a corner kick. At 69 minutes, Inoue crosses the ball and Hirayama heads it down to Lucas in front of the goal. While being marked by a defender, Lucas turns and shoots, but it goes wide to the right of the goal. Tokyo tried to score by putting more players forward, but at 70 minutes, they were countered by Iwata MF Kikuchi who dribbled past Doi and was left with a 1-on-1. Kikuchi calmly dribbles past Doi and slots the ball into the empty goal. They concede their fourth goal.

　Without getting down, Tokyo attacks to score one point. In place of Baba, Miyazawa is put in. In the 74th minute, Tokunaga → Hirayama drops the ball and Miyazawa takes a middle shot in the center. Above the bar. In the 78th minute, Suzuki → Lucas drops to Kajiyama on the left side, dodges the DF and shoots, but it goes off target. In the 85th minute, Hirayama drops a cross from the left with his head and Toda takes a sliding shot. However, this also goes to the right of the frame...

　Then, in the 87th minute, Miyazawa's cross from the left side was headed by Hirayama, and Toda, who reacted to the ball, was crushed, but Lucas kicked it in and scored! Finally, we were able to get one point back. We continued to attack in order to score another goal, but the time was up. In the end, the number of shots was almost the same at 20 to 21, but the inability to score when it mattered had an impact, and we were unable to maintain our rhythm until the end, resulting in a 3-point difference in the score.

　【Player Comments】《Doi》"The opponent was moving well today. In the first half, we left them too open. We rushed to close the open players, but that left other players open. We couldn't get the ball back and even when we did, we made passing mistakes which led to counter attacks. We had chances to score but couldn't convert. If we had scored, the momentum might have changed. In the end, we tried to defend as a team but there were moments where two players went after the same opponent. We were too eager to put our bodies on the line and it backfired."《Toda》"It's disappointing and I feel sorry for not being able to convert our chances. Today, I focused on making runs inside instead of staying wide. Our goal was to disrupt the opponent's defense and in that sense, we did well. If we had been more composed in front of goal, we could have scored. We don't have much time until the next game, so we can't dwell on this. We need to switch our focus to the league and the Emperor's Cup."

　[Manager Kuramata's Press Conference Summary] "Today's game was a complete defeat. We had a bad start to the game and Iwata took the lead in the transition. We lacked persistence in front of the goal and ended the first half with a 2-0 score. In the second half, I told the players that if we defend from the front and score, we can turn the game around. However, we ended up conceding a goal and when the third goal was scored, we were unable to play our own football. In the end, we brought in Hirayama for a power play and tried to create crosses, but we ended up conceding another goal due to a defensive mistake. We were able to score one goal, but I think the reason we lost was because we only scored one goal despite creating so many chances. (Were you able to create opportunities freely in the front line?) For both the first and second goals, we needed to mark Maeda and Fukunishi in a 1-on-1 situation in front of the goal, but we were unable to mark them properly and they were able to create chances. (What instructions did you give to counter the opponent's counterattacks?) I instructed the players to create a numerical advantage, but our defensive coordination was not good enough to stop their counterattacks."

　[Iwata・Coach Adilson's Press Conference Summary] "The result was good and I am very happy. Winning is very important. The game was decided in the first half, but we were a little under pressure towards the end of the first half, so we made some adjustments at halftime. Today's game had a lot of counterattacks, and our side was able to create many chances for counterattacks, which was good. But the best thing was that we were able to achieve our goal (to win). (What were the instructions at halftime?) When we were under pressure towards the end of the first half, they were targeting the space behind our midfield, so instead of telling Ota to defend more, we used Hattori to increase our numbers and fill the space, and also to support Fabricio. Maeda is perfect tactically and has great concentration. He is a player who can play while thinking about the team, and as you saw in today's game, he can make the most of his chances."