Win the final home game of the season with a Tokyo-style battle!

　Sec. 33, which comes just two days after the frustrating comeback loss against Yokohama FM, will see us face Urawa Reds at home. It's hard to believe, but there are only two matches left in this season's J1 League. As you may know, Urawa is on the verge of winning the championship, making today's match a highly anticipated one. Tokyo has suffered two consecutive losses, but this is our final home game. Let's show our determination and take on Urawa.

　In the past two days of practice since the last game, Inonami and Kajiyama, who missed the Yokohama FM match due to conditioning, have both fully recovered and will start. Jean and Inonami will form the center back pair. In addition, Shioda will make his first start in a league match since the Nabisco Fukuoka match on May 21. Regarding this decision, Manager Kuramata said, "Doi has been playing in a way that is not like himself recently. It's not because it's the Urawa match, but every player has a chance, and today was his chance." The team will come together as one in a total team effort.

　Urawa is currently in first place with a 5 point lead over G Osaka in second place. However, in the previous round, they had a comfortable victory over Kofu, but in the last 5 matches, they have only managed to draw against Kawasaki and have lost to Iwata and Nagoya, leaving them in a stagnant state. With only one round left, they must be determined to secure the championship today. The Tokyo players should be fired up in this situation. However, it is necessary for them to remain calm and fight without being affected by the surrounding noise. Coach Kuramata also declared, "Urawa is a tough opponent, but we will not sit back and defend. We will attack quickly and take the win in a Tokyo-like style."

　That is also a big point in how we can fully demonstrate our strength. We want to calmly and aggressively advance the game by taking advantage of the pressure on Urawa. The key to victory will be to exploit the spaces on the sides of Urawa's 3-back formation with fast passing. In order to respond to your year-long support, we want to show Tokyo's style and end with a victory in this big match. The game started at 2:03 PM with Tokyo's kickoff, in the cloudy sky of Ajinomoto Stadium, with passionate fans filling up and an intense atmosphere.

Pressing Urawa with passionate play, but...

　They took the lead with a passionate play from the beginning. They pressed from the front, and Ishikawa and Tokunaga also attacked, attacking from the side. In the first minute, a pass from Baba to Ishikawa on the right. Ishikawa boldly advanced into the area and took a shot. It went to the left, but the aim was good. In the fifth minute, Fujiyama escaped from the cross of Urawa right MF Hirakawa. From this loose ball, Urawa MF Mitsushu shot, but Tokyo DF blocked it. In the sixth minute, a pass went to Urawa FW Washington who entered the area, and FW Ponte also jumped out, but Inaba cut it off with a sliding tackle. In the ninth minute, Baba, who received a pass from the left just outside the area, took a sharp shot directly, but it was blocked by Urawa DF Tatsuo with a header.

　In a tense development, Urawa's counterattack, led by GK Shioda, DF Jean, and Inaba, who made their first league start, all defended well by putting their bodies on the line and turned to attack. In the 22nd minute, Tokunaga advanced to the goal line. In a ground cross, Baba ran in and took a direct shot, but narrowly missed the frame... In the 26th minute, in the Tokyo area, Urawa's right MF Hasebe → central MF Yamada → left MF Mitsudomoe connected, and Mitsudomoe crossed. Jean's rebound was picked up and shot, but Shioda saved it! Immediately turning to the counterattack, in the 27th minute, they took a right CK from a quick attack. Baba's kick was headed by Jean, who was free, but it was a great opportunity that went over the frame.

　At 30 minutes, In the right cross of Ishikawa, Imakano picks up the spill and shoots from the front of the area, but is blocked by the opponent's GK's great save. With the right CK obtained, Lucas heads the ball from Baba's cross, but is once again blocked by the opponent's DF. At 35 minutes, Imakano heads the ball from the right CK. At 41 minutes, Toda heads the ball from Tokunaga's cross, overtaking Ishikawa. However, neither of them could score. In the middle of the first half, as the rain began to fall, all of us defended against Urawa's attacks and made good attempts, but the first half ended with a 0-0 tie.

Unable to seize the opportunity, resulting in a scoreless draw

　In the second half, we grasped the rhythm and created chances. We brought the attack from a persistent defense, and in the 53rd minute, Ishikawa, Kajiyama, and Baba launched a thick attack. Kajiyama passed from the right to Toda in front of the goal. Baba ran to the far side to follow up and connected with Ishikawa on the opposite side, but in the end, we couldn't finish it. In the 56th minute, Lucas caught up with Kajiyama's floating pass to the front line and tenaciously kept it. He returned it to the center, and Kajiyama dribbled past one opponent and took a shot, but it lacked power. In the 58th minute, Tokunaga attacked the space in the middle and sent a strong pass to the front of the goal. Lucas tried to finish it with his left foot, but it narrowly missed the target.

　Unable to score a chance, the amount of exercise decreased with the passage of time, and there were moments when they were taken away from mistakes and made to feel uneasy, but other players concentrated and covered as one to continue aiming for the goal. In the 61st minute, Urawa MF Mitsudomoe passed through the area. Shioda jumped out, but before he could catch it, it was taken by Urawa MF Yamada and shot from an angleless position. However, it narrowly cut to the right and avoided danger.

　Substituted Toda for Suzuki in the 65th minute. Pushed by the heat of the stands, in the 75th minute, he kicks a favorite FK from the right side of the opponent's field, but the sharp grounder ball is caught by the opponent's GK. In the 70th minute, Urawa also substituted MF Ono for MF Yamada, and in the end, they were pushed by plays starting from Ono. In the 79th minute, Inonami was unable to stop Urawa FW Washington, who entered the right area, and was shot from a close distance, but Shioda saved it with his right foot and did not let the goal break.

　On the contrary, in the 85th minute, they dominated Urawa with fast passing. Kajiyama ran in to receive a lofted pass from Baba in the penalty area, and while competing with the opponent's defender, he dropped it back. Suzuki, who had run in, took a shot! The momentum was strong, but once again it was blocked by Urawa's goalkeeper... In the end, Tokyo had 20 shots compared to Urawa's 14, but they couldn't score and the game ended in a scoreless draw. With G Osaka's victory, Urawa's championship was not decided, but for Tokyo, they just wanted to end their final home game with a win after playing well. As a result, they only managed to take 1 point and dropped one spot to 15th place.

　After the game, coach Kuramata gave a speech to thank everyone for their support over the past year. Following that, Miura, who has decided to retire at the end of this season, also gave a speech. Thank you very much for your warm support. We ask for your continued support until the Emperor's Cup, including the away game against Oita.

　【Player Comments】《Shioda》"I didn't want to lose to Urawa and it was also the last home game for the great player Fumitake MIURA, so I definitely didn't want to end with a loss. I was told to start yesterday, but I was instructed to 'just play my usual game' and that made me want to do my best. Urawa is a strong team, but I'm used to playing against them in the Nabisco Cup, so it was easier to fight against them. I watched a lot of recent videos and thoroughly analyzed things like covering and defending against counters. In the end, Urawa MF Ono created opportunities and made the sides move up. We were under a lot of pressure, but we were able to defend well. I wanted to win, but it was good that we didn't concede any goals. Before the warm-up, I asked Fumi-san, 'Can I wear your uniform?' I don't have any experience playing in the league, so I asked him to lend me his experience of playing in nearly 300 games. He kindly agreed and wearing his uniform helped me calm down. Today, I felt like everything I've done so far was not wrong. We have one more league game and the Emperor's Cup, and I want to keep winning for Fumi-san."《Miura》"Before the game, I told all the players, whether they were playing or not, 'I'm sorry to ask this of you, but please lend me your strength today.' Everyone shook hands with each other and went out onto the pitch. I watched from the bench, but everyone was really focused because it was the last home game. It didn't matter if Urawa won the league, we just wanted to win and that showed in our play. Looking back on my 6 years in Tokyo, the first thing that comes to mind is 'I was happy.' The fans were warm and the club staff always treated me with care as Fumitake MIURA. I feel blessed to have spent 6 happy years as a player."

　[Summary of Manager Kuramata's Press Conference] "I am grateful to have been able to play this kind of game in our final home game. Although the result was a draw, I think the players did well. We had many chances, so I wanted to turn it into a victory if possible, but I am satisfied that we were able to prevent Urawa from lifting the trophy in front of us. However, not being able to score is something we need to work on. In the first half, we aimed to break through the opponent's back three, especially on the right side with Ishikawa and Tokunaga. We were able to create chances, such as Baba's shot, but we couldn't convert them into goals. In the second half, we expected Urawa to be more aggressive, so we tried to break them down on the counter from both sides, but we couldn't score. Compared to the Kawasaki and G Osaka games, we were able to stay compact and focused on defense. In particular, Inano, Baba, and Kajiyama in the middle were not broken through. We also had Jean marking Urawa's FW Washington and leaving Inaba free, but Inaba did well in covering. Although Shioda has been in good form, he hasn't had many opportunities to play, but it was good to use him today. His decisions were not wrong, and he dealt with crosses well. (You have been fighting well against top teams, but your ranking is not high. What do you think about that?) We have conceded too many goals. When we were on a losing streak, most of the goals we conceded were from set pieces. We were able to improve on that, but we started to concede more goals in the flow of the game. That may be a factor in our instability."

　[Summary of Urawa Buchwald's press conference] "We expected FC Tokyo to be a very difficult match, as they had won against G Osaka and Kawasaki at home. However, we still tried to attack and score. It was a fast-paced game with quick transitions between offense and defense. In terms of the flow of the game, it seemed like we had the advantage in the first and second half. However, there were also 2-3 instances where GK Yamagishi had to make saves. Today, we instructed our players to move the ball and avoid Tokyo's press, but they didn't allow us to do that. Tokyo played well and managed the game skillfully. We were pushed back on the left side, but Ishikawa and Tokunaga are very skilled players. Considering the opponent, I am satisfied with today's performance. A draw seems like a fair result for both teams. With this, we have a 3-point lead and a 5-goal difference, and next week we will face a final round-like match. It's a good situation for us. I'm looking forward to it. Next, we have a home game where we haven't lost in 21 matches, and Urawa has not lost by a 3-goal difference this season. We just need to play as usual. To be honest, I wanted to win today."