First home victory with fresh members

　In Sec. 2 of the Nabisco Cup, we will face Oita Trinita at home at Ajinomoto. Although we are still winless at home this season, there is a feeling that we have "missed out on 3 points" in every match, including league games. This makes it a crucial match where we want to secure a victory. However, Tokunaga is suspended for this match. Evaldo, who has not been in good condition, and Kurizawa, who is also absent due to an injury to his left foot sustained in the match against Jubilo Iwata, will not participate. On the other hand, Hirayama, Inoha, and Kajiwara will leave the team for Olympic representative activities starting from the 23rd (Friday), so we will be using fresh members today.

　On the right side back is Ikegami, who will make his J-League debut, while the center backs are Fujiyama and Yoshimoto, and Baba, who is starting for the first time this season, is positioned as left midfielder. Hatta and Rychely are also on the bench for the first time this season. Although it will be a total team effort, Coach Hara expressed his expectations, saying, "We knew from the beginning that the Olympic representatives would be absent. That's why we have been training together as a team all along, and for the new members, it's an opportunity. If fresh players bring new wind and energy, the team will scale up even further."

　Oita started the season with 1 draw and 1 loss, but has won consecutive matches in Sec. 3 of the league and Sec. 1 of the Nabisco Cup. They are accumulating points with a solid defense in midfield, utilizing the speed and height of their forwards from the flanks. Attention is needed on the lively attacking line centered around forward Takamatsu and forward Matsuhashi Akira, who was selected for the Japan national team. Shioda, who started in the previous Nabisco Cup match against Iwata, mentioned, "Although it's a home game, conceding a goal early can have a significant impact. If we can survive the early stages, even the debut players will be able to play calmly, so we want to focus especially at the beginning." If we can suppress Oita's momentum with solid defense and gain an advantage in midfield, it should become Tokyo's time. We want to seize victory by capitalizing on our chances.

Although Oita took control, the defense fought hard

　The heavy rain in the morning began to clear at Ajinomoto, and the match started with Oita's kickoff at 14:04. Oita quickly found their rhythm from the beginning. Shortly after the start, FW Takamatsu attacked from the post, and MF Augusto made a decisive shot towards FW Takamatsu, who broke free in front of the goal. After this was saved by Shiota, Tokyo's DF line gradually settled down and began to attack from both sides. In the 10th minute, Baba, who flowed to the right in coordination with Ishikawa, delivered a cross and earned a corner kick. From the right corner kick taken by Baba himself, Wanchope persisted at the far post and passed to Lucas in the center. From here, Baba entered the right area, skillfully turned past the opposing DF, and shot! However, it narrowly missed to the right.

　In the 14th minute, a clearance from Ikegami's right cross fell in front of Wanchope. Wanchope brought it down to his feet and shot without hesitation, but it went over the bar. Unable to capitalize on the early chance, Oita regained their rhythm. In the 16th minute, they allowed MF Augusto to break away on a counterattack, but Yoshimoto at the back line made a sliding tackle to cut it off. In the 20th minute, they were attacked from Tokyo's left side, and Konno's clearance was too short, allowing it to reach MF Augusto in the area. He took a shot from close range, but Ikegami cleared it just in time!　

　After losing the ball in a half-hearted manner, Oita continued to launch counterattacks. In the 28th minute, Fujiyama fouled Oita FW Takamatsu as he broke into the area, resulting in a penalty kick. However, the penalty taken by FW Takamatsu was saved by Shiota with his right hand! After that, the ball hit the right post and bounced back, but Yoshimoto managed to block MF Nemoto's shot by getting his body in the way. Although there were moments that led to critical danger, they put their bodies on the line at the last moment and did not allow a goal.

　It seemed that the momentum was shifting towards Tokyo. However, in the 33rd minute, Ishikawa broke through the side and delivered a ground cross to Wanchope, but his trap was too long, and he couldn't take a shot. Unable to grasp the rhythm of the attack, they instead allowed Oita to connect passes, leading to a prolonged period of defense. In the 41st minute, from a counterattack by Tokyo, Ishikawa flowed to the left and broke deep into the area. He sent a backward pass into the box from near the goal line. Baba received it and skillfully evaded the opposing defender to shoot, but just missed the target... Although they couldn't convert the chance, the defense fought hard and kept Oita's attack scoreless to end the first half.

Conceded a goal from a counterattack, lost without scoring against the opponent's solid defense...

　In the 50th minute of the second half, Ishikawa runs into Baba's cross from the left side but fails to make contact. In the 52nd minute, Rychely is brought on to replace Wanchope, utilizing speed to attack. In the 58th minute, Kamino dives in to meet Ishikawa's right corner kick, but it goes wide. From here, the combinations fail to connect, and a period of not creating chances continues. In the 67th minute, Lucas holds up play in the front line, resulting in a left corner kick. Baba's kick is cleared by Oita's defense, leading to a counterattack. MF Nemoto charges forward with a rapid dribble and shifts to the left side. As Tokyo's defense closes in on FW Takamatsu, a pass is made to the free MF Augusto in the right area. He easily scores, and they finally concede a goal.

　In the 70th minute, Kanazawa was brought on, moving Noriyuki SUZUKI forward to launch a counterattack. In the 76th minute, Akamine was substituted for Ikegami, shifting to a three-back formation to aim for a goal, but there was little movement, and their sporadic attacks were intercepted, allowing Oita to advance. In the 79th minute, Noriyuki SUZUKI boldly aimed for the goal from the left side, but it went over the bar. In the 85th minute, Akamine intercepted a pass from Noriyuki SUZUKI on the left side, and Oita's midfielder Augusto was in front of the goal. The shot deflected off Yoshimoto's foot, changing its course and allowing the second goal to be conceded.

　Even so, trying to score a goal, in the 88th minute, Noriyuki Suzuki took a shot from a throw-in, but the opposing defender blocked it. In stoppage time, a clearance from a free kick by Noriyuki Suzuki on the left side went to Ishikawa on the right side of the area. Ishikawa attempted a shot after trapping the ball, but missed the target, and the game ended. In the first half, they were too cautious and missed opportunities. In the second half, they struggled with disjointed coordination. With a total of 19 shots from Oita compared to 14 from Tokyo, they suffered a defeat without showing their true form.

　【Player Comments】<Ikegami> "I thought about what I could do and tried to play as usual. After about 15 minutes, the tension eased, but I still felt some stiffness. Today, I paid attention to positioning to make it easier for Ishikawa to attack. I watched Oita's left midfielder Nemoto, and Ishikawa challenged the opponent's three-back defense. (Ending without scoring) I realized that if we don't challenge the opponent, we can't break them down or create chances. That is also my personal challenge. Today, the loss was frustrating enough to make me think 'Winning is the only thing that matters.' I will do my best to win next time. <Shioda> "The flow was bad at first, but I thought if I could stop the PK and prevent danger, chances would come. I had watched videos before, so I knew the direction of the PK, but it hit the post and was a close call. It was good to stop it, but it means nothing if the team doesn't win. Today, we lacked the desire to win at home. It was an incomplete effort. Even if we are tired, we need the will to break through. The opponents are tired too. We need to discuss these things. Despite the rain, many children came to watch, and I feel sorry we couldn't put on a good match. But we have to keep our heads up. (In the Nabisco Cup) We still have an away game against Oita and the next match against Iwata. We want to win those." 【Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference】 "Today's performance was not good. With Inoha absent and Tokunaga suspended, I considered dropping Konno. But since preparation time was short, I tried not to change much and used players like Ikegami and Yoshimoto in their usual defensive positions. I used Baba in Kurisawa's position and wanted to keep the formation from the previous match against Iwata as much as possible. I knew Wanchope and others were not in good condition, but we managed to hold on in the first half. Ishikawa was energetic, so I instructed to attack using him and Baba, and I think we created several chances from that. However, the ball did not connect well in the back line, making it difficult to create chances. In that situation, we conceded a goal from our own corner kick flow. We had warned about the opponent launching counters from unusual defensive setups. After conceding one goal, our energy dropped. Lucas and other players got frustrated and ended without showing their best. We must overcome issues like the absence of Olympic team players, suspensions, and injuries. We want to quickly identify the best formation, how to utilize Wanchope, the relationship between Fukunishi and Konno, and the midfield balance, and rebuild within a week before the away match against the in-form Kashiwa Reysol."

　[Summary of the press conference by Oita's CHAMUSCA] "I knew it would be a tough match against a big club like FC Tokyo, and it really was challenging. Today turned out to be one of the best games of the year. With today's victory, I believe we are in a much more favorable situation in this qualifying league. I think the way we marked and the dynamic speed contributed to this result. The players who came on as substitutes in the second half also fulfilled their roles well, and everyone showed movements worthy of a win. Today, we were able to make good movements with the ball on both sides, but we couldn't utilize the speed of our weapon, FW Akira Matsuhashi. The pitch was slippery, which made it difficult to play balls behind the DF to him. That was unfortunate."