Team up and win in the league!

　In the 6th round of the league, we will face Oita Trinita for the 3rd time this season at their home ground. So far, we have a record of 1 win and 1 loss in the Nabisco Cup, and we have become familiar with each other's tactics. However, Tokyo is currently on a 3-game losing streak in the league. Although we will be missing 3 players due to the Olympics, we want to continue the momentum and stability we regained in the Nabisco Cup against Iwata and aim for a victory. This is an important match for our future rise in the league.

　Oita, on the other hand, finished the 5th round in 12th place with 1 win, 2 draws, and 2 losses. They have already won 3 games in the Nabisco Cup, but they have yet to see results in the league, so they will surely come aiming for a victory. They have been experimenting with various player combinations in the Nabisco Cup, based on a 3-5-2 formation. In the league, they have been using players such as MF Motohara and Augusto, but they are not available for this match due to injuries. It is a difficult situation where they cannot field their best players, but the top two forwards, Takamatsu and Matsubashi, are in good form, and right MF Takahashi has been scoring goals as a hidden shadow, so we must be cautious.　

　Tokyo will face Oita in the same formation as the Nabisco Cup Iwata match on November 11 (Wed), with Konno as center back and Asari as defensive midfielder. The aim is to keep the team compact and launch attacks by stealing the ball through coordinated defense. "In the Iwata match, the distance between players was close and the balance was good. We were able to launch quick attacks from the defense that everyone aimed for," said coach Hara. On the attacking side, once the ball is stolen, they will quickly transition to offense with Baba leading the front line, Lucas and Ishikawa making runs, and Kanazawa and Tokunaga's attacking runs from the fullback positions, in order to break through Oita's defense.

　Asari also said, "We were able to defend as planned in the Iwata match, but it doesn't mean anything if it ends with just that game. We want to continue the good parts and aim for consecutive wins." The match started at 4:04pm at the Kyushu Oil Dome, with occasional sunny intervals.

The first half ended without either side being able to form an attack.

　Tokyo has been defending in their own half since the start of the match, and they quickly launch attacks after stealing the ball from the opponent. In the 6th minute, Lucas breaks away from a pass cut by Fujiyama and a pass exchange with Baba, but it is offside. On the other hand, in the 10th minute, FW Takamatsu steals the ball from Kurizawa and passes it to FW Matsubashi Akira. He takes a shot while free, but it is saved by Shioda and goes out for a corner kick. From this right corner kick, MF Fujita heads it powerfully, but it goes over the bar.

　18 minutes, Oita's clearance is picked up by Ishikawa, dribbles inside. Passes to Kurizawa on the left side, but the shot goes too high. In the 25th minute, Baba and Lucas connect after Asari's pass is intercepted, and finally Ishikawa takes a bold shot from the right, but it goes wide. In the 32nd minute, Baba steals the ball from the opponent and charges forward. He passes to Ishikawa who runs in from behind, and takes a shot from inside the right area, but it narrowly misses to the left.

　Oita also takes care of Tokyo's solid defense in the midfield, throwing long balls behind the Tokyo defense line and seizing chances by taking CKs. In the 36th and 38th minutes, they get consecutive right CKs, and MF Nishiyama puts a sharp ball into the goal area, but the defense centered around Shioda prevents them from scoring. In the 41st minute, Fukunishi dribbles up from a counter and passes to Baba on the left side. He aggressively attacks and enters the area, but his shot is saved by the opponent's GK. In the end, both teams end the first half with a 0-0 score by focusing on defense without taking risks.

Wanchope, Norio Suzuki's entry creates a scoring opportunity but ends with no goals

　Oita starts attacking from the beginning of the second half. In the 47th minute, FW Matsubashi and Fujiyama have a one-on-one opportunity on a counter, but the shot goes straight to Shioda. In the 48th minute, MF Yamazaki breaks through the front line and has a clear chance, but the shot misses the target by a large margin. In the 57th minute, a shot from MF Fujita on a loose ball from a right corner kick hits the top of the bar. Despite Oita's strong momentum, they struggle to regain possession and are forced to defend, but they hold on with persistent defense.

　Gradually, the pace shifted to Tokyo. In particular, Wanchope and Norio Suzuki, who came on as substitutes for Baba and Ishikawa, set the rhythm of the attack. In the 59th minute, Wanchope → Fukunishi → Ishikawa made a negative cross. Lucas received the ball with one touch and sent it to the left, but Kanazawa was closed down by the defense. In the 68th minute, Fukunishi → Noriyuki Suzuki made a left cross from a quick restart. Lucas, Wanchope, and Fukunishi attacked the goal, but were unable to finish. In the 70th minute, Lucas stole the ball from the opponent and passed it to Wanchope, who had drifted to the right. It seemed like a great opportunity, but it was offside.

　As the game entered its final stages, the opponent's legs also slowed down and chances came repeatedly. In the 80th minute, Fukunishi → Norio Suzuki ran up the left side and took the left corner kick from the cross. Wanchope's soft shot was saved by the GK. In the 81st minute, Wanchope broke through behind the defense with a well-timed feed from Lucas, but was stopped by the Oita DF just before taking the shot in a 1-on-1 situation with the GK. In the 84th minute, Fukunishi jumped on an early cross from Norio Suzuki on the left side, but couldn't finish with a header.

　86 minutes, Norio Suzuki shakes his head to the fast cross from Kurisawa who cut deeply from the right side, but is blocked by the DF and goes to the right corner kick. Wanchope hits the header from this Kurisawa's corner, but it goes outside the frame. In the 88th minute, Wanchope receives Kurisawa's cross from the left side and shoots from the far side, but it is saved by the jumping GK. In the 89th minute, Norio Suzuki takes a shot at goal from the left side, but it is saved by the GK's great save. Despite continuous attacks until the end, the game ends in a scoreless draw.

　【Player Comments】《Wanchope》"The longer I play, the more I can do. Today, I had a good connection with Lucas and had many chances. I think I was able to do a lot of things with my teammates... (Even though I came on as a substitute) I wanted to play with passion and have a positive impact on the team. I tried to do everything I could. There is still a language barrier, but I want to communicate as much as possible on the pitch in the future. Next, we have a home game, so I want to show everything and win."《Fujiyama》"It's disappointing that we couldn't win, but we ended with a clean sheet. (Regarding our response to FW Takamatsu) Kon-chan has a high physical ability, so our back line was able to defend well. However, we dropped back too much. We want to discuss and fix that depending on the situation. We couldn't score, but I think getting 1 point will lead to the next game. We were able to withstand defensively, so we definitely want to win at home."

　[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "This is our third match against Oita this season, in a short period of time. While there have been changes in our lineup, it is clear that the opponent has been paying close attention to Lucas. It was a battle where both teams knew each other's strategies inside out. We wanted to play more compactly, but we felt the fatigue from our five consecutive matches. In the first half, we struggled with long balls and conceding corners, which disrupted our rhythm. We were aware of the strength of Oita's midfielder Takahashi's headers, so we instructed our players to be careful during restarts at halftime. We also planned to bring in Wanchope during the crucial moments in the second half. His condition has been improving and he is getting used to his teammates and the rhythm of the J-League. We could have brought him in at the beginning of the second half, but we made some adjustments at halftime and wanted to see how the game would go. We created many chances by bringing in Norio Suzuki on the left, but we couldn't convert them. In defense, we had makeshift formations with players like Imakawa, Fujiyama, and Asari, but they did a great job containing Oita's forwards Takamatsu and Matsubashi, who were tired from consecutive matches. In the past, we would easily concede goals from counterattacks, but recently we have been able to hold on until the end with everyone's effort. Of course, we wanted to get all three points, but we will prepare well in the next week and use today's one point to build on for the future."

　[Summary of Oita Chamusca's press conference] "Today was a great game of back and forth. In the first half, we took the lead and created many numerical advantages in our attacks. In the second half, the opponent's attack improved and we had to defend more. Playing back-to-back games against FC Tokyo allows us to know and analyze our opponent, so it's more advantageous than difficult. If the team is united and the members are fixed to a certain extent, it's not a problem to play consecutive games, but with many injuries and changes in the lineup, we need to train more solidly, including coordination plays. Recently, we've been spending all our time recovering from consecutive games, but we have a week until the next match, so we want to prepare well. In order to achieve our goal of ranking, we really wanted to get 3 points today, but we also need to see the value in getting 1 point from a draw."