A crucial match to turn the tide and overcome the difficulties of playing away.

　In the 22nd round of the league, we will face Urawa Reds away. In the previous match against Kashiwa, we created many chances in a spirited game, but unfortunately suffered a defeat. However, after 3 consecutive losses since the league resumed, today's match is crucial for us to break this bad streak and hopefully find a way to climb up the rankings.

　There was a one-week interval from the previous match, but Imakano, Hirayama, and Kajiyama were away from the team due to their activities with the Japan national team, and the team was limited to only two days of practice. Still, Imakano and Kajiyama prepared their condition and started the game. The starting lineup remains largely unchanged from the previous match, with Lucas and Akamine as the two top players, Ishikawa and Rychely on both sides, and Imakano playing as center back. In addition, Kurisawa, who has not played since the June 30th Kashima match, and Evaldo, who has not played since the May 9th Nabisco Yokohama FC match due to injury during the Olympic team training camp, were on the bench.

　Urawa, on the other hand, has risen to the top of the league with 43 points in the previous round. Their strong defense is their characteristic, and they have the fewest goals conceded in the league with only 16. Head coach Hara says, "We won't be able to break through their tall and strong defense just by sending long balls." Therefore, we want to try to win the ball in a high position and quickly distribute it to the sides to utilize the speed of Ishikawa and Rychely. Urawa's attacking line is missing FW Washington, but head coach Hara is wary of "FW Tatsuya and Nagai's two-top formation, which allows for speedy soccer." Attacking midfielder Ponte creates time with his dribbling, while Tatsuya and Nagai make runs. We also need to be careful of their counterattacks, which come quickly from long balls.

　Tokyo wants to press from the front, match the opponent's intensity, and pick up loose balls to create attacks. The battle for second balls will also be a crucial factor in the game. Although a tough match is expected against the top team away from home, manager Hara stated, "We won't be able to win unless we have a stronger mentality than Urawa. We want to come together as one with the players and overcome all the difficult conditions with aggression, even away from home."

　The match started at Saitama Stadium 2002, where the scorching heat of the day had finally eased. Although the humidity remained, a breeze had started blowing. The game kicked off at 7:04 PM with Urawa's kickoff.

Create a good shape and take the lead, but the opponent takes advantage of two scoring opportunities...

　From the beginning, we pressed tightly and did not let Urawa play freely, and launched quick attacks. In the 11th minute, we intercepted in our own half, and Kajiyama immediately sent it to Akamine on the front line, winning a throw-in. From here, Rychely, who was flowing to the right, cut into the area and sent a minus pass to Ishikawa in front of the goal. We created a chance, but the shot was cut off by the Urawa DF who was close. However, Urawa also quickly sent the ball from the DF line to the front line and began to grasp the rhythm with a sharp counterattack. In the 15th minute, we quickly connected passes from a throw-in in our own half, and MF Yamada crossed. FW Tanaka Tatsuya, who jumped in freely, headed it perfectly, but it was saved by Shioda and escaped to a corner kick.

　If Tokyo can hold on to this pinch, they will regain their rhythm and create chances by expanding the ball to the side from Kajiyama as the starting point. In the 23rd minute, Akamine dropped Kajiyama's left cross and Lucas cut in from the right side and took a shot. In the 24th minute, Tokunaga jumped on the ball sent by Kajiyama to the far side from a free kick earned on the left side. In the 30th minute, Lucas in front of the goal tries to receive a left throw-in. He is pushed from behind by the opposing DF, but Ishikawa who followed up on the loose ball takes a looping shot. Although neither resulted in a goal, they created good opportunities and formed an attacking shape.

　At the 32nd minute, Kajiyama → Rychely connects with Lucas on the left side, Lucas advances with a dribble. He sends a through pass to Rychely who breaks through the area. Rychely faces the GK in a one-on-one situation and his shot grazes the GK and rolls forward, where Akamine pushes it in for a goal! With a well-coordinated attack, they were able to score against the strong defense of Urawa. They wanted to build on this lead, but as the players reflected after the game, they were unable to press forward and ended up falling back as a team.

　And in the 36th minute, Urawa's right to left side change was received by left MF Hirakawa, who made a breakthrough into the area. He dodged past Tokunaga who was facing him and sent a ground cross into the goal area. Fujiyama tried to clear it, but Urawa FW Tanaka quickly entered and kicked it into the goal in an instant. The equalizer caused some panic, and in the 39th minute, Urawa's Hirakawa cut back past Tokunaga again and sent a floating cross. DF Horinochi jumped in with his head and scored. Tokyo had been playing well, but Urawa took advantage of their chances and scored two goals in just 4 minutes to take the lead before halftime.

Unable to catch up with a one-point difference, despite launching an all-out attack

　It was the second half where we wanted to approach the counterattack without losing our feelings, but Urawa started with a speedy attack and pushed us back. In the 47th minute, Rychely broke through the front line from Shioda's long kick and entered the area, but was stopped. Urawa MF Suzuki quickly countered and brought the ball to the area with MF Ponte. In the 50th minute, Urawa FW Nagai became the wedge and MF Ponte passed to the front line with one touch. FW Tatsuya Tanaka broke through and took a shot, but it was saved by Shioda and went out for a corner kick.

　In an attempt to change the flow of the game, Rychely was substituted for Hirayama in the 56th minute. They aimed to increase their attacking opportunities by having him as a starting point. In the 59th minute, Hirayama was fouled near the opponent's goal on the right side, earning a free kick. Kajiyama quickly took the kick and Hirayama headed the ball from a low position. They were close to catching up with the opponent's rhythm, but in the next minute, MF Yamada challenged the kick from the Urawa GK and the ball was brought to the front line. Urawa FW Tanaka, who was trying to catch up with the ball, was marked by Konno and they collided. Both fell down, but in the meantime, Urawa MF Ponte quickly reacted to the rolling ball. He broke free in front of the goal and easily scored the third goal...

　Despite not giving up, in the 63rd minute, Fukunishi was substituted for Asari. Then in the 68th minute, Fukunishi was fouled in the left corner, earning a free kick. Lucas took the free kick and Kajiyama passed the ball slightly, and Kajiyama shot the ball in front of the goal. Now, Imakano jumped out and slightly changed the angle with his right foot, pushing it in! As the counterattack mood increased, in the 71st minute, Akamine received a through pass from Fukunishi on the left front line. Akamine crossed the ball on the ground in front of the goal, and Hirayama took a shot! They created a decisive opportunity, but it narrowly missed the goal. In the 76th minute, Kurisawa was substituted for Ishikawa. Both teams continued to launch quick attacks, but Tokyo remained calm as Kajiyama, Kurisawa, and Fukunishi passed the ball and sent it to the front line from the side one after another.

　In the 82nd minute, Lucas and Fukunishi connected in front of the Urawa goal, and Kurisawa crossed to the left, but the goalkeeper caught it. In the 87th minute, Hirayama dropped Kanazawa's cross, but no one was able to follow up. In the 88th minute, Lucas headed from Tokunaga's right cross. Then, Hirayama received Kurisawa's pass on the right and turned inside to take a shot, but it was cut off by the Urawa defenders... Despite being hindered by Urawa's strong defense, they were unable to score an equalizer and the game ended. They played with great determination against the top-ranked Urawa, but ultimately lost due to a difference in finishing ability. This marks their fourth consecutive loss.

　【Player Comments】《Shioda》"I don't think we gave them a clear chance until they scored. We pressed from the front, our fullbacks pushed up after switching sides, and we were able to compete near the penalty area. The opponent must have been uncomfortable with that. But after we took the lead, the whole team dropped back. We wanted to create chances by simply targeting the space behind their defenders and building from the front, but we couldn't come to a consensus during that period and ended up playing defensively. We wanted to somehow turn things around... Next week we'll be facing Hiroshima, who also have fast players up front. We'll discuss and make adjustments together, and work hard in the same direction. I'm sorry we couldn't win today despite the support of so many fans who came to cheer us on even though it was an away game. We have to live up to their expectations next time."《Kurizawa》"I received a lot of balls in midfield and was thinking of creating chances from there. We did manage to get a cross in to Hirayama, but we only had one option. I think it would have been better if we had tried to connect more passes and draw out the opponent's defenders, and then play the ball inside. I regret that we were indecisive about whether to pass or cross, and ended up doing neither. However, it was my first appearance in a while and I was highly motivated. We haven't gotten the results we wanted, but we have to stay focused and prepare for the next game."

　【Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference】"Match against top-ranked Urawa. Despite being on a losing streak, we all talked about approaching the game with an aggressive mindset. In the first half, we utilized both sides well after switching the ball, and our fullbacks were involved in creating some good opportunities. And we were able to score. After taking the lead, we wanted to continue playing in our own rhythm. However, Urawa's one chance came from a side switch, and MF Hirakawa was able to turn and cross to FW Tanaka Tatsuya for the equalizer. During that time, it's not that our players were being careless, but Urawa's finishing ability was just too high and we ended up conceding two goals and being turned around. We were dominant in the midfield, but Urawa always manages to score when they need to. In the second half, we wanted to switch sides and use our fast players up front to create a numerical advantage of 2 against 1. But then we conceded a third goal. In the situation where Konno and FW Tanaka Tatsuya were tangled up, only MF Ponte reacted to the loose ball. That's the difference between us and Urawa right now. (Is it a difference in individual abilities?) Urawa's FW Tanaka Tatsuya, Nagai, and MF Ponte have the ability to take the ball all the way to the finish line on their own. They have speed and a high attacking power, that's a fact. That's why our back four had no choice but to focus on them and leave the middle open. Apart from the goals we conceded, Konno, Fujii, and our fullbacks did a good job in defense. When we had the ball, Tokunaga and Kanazawa would push up, giving us an advantage, but then we had to quickly get back on defense, causing a lot of movement up and down. With Ishikawa and Rychely playing in an attacking position, our fullbacks were also under a lot of pressure. And Urawa's finishing ability was just better than ours. (Why was Rychely substituted?) It's not that he was playing poorly, in fact, he and Ishikawa were doing well together. The issue was his physical condition. So we brought on Hirayama, not to attack from the sides, but to create a playmaker in the middle. Urawa is strong against crosses, so Lucas took up a position on the left and we wanted Hirayama and Akamine to be our targets up front. We had a period where we lost our momentum, but in the last game against Kashiwa and today's game against Urawa, even though we didn't get the results, I think we are starting to play the kind of soccer that Tokyo is known for. We want to continue this momentum, fix our finishing accuracy, and approach the next game with a strong fighting spirit."

　[Urawa Ojek Director's Press Conference Summary] "We were able to get 3 points, but FC Tokyo played good football and it was a very tough game. In the first half, we started well and were able to play speedy football. However, we collapsed in the middle of the first half and conceded the first goal. Fortunately, we were able to regain our composure and turn the game around just before the end of the first half. In the second half, we started with concentration and scored the third goal. Tokyo made three substitutions and tried to score with a set piece. In response, we were able to create many chances on the counter. We couldn't score any more goals and it was a really tough game. MF Hirakawa has been injured this season and hasn't been able to participate in training. It was difficult for him to find a position within the team. However, he has been improving since playing in the satellite team. He is a player who can do something for us. The gap with second place doesn't matter at this point. The season is still long, so we want to focus on our own game rather than thinking about other matches."