Tama River Clasico, seeking revenge in the away game

　In the 30th round of the league, Kawasaki Frontale will face off against each other as the 12th Tama River Clasico. They will welcome the home team. In the previous round against Nagoya, they were able to secure 3 points in a solid manner, despite not playing well. Based on this momentum, they will aim for a 3-game winning streak with a strong desire for victory.

　However, Fukunishi injured his left knee. Following Baba and Kajiyama, the team is in a difficult situation due to the successive absences of midfielders. Manager Hara also laments, "There is no player who can replace Fukunishi. Along with Kajiyama, we have lost the type of player who can take the opponent's reverse in the midfield." However, he still wants to switch his mindset to a more simple approach, where everyone runs and attacks the opponent's defense without wasting any chances. This is also one of Tokyo's strengths, and he hopes to achieve victory with a strong performance.

　Kawasaki, on the other hand, is currently in 8th place with 43 points. They seem to have recovered from the fatigue of the intense ACL battle, and have not lost in the last 3 league matches. They have also advanced to the final round of the Nabisco Cup and are in good form. They have scored many goals in the final minutes, so it is expected to be a tough battle until the very end. Their attack, led by the outstanding speed of FW JUNINHO, is remarkable. Tokyo will need to thoroughly mark and cover him. They also need to be careful of counterattacks, as losing the ball with a half-hearted play could lead to a dangerous situation. It is important to have a mindset of finishing with a shot and to attack relentlessly.

　Tokyo's starting lineup includes Inonami as the defensive midfielder, with Hatta on the bench for the first time this season. They want to show their home strength and make up for the frustration of their away loss. The match takes place at a sunny Ajinomoto Stadium, after the typhoon that hit the Kanto region the day before has passed. The game kicked off at 2:05 PM in Tokyo, amidst the "Brazil Festival" being held.

Conceding and being hit on the counter, a vicious cycle that leads to losing 4 goals in the first half.

　The beginning of the game saw a fierce battle for the ball. In the 4th minute, Kawasaki took a quick restart and FW Zheng turned and shot in front of the goal. In the 7th minute, FW Zheng moved up to the left front line and MF Maginun took a pass from the minus side and shot from the right corner of the area, trying to get into rhythm. Tokyo attacked, but the ball couldn't be settled in the front line and was taken away, and the game progressed at a fast pace. Still, in the 17th minute, Lucas made a cross from the left side to Suzuki Nori, who broke through, but Lucas couldn't make a good connection.

　In the midst of a tough battle, in the 23rd minute, Rychely made a long through pass for Kanazawa, but the goalkeeper caught it just a step ahead. Immediately after, Akamine caught up to a feed to the front line and boldly challenged in the left area. The game had been going back and forth until this point. But in the 25th minute, Kawasaki started from the right side and exchanged passes in front of the Tokyo goal. FW Zheng → MF Nakamura, who had moved up in the middle, cut off the pass, but FW Zheng reacted to the loose ball and took a shot from just outside the right area. The sharp ground ball rolled into the lower left corner, and they quickly conceded the first goal.

　However, in the 26th minute, Suzuki Nori, who received a return from Akamine, also released a powerful middle shot and counterattacked. In the 28th minute, Kawasaki also had a shooting match with FW Zheng from the right area, and in the 29th minute, Kawasaki connected Tokyo's clearance and passed it to MF Kawamura, who had drifted to the right, to FW Juninho. FW Juninho jumped near the cross sent from the goal line, and FW Zheng shot. Although the Tokyo DF blocked it once, it was pushed in persistently by FW Zheng, and they conceded the second goal.

　With this, Tokyo is in a state of panic and has lost control to Kawasaki. In the 34th minute, Rychely was replaced by Ishikawa. They tried to recover, but were unable to create any decisive chances. They continued to make mistakes in their build-up, leaving their forwards and defenders stretched out, allowing Kawasaki to counter. In the 39th minute, a cross from Kawasaki's MF Taniguchi was cleared by Kanazawa, but in the 40th minute, they were unable to clear a short corner from MF Maginun's cross, and once again, DF Minowa was pushed in close, resulting in a 3-point difference.

　At 42 minutes, Kawasaki MF Maginun took a short clear from Tokyo and passed it to FW Zheng who broke through the front line. Although Shigetani was also facing him, FW Zheng swung his right foot without hesitation from inside the right area and the ball hit the left post and went in. This allowed FW Zheng to score a hat-trick. In the midfield, they were unable to catch the attacking Kawasaki team as they came out, and showed vulnerability by conceding goals immediately after being scored on, losing 4 goals in the first half.

Lacking brilliance in both offense and defense, a humiliating defeat...

　However, last season, in the match against Kawasaki at Ajinomoto, they achieved a stunning comeback from a 1-4 deficit. Perhaps everyone thought, "If we can score one goal, the momentum will change." In the second half, Hirayama was substituted for Inonami. They thickened their front line and launched a counterattack with Konno as the lone defensive midfielder. However, in the 47th minute of the second half, Akamine received a long pass from Kanazawa and broke through until just outside the goal area, shaking off the chasing defenders and taking a shot. However, the ball hit the left post and they missed a big chance to score.

　In the early stages, they took the second ball and went on the offensive, but in the 53rd minute, Imakano's middle was far above. In the 58th minute, they took a CK from Imakano -> Ishikawa's cross, but they couldn't finish it. In the 62nd minute, Kawasaki replaced FW Zheng with DF Terada and strengthened their defense by allocating more players to the DF. In the 63rd minute, they launched a quick attack from Ishikawa's interception, and Lucas tried to score from Suzuki Nori's cross, but Kawasaki managed to defend it. In the 65th minute, Suzuki Nori broke free in the area from Imakano -> Tokunaga's early cross, but he couldn't hit the target with a direct shot... In the 67th minute, the opponent's GK jumped out to Tokunaga's feed and collided with Ishikawa. The ball rolled in front of the goal, but Kawasaki's DF cleared it.

　In the midst of not being able to score a chance, Kawasaki also launched a counterattack from a solid defense. In the 69th minute, Tokyo was caught off guard by a high defensive line and had their corner kick taken away by Kawasaki MF Nakamura. Although they were able to defend this corner kick, they ended up conceding a fifth goal in the 74th minute. Kawasaki MF Taniguchi made a long pass from their own half to the left front line. Receiving the ball, FW JUNINHO kept it loosely before speeding up and crossing. The Tokyo DF was unable to catch MF Maginun, who jumped into the goal area, and ended up conceding a goal with a header.

　Afterwards, Kanazawa was replaced by Kurisawa. However, in the 77th minute, the ball was taken away in their own half and Kawasaki MF Taniguchi took a shot. It was saved by Shioda, but they gave away a second left corner kick and in the 79th minute, DF Terada scored a header from MF Nakamura's kick... In the 81st minute, Kawasaki MF Maginun received a second warning and was sent off. Despite having a numerical advantage, in the 84th minute, Akamine broke through on a through pass from Konno but couldn't finish it due to the quick jump of the GK. Immediately after, Hirayama was taken away while pushing forward and FW Juninho turned around and rushed towards the goal. They lost their concentration and conceded the 7th goal.

　In the 89th minute, Hirayama's header from a corner kick was followed by Imakono's shot, but it narrowly missed the goal and the game ended without scoring. Lacking brilliance in both offense and defense, they were unable to surpass the score of the first half of the Clasico. They suffered a humiliating defeat, conceding 7 goals for the first time in club history.

　【Player Comments】《Fujiyama》"This season, we often conceded multiple goals after conceding one. Recently, we were able to hold back well, but today it happened again. I think the last goal was inevitable, but we can't afford to concede four goals in the first half. That was everything. Our start to the game wasn't bad, but we couldn't get a hold of the flow. It would have been great if we could have discussed and corrected it as players, but we were caught off guard. Even though we were pumped up by everyone for the Tama River Clasico, we ended up with this disappointing result."《Ishikawa》"From the start of the game, Kawasaki was stronger in the physical battles, and we were losing there. I think that was the biggest reason for our defeat. We tried to attack behind the opponent's DF, but when the score difference opened up that much, the opponent also dropped back, and Tokyo couldn't play the ideal attacking style. Kawasaki played the kind of soccer that we didn't want to play."

　[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "It's a shame that we had such a disappointing result in the Tama River Clasico, where many fans gathered. The players weren't playing carelessly, but Kawasaki was kicking the ball to FW Zheng quickly and picking up the loose balls. After conceding the first goal, I think we became scared like we did in the previous match. We stretched out and ended up dropping back. I told them we could turn it around if we scored 1-2 goals, but right after we conceded the third goal from a short corner, we quickly conceded a fourth goal. I think that was the reason for our defeat. In the second half, we brought in Hirayama and tried to score one goal first. If the first chance from Akamine had gone in, I think the momentum would have shifted to us, but instead we conceded more goals from counterattacks and ended up with this result. We had become a team that could hold on in close matches, but today, because we were so focused, our concentration broke when we conceded 2-3 goals. That's a real shame. I started Inonami because of his potential and the opponent's height. However, he has been playing as a center back for the Olympic team and has not been playing as a defensive midfielder for Tokyo. After conceding the first goal, there were moments where he didn't know where he should be. It's true that using Asari might have brought more stability, but that's just hindsight. I gave Inonami a chance because he has the ability to compete even against tough opponents in difficult matches like this. I wanted to use Ishikawa in crucial moments. However, Rychely wasn't able to move as he normally does. The situation that led to the goal was also because he received the ball and then put us in a difficult position. I felt like he was afraid to receive the ball, so I decided to bring in Ishikawa earlier to try and stop Kawasaki's momentum. Our last chance for a title is the Emperor's Cup. We will use today's match as a lesson and prepare for it."

　[Kawasaki / Sekizuka coach's press conference summary] "FC Tokyo has been in good form recently with 6 wins and 1 loss, and I told the players that if they don't concentrate, they will suffer. As instructed, they started off strong. By stopping FC Tokyo's speedy momentum and scoring the first goal, I think we were able to bring our own momentum. I am very satisfied with winning both games in the Tama River Clasico this season. However, next week we have an important Nabisco Cup final, so we want to prepare well."