Challenge and win 3 points as a challenger!

　In the 20th round of the league, we will face Nagoya Grampus away. We were unable to score a second goal in the Nabisco Oita match and missed out on advancing to the semifinals. Although we have had four consecutive draws of 1-1 in official matches, we are feeling confident in our defense and hope to secure a win in this round to boost the team's momentum. It will be a tough away game, but we hope to grab all 3 points in this first match back in the league and regain our team's momentum.

　Nagoya, who are currently in 3rd place with 33 points, have also secured a solid victory in the Nabisco Cup on the 6th (Wednesday) and have advanced to the semifinals. Coach Jofuku also says, "3rd place is not a fluke. There is no weakness in attack and defense, and I can't find any areas to improve on." In this match, MF Ogawa will be suspended, but with FW Yonson as the core, FW Tamada and MF Maginun, who have scoring ability, are all present, and MF Nakamura in the defensive midfield has a lot of energy and is functioning well in both attack and defense. Additionally, DF Takeuchi and Abe are players who can also serve as the starting point for side attacks, and there are no "holes" in the team.

　Tokyo made significant changes to their starting lineup from the Oita match. Shige and Suhara were brought in as center backs, with Konno on the right side and Ishikawa in the midfield. In the forward line, Hirayama replaced Akamine. The key will be whether they can score a second goal in their attack. They will need to connect passes and increase their speed, as well as make strategic switches. Nagoya is also known for their strong side attacks, so the battle on the wings will be one to watch. Utilizing Ishikawa to make vertical breakthroughs will also be one of their options. They will need to boldly attack and threaten the Nagoya goal.

　Hanyu said, "We will approach the match against the top teams as challengers. We want to break through Nagoya's strong defense with a strong mindset." Coach Jofuku also stated, "The Oita match was a must-win game. We will take out our frustration on the league. Our mindset has changed." In order to overcome adversity, we must have a good defense and turn it into a good offense to score and win! The match started at 7:03 PM in Tokyo at Mizuho Athletic Stadium.

Hirayama scores first goal of the season, leading the team into halftime with a lead

　Nagoya, who tried to attack from the side, picked up the second ball well and went on the offensive with coordinated movements. In the 9th minute, they took advantage of a misplaced pass in the opponent's half, Cabore -> Hirayama dribbled forward. He tried to shoot for goal from just outside the area, but it was blocked by a defender. In the 17th minute, Ishikawa competed for a long ball from behind, won a corner kick on the right, and Emerson took a shot from the loose ball from Ishikawa's kick. The opponent's GK made a great save and it resulted in another corner kick. In this corner kick, Imakawa headed it but the ball went outside the frame.

　After that, Ishikawa and Hayabusa, who was used as a defensive midfielder in this round, aggressively attacked from the starting point, and in the 19th minute, Ishikawa received Emerson's through pass in front of the goal and turned around with one touch to take a left-footed shot. In the 24th minute, Hayabusa made a central breakthrough and attracted the defense, sending a last pass to Cabore who had run behind. Both created decisive chances, but the shots were blocked by Nagoya GK Narazaki's great save. On the contrary, in the 28th minute, a clearance mistake was picked up by FW Tamada, who rushed towards the goal, and Sasaki desperately chased after him, but he was able to take a shot. It was a decisive moment, but it missed above the bar and escaped danger.

　As the back-and-forth battle continued, the 35th minute arrived. On the left side, Tokunaga sent a cross to Hayabusa, who had smoothly moved up to the front of the goal. Hayabusa controlled the ball with his chest and passed it to Hirayama, who was waiting near the corner of the left area. Hirayama took a touch and swung his right foot with all his might, sending a low shot beautifully into the near corner for a goal! This was Hirayama's first goal of the season in the league, giving them the lead.

　Tokyo continues to aim for an additional goal and does not let up on their attack. In the 38th minute, Cabore takes a perfect header shot from Ishikawa's right corner kick, but it is blocked by the opponent's GK. In the 42nd minute, Shioda's kick passes through the defense and Hirayama breaks through to take a shot, but it goes wide. On defense, they do not allow the opponent to move freely in the midfield and the final line, led by Shige and Sasaki, effectively contain Nagoya's attacks, ending the first half with a lead.

Respond calmly to Nagoya's power play and achieve a clean sheet victory

　In the first half, there was an accident where Shigetaka Shigetaka injured his shoulder and was replaced by Muhara as a precaution. They faced the game with a formation where Imakawa moved to center back. However, Nagoya gradually gained control of the rhythm and pushed them back. Still, they were able to steal the ball with focused defense and attempted to score an additional goal through counterattacks. In the 52nd minute, they launched a counterattack from the opponent's free kick clearance, and Cabore sprinted down the left side of the Nagoya defense. He dribbled into the area, evaded the defenders, and took a shot, but it was blocked by the goalkeeper who came out to challenge.

　Nagoya gradually attacks from the side. In the 61st minute, Nagoya's left SB Abe sent a cross to the goal, FW Tamada jumped in and created a chance for MF Yoneyama who followed up, but it was desperately cleared. In the 69th minute, FW Sugimoto, who came on as a substitute, headed a perfect cross from the left, but the ball went straight to Shioda. After that, Nagoya continued to bring on FW Maki and FW Tsuda to their attacking line, but Tokyo's defense held on strongly, resulting in a back and forth match.

　Tokyo, who showed signs of fatigue, substituted Cabore for Emerson and brought in Akamine and Kanazawa. They maintained their defensive balance and calmly responded to the opponent's counterattacks. Both teams had chances from counterattacks, but in the 89th minute, they launched a counterattack and Imakawa dribbled towards the goal, facing the goalkeeper one-on-one. In the end, he passed to Akamine who was running alongside him, but it didn't reach him... They couldn't score a second goal, but they defended with their bodies and kept Nagoya's fierce attacks at bay, securing their first league victory since the May 17th game against Iwata!

　【Player Comments】《Hirayama》"(Regarding my appearance) I was conscious of both creating chances and scoring goals. In the beginning, I couldn't receive the ball well and couldn't create a rhythm, which is something I need to reflect on. I need to be able to work at full capacity from the start... I'm reflecting on that. The goal was as planned. I aimed for the near post. I had a chance to score a second goal myself, so if I had scored there, I think we could have made it easier for the team. Also, if I had been able to give Cabore a better ball behind the defense, there were moments where it could have become a chance. However, today I was more happy that the defensive players worked hard to keep a clean sheet in a difficult situation, which I think was a gain for the team. We need to aim for more than two goals and work hard together."《Ishikawa》"I don't think our performance against Oita was bad, but I'm glad we were able to turn it into a victory today. Nagoya's fullbacks run long distances and come up. In front of them, there's also MF Maguinho, so I was careful about my positioning. I tried to move forward when we won the ball from a good position. There was space to go forward if we won it. I wanted to score a second goal there... In the second half, we may not have had many chances, but it's important to finish them off in situations like when Shingo sent in a cross. Normally, Shingo would be the one to finish it, but he drifted to the side, so I was the only one left! I thought and ran with all my might. But I couldn't make it in time. Also in the second half, the opponent kicked the ball and we were pushed back because the midfield was open. We needed to put pressure on the midfield earlier. As a team, when we try to do one thing, we can't do what we were able to do at the beginning. We have to fix that through repetition. However, we were able to win today and we can face the next game against Urawa in a good shape. Personally, I want to work on playing while connecting passes."

　[Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "Since the break, we have had draws but have not been able to win, which has been very frustrating. I apologize to the fans for that. We will not stray from our style of soccer, but not having any wins has caused stress and we wanted to have something closer to certainty. As always, we were focused on getting 3 points today. In the game, we tried to prevent the opponent from creating opportunities in the FW Tamada and Yonsen areas, and I think we were able to do that to some extent. Not just in today's game, but in the past few games, I think the team has been able to compactly defend. It was good that we were able to keep the opponent scoreless today. As for our attack, the team has a hunger for victory, so I think we showed the attitude of going towards the goal. In the second half, we connected with one touch in the center and Ishikawa made a pass that was cut off, but we need to do more of that kind of play, breaking down the opponent with passing. Also, when the opponent attacks, we need to be able to possess the ball and waste time. There are still challenges, but we were able to defend the one goal in the first half, which was good. We still have the challenge of not being able to score a second goal, but I think the players were too focused on that challenge, which made them nervous. Next time, I hope we can score a second goal and the team will continue to do their best."

　[Nagoya Stojkovic Manager's Press Conference Summary] "Of course, there are parts that are disappointing because the results did not come out, but we were able to show our style firmly. The players worked hard and made efforts to score, and although we were unable to score, I think this is also a type of soccer. I would like to congratulate FC Tokyo and show respect to our players for their wonderful work. (Although we were attacked less frequently, we had more chances?) I think we dominated the game for 90 minutes, but we were unable to take advantage of our chances. I think we lacked decisiveness. In the first half, I don't think we fought well enough, especially in front of Tokyo's goal, we were unable to make good finishes. In terms of the first half, I think we lacked a bit of aggressiveness. MF Ogawa and MF Yoshimura were unable to play, so the starting lineup was not as usual, but that is not a problem and I do not want to make excuses. Also, in the Nabisco Jeff game, we played a hard game. I think there were some tired parts, but in today's game, they showed fighting spirit without showing fatigue. They ran and I could feel their desire to score. However, I think the pitch condition was not good. If there is something I can change, I would like to change the pitch condition. But I can't do that (laughs)."