A chance to avenge the disappointment away, aiming for consecutive wins at home

　League Sec. 21 is held, facing Urawa Reds at home. In the previous match against Nagoya, we maintained our focus to secure a 1-point lead, earning 3 points in an official match for the first time since the June 8 match against Verdy (Nabisco Cup Sec. 6). This match will be a battle to aim for consecutive wins based on the confidence we gained there, playing our own style of football.

　However, Tokunaga injured his ankle and it was determined that he could not perform at 100% (Coach Jofuku), resulting in his first absence of the season. Therefore, Konno was placed as the left back, and Nagatomo, who just returned from the Olympics on the 14th (Thursday), started as the right back. The midfield will be set up with Hanyu and Asari forming a double pivot, just like in the previous match.

　The Urawa Reds are currently in second place with 34 points. In the previous match against Kashiwa, they were equalized just before the end, and although they have not been in great form with 2 draws and 1 loss in the last 3 matches, everyone acknowledges their individual abilities. This match will see FW Tatsuya TANAKA starting after recovering from injury. MF Ponte also returns and will be on the bench. To break through Urawa's solid defense, it is essential to take control on the flanks and push back the opponent's wing-backs. Players like Cabore, Hirayama, Emerson, and Ishikawa will need to boldly exploit spaces and create more chances.

　Having suffered a frustrating 0-2 defeat in the away match, we aim to aggressively attack to clear that frustration and strive for victory! While various areas in the city are hit by localized heavy rain, Ajinomoto shows some clear skies. The match started at 18:34 with a kickoff in Tokyo.

Did not allow Urawa to play freely, controlled the ball and attacked...

　From the beginning, Tokyo controlled the ball, not allowing Urawa to play freely. They passed the ball around and launched an attack. Shortly after the start, from a pass by Hirayama, Emerson surged up the left flank. However, it did not reach Ishikawa in the center. A ball cut by the defense floated to Cabore in the left area, but he couldn't make a header. Still, taking advantage of Cabore's runs, Emerson frequently sent through passes, trying to create chances.

　In the 8th minute, Hanyu, who exchanged passes with Ishikawa, passed to Emerson in the center and advanced into the right area. A perfect through pass came from Emerson, but he couldn't shoot due to the quick approach of Urawa's defender, Tulio. In the 13th minute, they launched a counterattack from Urawa's corner kick, with Sahara delivering an early cross from the left side. Ishikawa jumped and sent a volley into the center, shaking the defense from both sides. However, Cabore in the center competed with Urawa's defender, Tulio, and fell, unable to receive the ball. No foul was called on Urawa.

　In the 27th minute, Cabore dribbled into the area from the left, drawing in the defenders, and sent a negative last pass to Hirayama, who was closing in on the near post. However, the timing was off, and Hirayama couldn't make contact. In the end, the coordination and precision were lacking, and they couldn't create a decisive scene. On the other hand, Urawa also had their first shot of the day in the 32nd minute when forward Tatsuya TANAKA took a mid-range shot. In the 34th minute, Emerson passed to Konno, who entered the left area and made a last pass to the center. It was cut off by Urawa's defenders and became loose in the left area, where Cabore made a run but was a step too late, and the defense held firm. In the 35th minute, Konno took a powerful mid-range shot from a 45-degree angle on the left, but Urawa's defender Tulio cleared it with a header, resulting in a throw-in.

　Tokyo struggled to capitalize on their rhythm while maintaining pace. They lost possession during their attack, leading to a dangerous situation from a quick movement targeting the back of Urawa's defense. In the 38th minute, Hirayama, Cabore, and Hanyu failed to connect in midfield, allowing Urawa to take possession. A pass was sent from Urawa FW Nagai to FW Takahara, who slipped past the offside line and faced Shioda one-on-one. A decisive shot was taken, but it hit the left post... From the rebound, Urawa MF Soma also took a shot, but Sahara blocked it, narrowly escaping a dire situation...

　In the 44th minute, Cabore hit the post, and Asari advanced into the center of the area. Surrounded by opponents, he took a shot, but it lacked power, and the goalkeeper caught it. Immediately after, Urawa FW Tatsuya TANAKA took a long-range shot, but Shiota made the save, resulting in a corner kick. This left corner kick from Urawa flowed to the far side, where Emerson tried to take possession. However, just as he attempted to launch an attack, the ball was taken back, and Urawa countered again. FW Takahara broke free from a through pass by FW Tatsuya TANAKA, facing Shiota one-on-one again. But the shot hit the crossbar...! Thanks to an opponent's mistake, they avoided conceding a goal and went into halftime at 0-0.

Allowed the opening goal and lost without scoring, unable to break through Urawa's solid defense

　In the second half, Tokyo suddenly lost the ability to connect passes and was pushed back by Urawa. In the 49th minute, from a right throw-in by Urawa, forward Tatsuya TANAKA made a shot after circling inside, which hit the post... Following that, from a floated pass by Urawa midfielder Abe, forward Tatsuya TANAKA broke into the right area and took a close-range shot. In the 60th minute, they brought in Kajiyama to replace Asari in an attempt to change the flow. In the 62nd minute, Cabore broke through on the right side, cut back past the opposing defender, and sent a floated cross. Kajiyama rushed in front of the goal, but missed the volley...

　In the 67th minute, a pass was connected to Urawa, and they attacked from Tokyo's left side. Sawa cleared it once, but it hit Urawa MF Ponte, and the ball went to the holding MF Suzuki. MF Suzuki quickly sent a lob pass to the left forward, and MF Soma, who broke through behind Tokyo DF, struck a volley and finally allowed a goal... In the 71st minute, Akamine was brought in to replace Ishikawa. Hanyu followed on the right in a formation aiming for an equalizer.

　However, in the 74th minute, Cabore made a short pass to Hiyama, who ran into the area and took a shot, creating a good opportunity, but it went wide to the right and missed the target. In the 77th minute, Kawaguchi was brought in to replace Cabore, thickening the front line to attempt a counterattack. In the 79th minute, Kajiyama initiated an attack from the right area, passing to Akamine, then to Kajiyama, who set up Kawaguchi in the center for a shot. The deflected ball from the defender rolled to Hiyama in the right area, who took a free shot but also missed the target. In the 85th minute, Emerson sent a cross after overlapping with Konno, and Hiyama at the far post headed the ball, but it went straight to the goalkeeper.

　In the 87th minute, Hanyu connected with Kajiyama for a short corner kick, and Kajiyama advanced into the right area. He made a big cut to evade the DF and took a shot, but it was blocked by the DF... Despite gathering the ball in the front line and launching a fierce attack, they could not break through the solid defense of Urawa DF, who were leading by one goal. Even when sending crosses, they were all repelled, leading to the end of the match. They finished without scoring and suffered a frustrating defeat at home...

　【Player Comments】《Emerson》"In the first half, we played well and controlled the flow of the game, but we conceded a goal in the second half. I thought it would be a very difficult match once we fell behind today, and this is the result. Of course, I wanted to turn it around, but we couldn't. We lost 2-0 in the away match, and including today, we have conceded goals when we made mistakes. That is one issue. Also, we haven't scored a single goal against them. We had chances, but not converting them into goals is a problem. We have no choice but to keep practicing on these points. The league still continues, so we want to keep fighting." 《Nagatomo》"I think we played our style of football from the first half, but in the second half, I failed to properly pass off my marking, which led to conceding a goal, and that’s frustrating. Urawa’s counterattacks are of high quality, and I felt they truly deserve their top position. This match was right after returning from the Olympics, but my condition is absolutely fine. There might have been some misalignments in the offside trap and such, but otherwise, there were no concerns in our coordination. We’ve had frustrating matches recently, but it’s exactly at times like this that we have to hold strong. I want to seriously reflect on myself and keep going. Today, we couldn’t use the flanks well, so I think I need to demand more and try to attack from the sides. We have tall players inside, so if we can deliver good crosses, we can score. It depends on me. With the determination to never lose to the opponent in front of me, I want to give the supporters a victory in the next match."

　[Summary of Coach Shirofuku's Press Conference] "First, I want to apologize to the supporters and fans. I take full responsibility for the result. Of course, Urawa fought wonderfully and won, but I feel very sorry that the Tokyo supporters and fans who spent their time and money to come here had to endure hearing Urawa's songs after the match. Regarding the content, the players did well in maintaining a high defensive line to prevent Urawa's three forwards from working effectively, creating a defensive tempo to play our own style of football. There was some confusion over whether an offside call was correct, which made our defense a bit unstable, but aside from our own mistakes, the defense was solid. However, there were mistakes when trying to connect from clearances and some easy errors in passing. We were caught off guard by those, which led to conceding goals, and I feel our strength is still insufficient. In the second half, easy mistakes and difficult passing decisions continued. We lost confidence in connecting the ball from the defensive line, so we brought in Kajiyama. Offensively, that helped stabilize things, and we tried to regain control of the game. However, shortly before conceding a goal, both the players receiving the ball and those passing it showed signs of hesitation and lack of confidence. This was not just a problem between the passer and receiver but involved positioning and various other factors. Ultimately, anticipating more battles near the goal, we brought in Akamine. Akamine has the ability to quickly evade opponents near the goal and can score with both feet and headers. While the opponent's line remained high and there was space behind, Ishikawa's runs were effective and he did well, but we made that judgment based on how the opponent dropped back."

　[Summary of the press conference by Urawa coach GERT ENGELS] "The start was a very tough game. Tokyo had a strong defensive mindset with many players back, and until the first 25 minutes there were many fast counterattacks. Due to the pitch condition, we couldn't connect passes well and it was mostly running and fighting. After 30 minutes, the passes started to connect. There was also a shot from FW Takahara that hit the post and the bar. In the second half, we played with almost the same rhythm. We advanced the game in the opponent's half, made side changes, and there was a moment when FW Tatsuya TANAKA's shot hit the post. There were many scenes like that, but finally we scored a wonderful goal. At the end, we dropped too deep, and there were many battles near the area. The defense in that area was very good, but from an offensive perspective, if we could have kept possession a bit more, it would have been easier. When entering the opponent's half, it naturally becomes easier to score on the counterattack. If the front line could approach the ball a bit more in defense, it would have made things easier for the back as well. There were some close counterattack scenes, and it would have been better if we could have connected well there too. However, the important thing is the 1-0 result over 90 minutes. Getting 3 points with zero goals conceded is significant. Considering it was an away game, I am satisfied. (Today, FW Nagai and FW Tatsuya TANAKA's runs behind the last line stood out, was that based on an image of Tokyo's flat defensive line?) It wasn't specifically based on an image of Tokyo, but I thought we had to be aware of it. Even if the opponent drops back, if there is even a little space behind, we tried to target it. If it reaches, it becomes a chance. If it doesn't, it becomes the opponent's goal kick. Balls at the feet, if intercepted, immediately lead to the opponent's counterattack. Therefore, aiming behind is something we have been focusing on in recent practice. FW Tatsuya TANAKA is a player with that characteristic."