Win at Ajinomoto Stadium no matter what!

　League Sec. 24 will face Omiya Ardija and welcome them at home. It has been more than two weeks since the last match, and this is a crucial match to aim for consecutive wins following the Kashiwa match. Especially in the league, we have not won at home Ajinomoto since the Oita match on April 29th, so we must get 3 points by any means necessary. We are now two-thirds through the league, and this match is also important in terms of staying close to the top teams for the final stretch.

　During the break, the Japan national team's World Cup qualifiers were held. Nagatomo and Konno participated and both are in the starting lineup today after getting their condition in order. On the other hand, Sasaki is suspended due to accumulated yellow cards, so Konno will play center back, Asari will play defensive midfielder, Nagatomo will play right back, and Tokunaga, who has recovered from injury, will play left back. In addition, Suzuki Tatsuya, who joined during the break, will make his first appearance in the squad.

　Omiya, on the other hand, is currently in 9th place with a 1 point difference from Tokyo. In July, they suffered 4 consecutive losses, but in the last 5 games, they have shown their strength in solid defense and set plays, winning 3 games, drawing 1, and losing 1. In the first half of the season, they allowed Omiya to dominate, but they were able to counter skillfully and score 3 goals, resulting in a comfortable victory. However, Omiya's defensive strength is high and they can be considered a "difficult opponent". How to break through their solid defense will be a key point. Additionally, Omiya's MF Fujimoto is suspended, but their scoring FW Denis Marques has served his accumulated warnings and will return to the starting lineup. He will form a two-top with tall FW Rafrić. It will be a tough battle, especially with set plays, but the key to victory will be to not give them any space with a compact formation. Ideally, we want to score first and break through Omiya's solid game plan, taking control of the game.

　In addition, Tokyo has currently marked a total of 399 goals (398 goals conceded) in the J1 League. This record started with TUTO player's goal in the opening match of the 2000 season, and they are now only 1 goal away from reaching 400 goals. The match, which is drawing attention to this memorable goal, started at exactly 6pm at the Ajinomoto Stadium, which was cloudy and humid, and also hosted the annual Brazil Festival.

Allowing a lead from Omiya's favorite formation...

　Tokyo pushed forward in the opening minutes. However, in the 13th minute, from a left throw-in by Omiya, left back Hato → MF Saeki passed back to Hato, who skillfully bypassed Nagatomo and made a forceful run to the sideline. From there, a cross was sent in and FW Rafrić was left unmarked at the far post to head it in. Despite being wary of Omiya's strengths, they were still able to concede the first goal.

　However, without panicking, they launched a quick counterattack utilizing Cabore. In the 21st minute, Cabore cut inside from the left side and boldly aimed for the goal from a difficult angle, winning a corner kick. The left corner kick taken by Tokunaga was initially cleared, but Ashizaki connected it inside the area and passed it to Konno, whose shot was not strong enough. In the 24th minute, they gave Omiya a chance with a free kick, and the ball fell to defender Tomita on the left side who took a shot. It was a dangerous moment, but it went wide to the right and they escaped danger.

　28 minutes, Kajiyama connects on the left side and Tokunaga crosses. The ball lands perfectly at Cabore in front of the goal area, and he takes a header shot! It was a decisive moment, but the Omiya GK makes a fine save with one hand and it goes out for a corner kick. In the 34th minute, the whole team quickly attacks and Hayashi → Emerson sends a lob pass into the area. Cabore runs in smoothly and takes a decisive shot, but it hits the crossbar......

　Unable to score a chance, the game continued with a back and forth attack and defense, but in the 36th minute, Omiya's FW Dennis Marques took a shot from the right area after a quick attack, which was saved by Shioda and resulted in a corner kick. From this corner kick, MF Okabayashi passed to the right and DF Tomita passed to the left, but somehow MF Shigetani managed to escape and prevent a second goal. The team went into the second half trailing by one point.

Akamine scores 2 goals, Otake's FK leads to 3 second-half goals, and we win with a comeback victory!

　In the second half, Emerson was replaced by Ishikawa. Ishikawa used his energy and speed well to become a good starting point and get into rhythm. In the 50th minute, Ishikawa broke through the right side and crossed with a shot. The opponent's GK made a save, and from the rebound, Akamine and Kajiyama took decisive shots from close range, but both were blocked by the GK's great play... In the 54th minute, Otake was substituted for Hayashi, who had injured his leg. In the 59th minute, from Otake's dribble, he passed to Akamine, who ran to the left area, and then made a floating pass to the center. Ishikawa jumped in from the right, but the GK caught it just a step ahead.

　At the 64th minute, from Ishikawa's cross, Imakano, who had been attacking with a set play, headed the ball and Cabore chased after it, earning a corner kick. Ishikawa took the right corner kick and Akamine headed it into the goal! With this equalizer, Tokyo reached their 400th goal in J1. In the 70th minute, Ishikawa pressed the opponent's DF and was fouled, earning a free kick. Kajiyama's kick was initially blocked by the DF's wall, but they were awarded another free kick due to a handball. In the 72nd minute, substitute Otake aimed directly for the goal from the penalty arc on the left, and the ball curved into the right net! With a brilliant free kick, they successfully turned the game around!

　In the 74th minute, Cabore was replaced and Tatsuya Suzuki, who made his first appearance after transferring, came in. In the 80th minute, Suzuki used his speed to break through the left side. He sent a strong and fast cross, which was headed through by Ishikawa in the center. Akamine made a sliding attempt from the far side, creating a decisive opportunity, but he couldn't finish and the ball went wide. In the 75th minute, Omiya also made a substitution, bringing in FW Sakurai for MF Kanazawa, and pushed forward with more players in the front line to try and make a comeback. However, in the 83rd minute, Omiya's right SB Murayama's early cross was met by MF Kataoka's shot in the left area, but it was saved by Shioda! In the 86th minute, Omiya's left MF Kobayashi quickly turned and shot towards the goal, but it went over the bar.

　After that, there were also moments where Omiya's FW Rafuricchi was troubled by the attacks, but they persevered and turned the tables with speedy attacks from both sides. In the 89th minute, they quickly counterattacked from a goal kick, with Ishikawa catching up to Nagatomo's pass to the front line and making a final pass to the center. Akamine pushed it in, scoring the third goal! With Akamine's two goals and Otake's free kick, they took three points in the second half and pulled away from Omiya's pursuit, achieving a consecutive victory and earning three points at Ajinomoto Stadium for the first time since the 9th round against Oita in the league.

　【Player Comments】《Akamine》"The first goal was a great ball from Ishikawa. I was able to time my run well and score. The third goal was also thanks to Ishikawa's great run, I just had to tap it in. We were behind in the first half, but we talked about not getting flustered. At halftime, we confirmed that we needed to keep pressing from the front and continue playing our style of football. We scored two goals from set pieces today, but they were the result of our hard work. In that sense, it gives us confidence. We haven't been able to win at home, so we are genuinely happy with this victory and we want to continue winning at home and accumulating points to move up in the standings. I want to work hard to make the most of my chances and score more goals."《Ishikawa》"We started the game well, but after conceding the first goal, we showed some hesitation. What I can do is make bold runs and take action. In that sense, I think I was able to give the team a good rhythm. When things aren't going well or even when the team is playing well but we can't find a good rhythm, I think we can change the flow of the game by putting our bodies on the line and trying our best. I was conscious of that. As a result, I was able to score and create chances, so it was a good learning experience for me."

　[Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "We couldn't win at Ajinomoto Stadium and we have been causing our fans a lot of frustration, so I apologize for that. But today, we were able to make up for it. The players were able to stick to their roles and their style of football under pressure, and it was good that we were able to win. In the beginning, we were able to move the ball calmly and create chances by making our own time, but our response to Omiya's crosses was not good. Nagatomo was responding, and the players inside were not expecting the cross to come up... so they were careless. We conceded a goal from a good cross and panicked a little. Cabore's positioning and Emerson's actions were a little rushed in the process of playing the football we wanted. I don't think the last 15-20 minutes of the first half were as good as the beginning of the game. However, towards the second half, we didn't lose sight of what we wanted to do and tried to connect instead of just kicking the ball. We confirmed with each other that if we continue to believe in that, we will eventually score, and we sent that message to the pitch. It was great that we were able to turn the game around with that. (Were you being held back on the sides?) Today, Cabore was playing quite wide, so Omiya set up wider than we expected. Omiya plays a zone defense, so they come closer to the ball side and the opposite side becomes open. We thought that if we could keep the ball well, our fullbacks could overlap... but they were marked there. However, if we could hold back the sides, we could try to connect through the middle. We talked to the players about finding the spaces and getting into the game, and they did a good job of finding those spaces and connecting in the middle. However, we still have regrets that we could have connected more and brought the ball to the attacking third in 1-2 touches. Nevertheless, we saw the defenders actively receiving the ball from the goalkeeper and trying to minimize loose balls even when it was tough."

　[Summary of Omiya Higuchi's press conference] "In the previous match, we suffered a frustrating defeat of 0-3 due to our own mistakes, and we wanted to get revenge. However, we ended up losing and it's extremely disappointing. We couldn't pick up second balls and had to defend for a long time. That was one of the problems. At the same time, I think not being able to possess the ball well was also a factor in not being able to play well. In the end, we couldn't fully show our strengths and it's a frustrating feeling. Along with that, I felt that there are many things that the team needs to do in the remaining 10 matches. We will do our best to fight each game and grow as a team."