Riding into the away game with our survival on the line!

　In the 29th round of the league, we will face Oita Trinita away. The league will resume after a two-week interval. Although we lost in the previous round against Shimizu on 10/4, we are currently 5 points behind the top team Kashima, and it is a very important match to keep up with the top group in the fierce battle. It's an away game, but we want to take away points by any means and continue to fight for the top.

　Oita, who they will face, is currently in 4th place with 48 points. In the 27th round, they lost to Yokohama FM and in the previous round, they lost to Kawasaki away, but their strength at home is still strong. This season, they have only lost one game at the Kyushu Dome, which was in the 4th round against G Osaka, showing their overwhelming strength. In this round, DF Uemoto and Fujita will be suspended, but the defensive line centered around DF Fukaya and Morishige will not be easily broken. Coach Jofuku says, "Even with the addition of new members like FW Morishima, Oita is functioning as a team and their way of playing is well-established." The key will be how aggressively they can attack and take advantage of the space on the sides.

　Tokyo, with Fujiyama starting on the right side for the first time since the 23rd round against Kashiwa. Bruno QUADROS, Otake, and other injured players have been struggling, but coach Jofuku says, "Injuries can happen to any team, in any situation. Despite being in a tight spot, the players have prepared themselves well individually." Nagatomo and Hanyu are also on the bench after getting their condition in order. They will approach the game with all their might. In defense, it will be crucial to contain Oita's side attacks and shut down the height of FW Morishima. They will need to respond tenaciously to the flying runs and crosses from both sides by MF Takahashi and Suzuki, and gain the upper hand on the sides.

　This season, the match against Oita will be the fourth time, including the Nabisco Cup, and the results so far are 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss. However, Coach Shirofuku declared, "If we lose this match, we will fall behind Oita in the match results, Nabisco Cup, and league standings. We absolutely want to avoid being in a disadvantageous situation in all aspects. First of all, we want to catch up with them in terms of points." The match started at 2:05 pm in Tokyo, at the Kyushu Oil Dome under a refreshing autumn sky.

Conceded the first goal from a set piece and go into the second half trailing by one point

　In the early stages, Oita, who launched a strong attack at home, was pushed back. However, they defended with concentration and gradually became the pace of Tokyo. In the 4th minute, Imakano, who took the ball in the middle, passed it to Cabore in the front line. The ball that was passed to Emerson at the goal line was passed to Cabore, who was waiting in the center of the area, but this was offside. In the 11th minute, there was a scramble in front of the goal from Kajiyama's right corner kick. Imakano took a left-footed volley shot, but it was not a goal due to the opponent's good save. In the 17th minute, Kajiyama passed to Imakano who had run behind Cabore from the left side. The cross hit the DF and was picked up by Kajiyama who had moved up in the center. He took a direct shot, but it went just left of the goal.

　After that, they continued to attack widely and grasp the rhythm, but in the 24th minute, they fouled Oita FW Weslley on a counter and gave away a free kick. MF Suzuki scored directly from this FK from outside the right area, conceding the first goal from a set piece. However, Tokyo continued to show an aggressive attitude and turned to counterattack. In the 31st minute, Inoue received a pass from Fujiyama who had dribbled up and crossed from the left. Unfortunately, this did not reach Akamine who was waiting in front of the goal. In the 36th minute, Kajiyama passed to Emerson from a central FK, but his shot was blocked by Oita DF.

　Oita took the lead and tightened the center, with DF Fukaya man-marking Cabore in particular. They were unable to fully utilize Cabore's speed. Attacks from the sides by Emerson and Konno, as well as using Tokunaga's crosses as a starting point, created attacking opportunities, but they were unable to break through Oita's defense. In the final stages, they created chances from set pieces, but were unable to convert them into goals. They went into the second half trailing by one goal.

Unable to break through Oita's solid defense until the end, resulting in a defeat with no points scored.

　Substituting Asari for Hanyu from the second half, and changing the positions of Fujiyama and Tokunaga to start the counterattack. In the 48th minute, Cabore volleyed a floating cross from Emerson, but Oita GK Shimokawa caught it. In the 54th minute, Hanyu stole the ball and ran up the left side, passing it to Akamine on the left side of the area. He aimed for Cabore in front of the goal, but was blocked by Oita DF. In the 56th minute, from Kajiyama's quick restart, Imakawa aimed for a powerful middle shot but missed above the frame. In the 57th minute, Cabore received a feed from Fujiyama in the center of the area and aimed for the goal, but the opponent's GK caught it.

　Substituted Iwakawa for Emerson in the 68th minute. In the 69th minute, Kabore on the left side used his speed to make a vertical breakthrough, leaving the opponent's DF behind and sending a negative cross. However, the opponent's DF cleared it. Despite dominating possession and showing an aggressive attacking attitude, they were unable to take a shot. In the 74th minute, they launched a counterattack from the opponent's free kick clearance, and Akamine → Iwakawa carved through the right side and sent a shot-like cross, but it was blocked by the Oita DF at the last moment. In the 80th minute, Kabore headed the ball from a loose ball from a throw-in, but it lacked power and was caught by the Oita GK.

　In the 84th minute, Akamine was brought down in the area but no foul was given. In the 85th minute, Fujiyama was substituted for Nagatomo. Cabore and Akamine on the front line tried to score an equalizer. In stoppage time, a cross from Nagatomo on the left side to Cabore. It was cleared by the Oita DF but resulted in a corner kick. From this right corner kick, Tokunaga picked up the loose ball and took a daring shot but it went over the goal. They desperately chased after a goal, but as time passed, their desperation was evident and they were unable to score. As a result, Oita successfully defended their one goal lead and the game ended. Unfortunately, they suffered a defeat.

　【Player Comments】《Shioda》"The condition of the pitch was bad, so we had to make a change. I think Oita was able to adapt to it better. (The scene of the goal) The opponent's free kick was good. I had the thought that they might kick it towards the wall, but I also had the thought that they might put it in the far side... I couldn't react to the straight shot with my left foot. We have to switch gears after this defeat. Honestly, it will be difficult to win the championship, but there is still a chance to qualify for the ACL depending on our ranking. I want to prepare for the next Kashima game with that as our goal."《Moino》"Today's result is really disappointing. (The scene where you gave away the free kick that led to the goal?) It was a dangerous situation on the counter. I thought it might be better to just foul them if necessary, but before that, the referee called a foul. But I can't make excuses because that was the referee's decision. As for that free kick, I can only praise the kicker. It has been a challenge for the team to improve our scoring ability, so we need to reevaluate and solve that issue. We can't win if we can't score. (It seemed like Morishima was fired up?) I think that's his playing style. But he didn't take too many shots, so I tried not to let it bother me. It would be a waste of time to get provoked and caught up in it. We have a home game against Kashima next, so I want to show our determination. We can't end like this. If we can move up even just one spot, it will change the way Tokyo is next year. I want to switch gears and do our best."

　[Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "First of all, I am very disappointed that we were not able to meet the expectations of the fans who came all the way from Tokyo to Oita, as well as those who support us in Tokyo. We were taking care of restarts such as counters and set plays, but we ended up giving away a free kick in a place where we should not have, and that led to a goal. We approached the game aggressively, knowing that a draw was not enough, but unfortunately we conceded a goal in a situation where we did not have a bad start. We also tried to attack while preventing the opponent from scoring an additional goal, but it is regrettable that we were not able to score despite the fact that the opponent had no choice but to defend. (What kind of impact did Hanyu have after being substituted in the second half?) Kajiyama dropped back to the defensive midfield position and received the ball, in order to fill the space in the second line. We wanted to spread the opponent while connecting passes, so we made the midfield structure even more connected. (Next up is top-ranked Kashima, what are your thoughts?) I think the key will be how well we can enter the opponent's penalty area while connecting passes, and how many variations we can create with dribbles and runs behind the defense. We created many chances in today's game, but we need to analyze why we were unable to score."

　[Summary of Oita Chamusca's press conference] "I think it was a very important win for us to be able to win here in a direct match between top teams as we enter the final stretch. As expected, it was a tough game. We were able to return to the state where we had a record of 17 games without losing, with our speed, strength in the ball, and intense marking. The two-week break this time was very valuable in returning to this state. In terms of tactics, the opponent came with a 3-top formation at first, so we absorbed Takahashi and Suzuki into the final line to make it 4-on-3. In order to do that, it was important to communicate well and not let it become a 3-on-3 situation. The result was that someone always covered and the communication worked. After taking the lead, Tokunaga kept coming up and Emerson came in and Tokunaga moved into the space. Furthermore, towards the end of the first half, both full-backs joined the attack, which required even more communication, but I think the team functioned smoothly. Regarding MF Kanazaki's position, we asked him to return to the defensive line in defense and move into the top line as one of the 3 tops in attack. Today, I think it was a very tough game for him, so I substituted him at the end. The ball didn't stay in the front line and we received a wave of attacks from the opponent, so we put in FW Takamatsu to keep the ball. In the last 5 minutes, Nagatomo came in, so we put in Nishiyama and took care of the system in a 3-6-1 formation."