Aiming for the first victory of the season, we will head to the away game.

　League Sec. 2 will face Urawa Reds and invade away at Saitama Stadium 2002. In the opening game, they suffered a massive 4 goals at home and lost. It is urgent to fix the defense, but at the same time, frustration remains that they could not convert their chances into goals during the good rhythm. We want to correct the challenges we have found while taking on new challenges and use them as nourishment to move on. In this round, Saitama.S and Urawa Reds will return from injury and sit on the bench. In addition, Cabore and Suzuki will be starting from the previous round, and Kono and Kajiyama will play as defensive midfielders. The full-backs will be Tokunaga on the right and Nagatomo on the left.

　Urawa, who lost to Kashima in the first match, will face this game as their home opener and will come with a strong determination of "not losing at all". Under the new coach Volker Finke this season, they are trying to transform into an attacking football style that connects the ball. On the other hand, the key for Tokyo is how much they can take control and create decisive chances. Urawa's central defenders are already strong, so we want to create opportunities and take the initiative from the sides.

　Since September 2004, there has been no victory against Urawa. Not only that, but it is an away game and the conditions are tough. However, we will overcome our weakness and calmly show our strong determination to surpass Urawa and aim for victory on the pitch. The match started at 2:02 PM in Tokyo, under the unstable spring weather and with cold rain falling at Saitama Stadium.

Despite conceding the first goal, Tokunaga and Cabore's combination equalizes the score

　Urawa's speedy attack pushed us back from the start. In the 4th minute, Urawa FW Tatsuya Tanaka broke through on the left side and sent a strong cross into the goal area. Gonda saved it, but the ball crossed the line, giving Urawa a right corner kick. Then, Urawa MF Ponte's low trajectory kick was directly kicked into the right area by MF Abe, and once again we conceded the first goal from a set piece.

　However, in the 13th minute, Hayashi boldly passed the ball into the wedge, and Nagatomo sent a cross from the left. No one could connect in the center, but then they persistently connected, and immediately after, Tokunaga passed to Kajiyama, who had moved up to the front line, and then to Tokunaga, who attacked the right side again. Cabore jumped into the near post to meet the low cross, and the ball went into Urawa's goal. They induced an own goal from Urawa and equalized with a few chances, making sure to take advantage of them.

　At 23 minutes, Shigetaka sent a floating pass to the front line, which was cleared by the opposing DF and landed at the feet of Hayashi just outside the area. Hayashi attempted a direct shot at goal, but it didn't connect well. The ball fell to Cabore in front of the goal, who took a shot but was caught by the Urawa GK. However, this seemed to be the only chance for a goal, as Urawa continued to dominate the rhythm of the game. At 43 minutes, Shigetaka and Urawa DF Wataru collided. Both were injured and temporarily left the pitch, making for an intense match, but no additional points were allowed. The team hoped to regroup in the second half, as the first half came to an end.

Suffering defeat as Urawa took control from start to finish

　In the 48th minute of the second half, despite Urawa's quick passing, they were unable to steal the ball. Finally, Konno managed to steal it and launched a counterattack, but was stopped by the opponent in the midfield. The game seemed to have stopped for a moment, but the ball ended up with Urawa DF Tatsuya Tanaka. From here, the ball was played to the right and crossed by MF Ponte, perfectly connecting with FW Edmilson for the second goal...

　Once again, they allowed a lead and the game became a situation where they had to chase one point. However, Urawa, who had the momentum, passed the ball quickly and couldn't connect their attacks even if they managed to steal the ball, so they couldn't counterattack. In the 58th minute, Ohata was substituted for Suzuki, Akamine for Kondo in the 60th minute, and Ishikawa for Hanyu in the 66th minute. They tried to change the rhythm with player substitutions, but in the 71st minute, Ishikawa, who received a pass from the left side, took a powerful shot from the right area, but it hit the bar and bounced back...

　83 minutes, allowing Urawa DF Tsuboi to advance to the left front line and pass to the center. Urawa MF Yamada calmly draws in Tokyo DF and passes to right MF Ponte. This is surely scored, and Urawa's sharp counter breaks through the defense and concedes the third goal... In the tough pressure of the away game, a bitter defeat with a lackluster performance in both offense and defense. It's the second consecutive loss.

　【Player Comments】《Cabore》"I started the game, but unfortunately it ended up like this. (On the goal scene) a good cross came in and I jumped in. In the end, it became an own goal, but it was good that I was involved in the goal. However, the opponent's goalkeeper was also amazing, and even if there were chances afterwards, we couldn't score and it was disappointing. We have conceded 7 goals so far this season and still haven't won. I want to win at home next time for sure."《Suzuki》"I wanted to play to my strengths and be aggressive going forward... But we spent a lot of time defending against Urawa and there was no coordination between offense and defense. In both the opening game and today, we conceded first and then were countered... It's a trap that the opponent wants us to fall into. If we can't keep possession of the ball, it will be difficult for us. However, this season, we are aiming to play a style of soccer where we can break through even if the opponent sits back. We have lost two games in a row, but we want to see it as a pain for us to grow and align everyone's vector. We want to keep fighting without giving up."

　[Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "Since we couldn't win in the opening game, we came into today's game with a strong desire to earn 3 points. Although many fans came to support us even though it was an away game, we were unable to meet their expectations and it's very disappointing. We need to think about each individual's play, but overall we were dominated and overwhelmed by the ball. We also lost the ball immediately after winning it, which is something we need to work on. The main factor was that Urawa was able to take advantage of our half-hearted positioning on defense and move the ball forward. At the same time, they were able to hold onto the ball in the front line and speed up the game, which caused a lot of damage. We spent too much time chasing Urawa's ball and it was exhausting. We also had problems on the offensive end, not just on defense. Overall, it's a very frustrating result, but it's a fair one. We need to identify our issues and move on to the next game."

　[Urawa Fink's press conference summary] "It's our first home game of the season, but when I visited three months ago, the Urawa supporters were fantastic and supported the team until the very end. Unfortunately, we lost that game, but I wanted to leave a good result in today's game. So the 3 points we got today are very valuable. We were able to take the lead early on and the team showed a very good performance. However, we conceded an equalizer in a disappointing way. After that, for 10-15 minutes, our team's play was not as good as we wanted, and at the same time, FC Tokyo showed a great performance. From the middle of the first half, the quality of our play also improved. Ball possession and the players' switching were better, and the movement was also improved compared to before. At halftime, I felt that if we could continue playing like we did at the end of the first half, we could get even better results in the second half. (The defenders were also active in the attack?) In my opinion, I want each player in every position to create scoring chances and score goals themselves. In order to aim for combination football, I think it is important for defensive players to participate in the attack."