Learn from last week's mistakes and aim for consecutive wins!

　In the 10th round of the league, we will face Sanfrecce Hiroshima away. In the previous round against Omiya, we allowed 2 goals from set pieces and only managed to win by a narrow margin with Ishikawa's hat-trick. However, we created many scoring opportunities from our aggressive defense and the overall team movement was not bad. Coach Jofuku also talked about the next goal, saying "I don't think the Omiya match was bad in terms of content. However, we need to reflect on our inability to grasp the situation and our way of playing that allows the opponent to take control, and learn from it to use it in the future."

　Hiroshima, on the other hand, is currently in 10th place with 11 points. Last season, they spent in J2, but they have built up their accurate passing, aggressive midfield runs, and utilizing the speed of FW Sato Hisashi over time. This season, they seem to be struggling with injuries, including GK Morisaki Hiroshi, but their team play is well-established. As coach Hiroshi JOFUKU aims to "prevent them from fully utilizing their strengths," Hiroshima will focus on possession, while we want to start the game with an aggressive defense and create a good rhythm by taking the ball.

　Tokyo, Kondo returns to the starting lineup in place of Cabore, who injured his left knee. Kondo says, "I think I will be used to score goals. However, before that, I want to mark the defensive midfielder who is the starting point of the opponent's passing game. If we can win the ball from good defense and create chances from high positions, we also want to aggressively aim for the space behind the defense," he said. Against Hiroshima, who has a formation similar to 3-4-3, it will be important to take control on the sides and create chances. We want to take advantage of the good form of Ishikawa and Hayashi, and win the battle on the sides with the attacking runs of both fullbacks, and continue to attack.

　Nagatomo shows confidence, saying, "(I'm looking forward to) the one-on-one battle with (the powerful) MF Mikić player. It's more exciting to actively challenge and win than to be outrun by passing work. It's challenging and motivating." Kanda also said, "We were in a rush in the Omiya game. If we communicate well, we should have been able to play a little easier. We will definitely use that as a lesson." It's an important game as a win would bring the match record to a tie. Despite the fatigue from consecutive games, we aim for victory with passionate soccer! The match started at 19:04 in Tokyo with a kick-off at the Hiroshima Big Arch, where it was raining.

Despite showing an equal fight, they allowed the lead to slip away in the second half.

　Tokyo pressed with a compact formation to counter the opponent's passing game and quickly turn the ball over for a counterattack. In the 6th minute, Kajiyama expanded to the right side. Tokunaga sent the ball forward with a header and Ishikawa crossed. Kajiyama once again took the ball and moved it to the front line. They continued to create opportunities, but were ultimately stopped by Hiroshima's defense. In the 9th minute, Ishikawa crossed from the left side. Kondo connected with a header from the far post and Tokunaga, who had pushed up, boldly attempted a shot from outside the box, but it missed wide.

　10 minutes, Ishikawa boldly attacks in the opponent's territory and is knocked down, causing the ball to spill. Akamine quickly picks it up and takes a powerful shot. The GK saves it and it goes out for a right corner kick. In the 17th minute, a pass is sent to MF Hattori who runs up the left side, causing the Tokyo DF to shift left and right. Hattori sends a ground pass to the center, but FW Sato and MF Takahagi just miss connecting with it. Both teams continue to showcase their strengths in an exciting back and forth battle, but in the 22nd minute, Hiroshima DF Stoyanov makes a run and crosses to MF Mikić who scores with a free header, giving them the lead.

　Without getting discouraged, Tokyo kept running and didn't lose, and in the 26th minute, Akamine connected with Nagatomo's cross and Kajiyama, who had advanced from the back, faked out the opposing defender near the area and took a strong shot. The ball was blocked and Kondo dropped it, then Kajiyama stabbed it into the net, but it was offside... On the other hand, in the 38th minute, they were hit by a counter and Hiroshima MF Kashiwagi took a decisive shot, but Gonda made a save with his body. They went into the second half with a one-point lead.

Despite creating chances, we were unable to break through the opponent's solid defense and suffered a defeat.

　In the second half, Hiroshima tightened their defense and aimed for quick attacks. In the 51st minute, Hayashi → Kajiyama aimed for a middle shot, but it went wide. Kondo was then substituted for Suzuki. In the 55th minute, Nagatomo made a deep cross from the left side. Hayashi collapsed in the center and the ball slipped through, but Akamine's volley went over the bar. In the 61st minute, Akamine intercepted a pass from Hiroshima's defense and dribbled forward. He then took a shot from a distance, but it went wide...

　While aggressively attacking, PREMIST struggled with the accuracy of their plays on the slippery pitch. Even when they tried to cross from the sides, it was often blocked and they were unable to create any decisive opportunities. In the 63rd minute, HIRAYAMA was substituted for YONEMOTO, with HANYU dropping back to defensive midfield and SUZUKI moving to the left side. Then in the 65th minute, HIRAYAMA brought down a left cross in the area and ISHIKAWA's shot found the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed due to a foul on HIRAYAMA. In the 68th minute, ISHIKAWA broke free from a through pass from HANYU and dribbled into the area for a shot, but the goalkeeper made a great save and they were unable to score.

　In the 74th minute, Hiroshima launched a quick attack and MF Kashiwagi → MF Aoyama's combination play resulted in a goal by FW Sato. Tokyo, who had no choice but to attack, had a shot from Suzuki in the 80th minute from just outside the area. Hirayama took advantage of the loose ball from the DF block and entered the area. He took a shot, but the GK caught it. In the 89th minute, Akamine made a run into the box from Bruno QUADROS' cross and took a volley, but missed the target. In stoppage time, Hirayama → Suzuki connected and Kajiyama took a shot from outside the box. It deflected off a DF, but the GK caught it. In the end, despite Tokyo's decent performance, they lacked accuracy in their play and suffered their first goalless defeat of the season against Hiroshima, who took their chances with certainty.

　【Player Comments】《Kajiyama》"Maybe we were too focused on starting from the sides. We were making difficult choices and not connecting enough in the center. Hiroshima was good at passing the ball, but we were caught on the counter and fell behind. It didn't feel like we were beaten... Our biggest challenge is how we can finish when we have the ball. I think it's something we can do."《Akamine》"I don't think we were under attack that much... But in the end, we didn't score and I feel responsible for that. We had chances, so not being able to convert them is something to reflect on. However, we have to quickly switch gears because we have another game coming up. We are creating chances, so we need to get our condition in order and make sure we can score. It's a shame for the fans who came all the way to support us, but we will do our best to get 3 points in the next game."

　[Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "It's extremely disappointing and unacceptable to lose without scoring any points. Our game plan was to aggressively go for the ball, play the type of soccer we've been trying to play this year, and get the maximum points. We were most cautious of DF Stoyanov's attacking runs, and being used wide from there was something we were aware of. The first ball that entered the penalty area was probably intentionally created by Sanfrecce, so it's very disappointing to have been caught off guard. However, I don't know our current ranking, but overall, I believe that if we continue to play the type of soccer we want to play, we can achieve a certain level of success. Our current ranking is due to my own shortcomings and lack of ability, and I think the players should continue to play this type of soccer. If we do, I honestly believe that our results in the league will reflect that and we will definitely see positive results."

　[Hiroshima Petrovic's press conference summary] "Every game is difficult, and I think today's game was also difficult. In the first half, I thought we played very good soccer. We took the lead 1-0 and had a chance to score another goal, but we couldn't finish it and ended the first half. I think it was proven that we are a team with good defense, as we have not given away any goals like we have in recent games. It is not easy to score against our defense. In the second half, we were able to score when we had the chance, and when the opponent brought in player Hirayama, we were able to calmly handle it when they played long balls and also when we brought in Morita. It was a tough game in terms of physical strength in the second half, but I think it was a game that we were able to win."