GAME RESULTGame Result

Sec. 5 2009/6/03 (Wed)
Audience 14,259 people 
Weather cloudy, middle temperature 21.1 degrees, humidity 72% 
Referee: Toshimitsu YOSHIDA Assistant Referee: Shuichi MAJIMA/Tsuyoshi OGURA Fourth Official: Jumpei IIDA

YNC Qualifying Group B Sec. 5

National

HOME

FC Tokyo

3-1

Match Finished

First Half0-1

Second Half3-0

AWAY

Montedio Yamagata

FC Tokyo Montedio Yamagata
57' Yohei KAJIYAMA
63' Cabore
71' Cabore
Scorer 03' Tomoyasu Hirose
29' Hokuto NAKAMURA → Kenta MUKUHARA
71' Sotan TANABE → Yohei OTAKE
76' Cabore → Shingo AKAMINE
Player Substitution 43' Akiha Katsu → Kentaro SATO
45' Kim Byung Suk → Ryo KOBAYASHI
76' Takuya Miyamoto → Katsuyuki MIYAZAWA
17 Shoot 14
3 CK 7
16 FK 12
17' Sota HIRAYAMA
43' Kenta MUKUHARA
Warning 32' TAKUYA SONODA
44' TAKUYA MIYAMOTO
51' KENTARO SATO
Exit
FC Tokyo Starting Lineup
GK 20 Shuichi Gonda
DF 14 Nakamura Hokuto
DF 4 Bruno Quadros
DF 15 Daisuke Hiramatsu
DF 25 Yusuke Tokunaga
MF 28 Takashi Yonemoto
MF 10 Yosuke Kajiyama
MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa
MF 27 Sotan TANABE
FW 9 Cabore
FW 13 Aida Hiroshi
FC TokyoSubstitute
GK 1 Hitoshi Shiota
DF 33 Kenta Mukuhara
MF 17 Kanazawa Jyo
MF 19 Yohei Otake
MF 40 Tatsuya Suzuki
FW 24 Shingo Akamine
FW 32 Yusuke Kondo
Montedio Yamagata Starting Lineup
GK 21 Endo Daishi
DF 14 Takuya Miyamoto
DF 22 Takuya Sonoda
DF 23 Hidenori ISHII
DF 13 Ryuya Ishikawa
MF 16 Kim Byung Suk
MF 19 Akihaba Katsu
MF 5 Watanabe Takumi
MF 29 Hirose Tomoyasu
FW 15 Yu HASEGAWA
FW 6 Miyazaki Kohei
Montedio YamagataSubstitute
GK 1 Kenta Shimizu
DF 18 Kenta Kido
DF 20 Ryo Kobayashi
MF 7 Miyazawa Katsuyuki
MF 17 Kentaro SATO
FW 10 Masayuki Zaizen
FW 24 Sakai Shogo

[Player/Coach Comments]

Home National, aiming for only 3 points!


 The 5th round of the Nabisco Cup qualifying league will be held. This round will be played at the Japan National Stadium, with Montedio Yamagata as the home team. Tokyo, who currently stands at the top of the group, has played 4 games so far. This round will be a direct confrontation with 2nd place Yamagata. In the previous round against Kyoto, they were only able to secure 1 point, so they cannot afford to lose if they want to advance to the next round. It will be an important match to secure a clear victory at home and accumulate points, and to build momentum for the final match.

 This round, Bruno QUADROS, who returned from suspension, will start and partner with Hiramatsu as center back. Nakamura, who had been injured, will also return and make his first start in the right side back position.

 Yamagata, on the other hand, has played 3 matches so far and is only 1 point behind Tokyo. They lost to Chiba in the previous Nabisco match and have not won in the last 5 league matches. They also seem to be struggling with injuries, but their team's focus and perseverance are evident. Their attacks, which involve long ball passes and second ball pickups, as well as utilizing FW Hasegawa from the sides, are powerful and require caution. It is important to not only maintain concentration in the defense line, but also apply coordinated pressure as a team and limit Yamagata's passing options.

 In the attack, we have been unable to score a second goal in recent times and have often lost our rhythm, so we want to somehow play our own soccer and connect it to the goal. The temperature is not high, but the humidity is 72% and it seems that it will start raining at the National Stadium. The match started at 7:34 pm with a kickoff in Tokyo.

Conceded a goal right after the start, and struggled defensively, allowing Yamagata to gain momentum.


 The start was chaotic on the defensive end, leading to a rushed situation. In the first 30 seconds, a long ball sent by Yamagata was contested by Hiramatsu and Yamagata FW Cabore. Hiramatsu was unable to steal the ball and it was taken to a shot, but escaped the danger with a save by Gonda. Immediately after, Ishikawa cut in from the right and passed to Cabore in the center, who smoothly slipped behind the opposing DF in the right area. He received a return pass and scored, but was called offside when he received the pass...

 Then, in the 3rd minute, Tokyo's left side was broken through by Yamagata's right MF Kim Byung-sook, who penetrated into the area. He sent a minus pass to the front of the goal, and it was perfectly matched by FW Hasegawa. The shot was saved by Gonda at first, but it was kicked in by left MF Hirose, resulting in a goal...

 Tokyo struggled as they conceded an early goal and were pushed back by Yamagata's long balls, making it difficult for them to create attacking opportunities. In the 14th minute, Nakamura made a run and exchanged passes with Cabore on the right side, creating a chance for Tanabe to score. However, his shot was saved by Yamagata's goalkeeper Endo, who was making his first appearance in a J-League match, including his time with Tokyo. In the 25th minute, Nakamura suffered an injury from a tackle by the opponent.

 Substituted Nakamura for Murohara on the left side back at 29 minutes. With Tokunaga on the right, Tokyo gradually gained rhythm and created chances. At 30 minutes, Cabore connected in the center and Kajiyama advanced to pass to Hirayama who was free on the left area. However, Hirayama's decisive shot was blocked by Yamagata GK Endo. At 32 minutes, Ishikawa on the left → Kajiyama who moved up in front of the goal took a shot, but it hit the defender and resulted in a left corner kick. Ishikawa → Tanabe connected with a short pass, and again from Ishikawa's cross, Hiramatsu headed from the far side, but it went too high.

 In the 38th minute, a chance was created from Ishikawa's dribble, and in the 41st minute, Lori made a cross from the left, which was connected by Hirayama in the center, but Cabore's shot was blocked by the GK once again... Carrying a one-point deficit, they headed into the second half.

Kajiyama scores the equalizer, Cabore scores 2 goals, and the team achieves their first come-from-behind victory of the season!


 In the second half, we made adjustments and calmly launched a counterattack. In the 57th minute, Yamamoto on the right side of the opponent's field passed a lob to Hirayama in front of the goal, and also made an attacking run himself. Hirayama successfully controlled the ball and passed it to Kajiyama just outside the penalty area, who then aimed and shot beautifully into the top left corner for a goal! Kajiyama's goal, assisted by Hirayama, finally brought us back to a tie.

 With this calm goal, Cabore started the reversal, and in the 63rd minute, a vertical pass was sent to Cabore, who was trying to break through the front line from Hirayama. Cabore brought the ball forward with a trap and took a looping shot. Although it hit the opponent's GK and spilled in front of the goal, Cabore fiercely competed with the opponent's DF and pushed it in with a header. Taking advantage of Cabore's speed, Tokyo took the lead and completely grasped the rhythm. In the 66th minute, they launched a quick attack, and Cabore cut back the opponent's DF in the right area and passed to Hirayama, who had moved up in the center. From there, they created another scoring opportunity, but it was offside when the pass was made to Hirayama...

 In the 70th minute, a counterattack was launched from their own territory, and Ishikawa dribbled into the opponent's territory. He tried to pass to Tanabe, who had moved up from behind, but they both ran out of breath... They couldn't time it together. In the 71st minute, Ohata was substituted for Tanabe. Immediately after that, Kabore tried to break through the back of the Yamagata DF with Kajiyama's vertical pass. The shot was saved by the opponent's GK, but Kabore himself caught up with the loose ball and pushed it in with his right foot to score the third goal!

 With this, the momentum was on their side, and in the 74th minute, Hirayama received a pass from the left side and turned around in the center of the area to face a scoring opportunity, but the shot lacked power... However, Cabore caught up to the ball that had spilled forward and crossed it. Ishikawa on the far side received it and sent another decisive pass to the center, but no one was able to connect... In the 76th minute, Akamine was substituted for Cabore. Both teams stretched their lines, and although there were counterattacks towards the end, no additional points were conceded. Cabore scored his first two goals in a single game, pushing Yamagata ahead and securing a comeback victory with a two-point lead, the first of the season for the team. As a result, they temporarily maintained their position as the top team in Group B.

 【Player Comments】《Kajiyama》"In the first half, I held onto the ball too much and had to look for opportunities to pass. I think we were able to make good use of keeping and passing in the second half after making adjustments at halftime. It was a great achievement to turn the game around and win in the 90 minutes. The goal was possible because Hirayama kept the ball well and I was able to get into the goal area. I was able to score as I had practiced similar shots, so I was able to aim and score as planned. If we can play like we did in the second half today, I think we can win. We want to secure our spot in the final round with our own strength."《Cabore》"The goal was possible because I received a good pass and was able to use my strong point. We conceded early today and were in a bit of a panic. But in the second half, we were able to start over and equalize with Kajiyama's amazing goal. After that, the team was able to calm down and we were able to score a second goal. I think we played well against Kyoto and today, so we want to continue playing well and win. Shizuoka is a tough opponent, but I think we have a chance to win, so we will do our best."

 [Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "Today was a situation where we absolutely had to win. So I'm glad we were able to get results. In the first half, we had chances, but the line was too deep and we were picked up by the opponent's long ball and then they put in a through pass... It became a vicious cycle. We also conceded a goal at the start, which made our makeshift defensive line nervous. We have to reflect on giving the opponent decisive chances by dropping the line and giving them space. In the second half, we made adjustments to the line and confirmed where we should use our power and our own skills and characteristics for the team. There were also connecting plays and chances for Cabore's one-shot behind, but if we can't connect, we can't aim for the behind. We want to continue to be able to do both well in the game. (About injured players) Cabore has been playing with an injury to the inside of his knee. However, I don't think it's that serious, but we won't know until we do a detailed examination. As for Hokuto NAKAMURA, the opponent player went for the ball, but he tackled with the sole of his foot and hit his existing injury. He can barely walk, so we need to take our time and heal him properly. (Why did you put Muhara in as left fullback?) In the first half, Yamagata's left fullback Ishikawa's side change was contained by right midfielder Kim, and they created chances from there. So we decided to put Muhara, who we have a lot of trust in defensively, on Kim's side to contain him."

 [Yamagata Kobayashi's press conference summary] "We had a good start in the first half and were able to break through the spaces and sides well. However, two players got injured and we were pushed back towards the end of the first half. We had to figure out how to withstand that and score another goal...that was the situation. We had opportunities to score another goal in the first half, but not being able to convert them was a big factor. FC Tokyo also had chances, but if we were able to score another goal after taking the lead, I think we could have entered the second half more comfortably. In the second half, the lack of communication for the second goal was regrettable. We were able to score one goal, so if we had more precision, we could have scored another goal and made it a game. However, with the injuries of two players (Akiba and Kim), it became difficult for us in terms of strength. Unfortunately, it feels like this is as far as we can go. After taking the lead, it became a physical battle of individual clashes, with the ball being taken and lost based on power...it got a little rough. We ended up playing to FC Tokyo's style. If we had worked together more as a group, I think we could have played a more composed game. It may have been a game we could have won. However, this is the reality and it was a good learning experience for the team."