Switch your mind and body, and take 3 points away!

　Entering the 18th round of the league, this round we will face Omiya Ardija. We have won the last two league and Nabisco Cup matches against Nagoya Grampus, and are currently on a 7-game winning streak in official matches. In the league, we have taken the lead in wins and our goal difference has finally turned positive. Today is the third match of a back-to-back schedule with only 2 days of rest, but we must switch our mindset and continue to move forward without stopping, aiming for another victory.

　Omiya, on the other hand, is currently in 12th place. Although they couldn't gain momentum in April and May, they have regrouped with a strong defensive mindset and hard work on both ends of the field. While they lost to Kashima in the previous match, they had remained undefeated in the previous 5 matches and have been steadily accumulating points. In addition, Dudu, the top scorer of the Korean K-League last season, has joined the team. With FW Fujita injured today, he will make his first start. At the same time, new addition MF So Yong Duk has also made his first appearance on the bench as a substitute.

　In addition to FW Dudu, Omiya will launch attacks by exploiting the space behind the DF, starting with FW Ishihara. Therefore, we want to defend without giving up the first goal by coordinating with the DMF and DF. In attack, the key is to take advantage of Omiya's organized defense and score the first goal. If we can play our own soccer with a good balance between offense and defense, there should be no problem. However, Hayashi said, "After scoring a lot of goals, we need to be careful how we enter the game. In the beginning, it's okay to play at a high pace, but we want to show that we have no weaknesses. If we can find our rhythm, we should be able to control the game with our current team condition."

　The players are keeping in mind their strategies for Omiya, but they are also focused on "playing their own soccer" as the most important thing. They will play the game with their own rhythm, even though it is an away game, and aim for 3 points! Today is the first day of the 3-day weekend during summer break. Despite the cloudy weather, there is no wind and it is humid at NACK5 Stadium Omiya. The game started at 6:04 PM with Tokyo's kickoff.

Despite struggling against Omiya's solid defense, Hirayama scores the first goal just before the end of the first half.

　He couldn't hide the signs of fatigue. From the beginning of the game, he was robbed of passes and suffered from Omiya's quick attacks. In the 4th minute, Kajiyama's pass was taken in his own half and passed to Omiya's FW Ishihara who broke through the front line directly. However, the Tokyo defense quickly returned and managed to defend. In the 5th minute, Omiya once again made a quick pass behind the Tokyo DF from just before their own halfway line. The ball was passed to FW Ishihara who broke through again, but Tokunaga quickly returned and there was no danger.　

　In defense, we tried to maintain concentration and build rhythm from there. In the 6th minute, Bruno QUADROS intercepted and attacked, passing to Ishikawa on the front line. Ishikawa quickly turned and took a powerful shot, but it was saved by the GK and grazed the bar. It was cleared with a corner kick. From the right corner kick, Yonemoto took a long shot, but it missed the target. Gradually, Kajiyama also had more opportunities to attack, with Cabore and Ishikawa as the starting points, and entered the Omiya defense with numbers. However, Omiya also had a high defensive awareness and could not create any decisive chances.

　At 31 minutes, Kajiyama, who had advanced deep into the right area, skillfully passed to Cabore who ran into the right area, but he couldn't trap it well and it was cleared. At 36 minutes, Tokunaga cut off Omiya's CK. He brought it to the counter and connected with Cabore and Hanyu, and Ishikawa went to the right area. He passed the opponent DF and sent a last pass from the goal line to the center, but it was cut off by the Omiya DF. At 43 minutes, Ishikawa flew out to the front line and rushed into the area while competing with the opponent DF. However, today Omiya's marking was strict and there was no follow-up, so he couldn't make a shot.

　Omiya made a substitution in the 44th minute, bringing on new signing Dudu for new signing MF So Yong Duk. Shortly after, in stoppage time, Imakawa sent a feed to the right front line, where Hirayama dropped it and Cabore in the area connected with it, causing the opponent's DF to compete for it. Hanyu then linked up with Hirayama on the right side. Hirayama quickly swung his right foot and kicked it into the near side for a goal! They took the lead in the perfect time just before the end of the first half and headed into the second half.

Seize the chance and take 3 points for the 5th consecutive win in the league!

　Omiya launched a strong attack centered around FW Yong Duk SEO in the second half. However, Tokyo also fought back by connecting passes. In the 47th minute, Cabore sprinted down the left side. Ishikawa jumped and connected the ball behind him, which was then picked up by Hayu who ran towards the right area. Hayu tried to cut back the opposing DF and take a shot, but was unable to due to being closed down. In the 50th minute, Omiya's left MF Uchida → MF Yong Duk SEO, who had dropped back to the midfield, took a powerful shot! However, Gonda managed to punch it away.

　Substituted Tanabe for Hanyu at 60 minutes. Immediately after at 62 minutes, Cabore broke through on a floating pass to the front line, cut back the opposing DF in the right area, and then turned around to keep the ball. From there, he took a shot with less power, but it was saved by the GK and resulted in a CK. In the left CK by Ishikawa, Imakawa tried to score but couldn't hit the target. At 66 minutes, Hirayama challenged the Omiya DF in the right area and won a CK. In the right CK by Ishikawa, Bruno QUADROS headed standing up, but it went over the bar.

　At the 70th minute, Hirayama was fouled in the opponent's territory and earned a free kick. Ishikawa sent this left free kick to the front line, where Bruno tried to receive it, but Omiya DF cleared it first and earned a corner kick. In the 71st minute, from Ishikawa's right corner kick, Bruno QUADROS took a shot that hit the bar and bounced back, but Imakawa was able to push it in for a goal!! They took advantage of the set piece opportunity and scored their second goal!

　After extending the lead to 2 points, they calmly held off Omiya's counterattack. In the 76th minute, Omiya's left cross was cleared by Tanabe and escaped to a corner kick. Then, from Omiya's right corner kick, the ball seemed to fall to the feet of DF Matto who was free in the left area, but Konda quickly came out and caught it. They didn't allow any real chances, and in the 79th minute, Kondo was substituted for Cabore, and in the 85th minute, Ishikawa was substituted for Suzuki.

　Ishikawa was unable to score consecutively, but towards the end, they quickly attacked on the counter and Tanabe → Suzuki aimed for a through pass in the area. Here, Hirayama slid behind the defense and scored the third goal with his left foot. Despite struggling against Omiya's solid defense, Hirayama scored two goals and led the team to their fifth consecutive victory in the league with a 3-0 win! They have now achieved 8 consecutive wins in official matches.

　【Player Comments】《Hirayama》"I'm happy about the winning streak. The defense has been keeping us from conceding, which I think is also a factor in our winning streak. The opening goal was set up by Cabore and Hayashi, who passed it to me. So I just hit it without thinking. It was good that we scored a third goal right at the end, but I want to improve my accuracy and score more. My body was really tired, but I'm the type of player who is used by those around me. The other players are making the most of me."《Imano》"If Hirayama receives the ball after bypassing the Omiya DF Mat, he can definitely become the starting point. Then Cabore can make a run behind DF Mat. That was the team's plan. When we couldn't connect short passes, we talked about using that strategy and it worked well. Right now, everyone is playing while thinking. There are bad times, but we think about what to do and discuss it. If it doesn't work, we try something else and new ideas keep coming. I think the team is in a good rhythm."

　[Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "We happened to come into today's game with a 7-game winning streak, including the Nabisco Cup. We were able to play a solid game at Ajinomoto Stadium against Nagoya, but it was after a high-scoring game and our third consecutive game in extreme heat, so I knew it would be a difficult match considering our physical condition and other factors. When considering Omiya's motivation, I thought it would be a 1-0 game today. Being able to handle a 1-0 game will lead us to the next stage. The players had a strong defensive mindset and were able to patiently create chances in attack. Also, in terms of our challenge to finish games, we were able to score an additional goal in stoppage time and I want to commend the players for their efforts. We will continue to train in order to be able to finish games like this. It was great to have many of our fans come to the away game and celebrate with us."

　[Omiya Zhang coach's press conference summary] "First of all, I am very sorry for the fans and supporters for playing such a boring game at home. In today's game, we let the opponent's strength, which is their speed, take advantage of our mistakes and create counterattacks. Today, FW Fujita got injured during practice, so I thought FW Dudu would be the best partner for FW Ishihara and started him. Our plan was to launch fast attacks from the sides with him as the starting point and conquer the opponent's side, but considering his match experience and combination with the surrounding players, I decided to substitute him before things got worse. As a team, I think we are slow in transitioning from attack to defense and vice versa. We want to utilize the midfield more and especially aim for goals from fast side attacks, but the transition from defense to attack is slow and the goal seems far away."