GAME RESULTGame Result

Sec. 20 2009/8/01 (Sat)
Audience 21,379 people 
Weather cloudy, weak temperature 26.0 degrees humidity 68% 
Referee: Toshimitsu YOSHIDA Assistant Referees: Haruhiro OTSUKA / Shinichi HIRANO Fourth Official: Toshiaki FUTAMATA

J1 Sec. 20

Todoroki

HOME

Kawasaki Frontale

2-1

Match Finished

First Half0-1

Second Half2-0

AWAY

FC Tokyo

Kawasaki Frontale FC Tokyo
55' JUNINHO
89' Hiroyuki Taniguchi
Scorer 37' Naohiro ISHIKAWA
53' Yamagishi Satoshi → Renatinho
65' Murakami Kazuhiro → Igawa Yusuke
71' Yokoyama Tomonobu → Yabu Yuto
Player Substitution 70' Takuji YONEMOTO → Sotan TANABE
77' Cabore → Tatsuya SUZUKI
82' Naohiro ISHIKAWA → Shingo AKAMINE
16 Shoot 13
6 CK 4
20 FK 17
44' Shuhei Terada
87' Renatinho
Warning 03' Bruno QUADROS
73' Yohei KAJIYAMA
Exit
Kawasaki Frontale Starting Lineup
GK 1 Eiji Kawashima
DF 19 Yusuke Mori
DF 13 Terada Shuhei
DF 2 Hiroki Ito
DF 26 Kazuhiro Murakami
MF 18 Yokoyama Tomonobu
MF 29 Hiroyuki Taniguchi
MF 14 Nakamura Kengo
FW 15 Takuro Yajima
FW 10 JUNINHO
FW 8 Yamagishi Satoshi
Kawasaki Frontale Substitute
GK 28 Sugiyama Rikihiro
DF 4 Yusuke Igawa
MF 6 Yusuke Tasaka
MF 20 Yoshio Yabu
FW 7 Katsu Kurotsu
FW 34 Renatinho
FW 9 Daesei Jeong
FC Tokyo Starting Lineup
GK 20 Shuichi Gonda
DF 25 Yusuke Tokunaga
DF 4 Bruno Quadros
DF 6 Yasuyuki Konno
DF 5 Yuto NAGATOMO
MF 10 Yosuke Kajiyama
MF 28 Takashi Yonemoto
MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa
MF 22 Naoki Hayu
FW 9 Cabore
FW 13 Aida Hiroshi
FC TokyoSubstitute
GK 1 Hitoshi Shiota
DF 3 Hideki Sahara
DF 33 Kenta Mukuhara
MF 17 Kanazawa Jyo
MF 27 Sotan TANABE
MF 40 Tatsuya Suzuki
FW 24 Shingo Akamine

[Player/Coach Comments]

16th Tama River Clasico, aiming for revenge and overtaking


 League Sec. 20 will be held. As the 16th Tama River Clasico, we will challenge Kawasaki Frontale away. The overall record of the Tama River Clasico so far is 5 wins, 5 draws, and 5 losses, completely even. This season, we have lost in the first half home game, so this will be a revenge match and we will aim for a winning record overall. It will be a crucial match where we want to push ourselves one more time in the hot and humid weather, reach our peak fatigue, and end the consecutive games with a victory before the break, and carry it forward in the future.

 Kawasaki, on the other hand, is currently in 4th place with 33 points. In the match against Kashima on the 29th (Wednesday), they won 3-0 in extra time. While fatigue is a concern, they have secured a spot in the semifinals and the team's atmosphere is on the rise. Additionally, in this season's league and Nabisco, they have not lost a single game at Todoroki Stadium and have an outstanding winning rate at home. They also boast one of the top attacking lineups in the league, making it difficult to keep them from scoring.

 However, in the league matches, Tokyo has only conceded one goal in the last six games, maintaining a strong defense. With everyone having a high defensive awareness, they have been able to limit goals by controlling the game and prolonging their own attacking time. The key in this match will be to prevent Kawasaki from gaining momentum and to keep the number of goals conceded to a minimum. As the rankings could change based on the result of this match, Tokyo will not give up and will express their strong desire for victory on the pitch, aiming to secure a win with their own style of football.

 Tokyo changed their lineup from the Nabisco Nagoya game and started with the same starting lineup as the previous league game against Hiroshima. Kawasaki's DF Kikuchi was suspended and DF Terada played as center back, with MF Yokoyama joining the midfield. The humidity was high, but there was a breeze and the heat had subsided at the Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium. The away goal end was packed with Tokyo fans and the game kicked off at 7:03 PM with Tokyo's kickoff.

Leading with Ishikawa's goal, first half ends


 From the start, both teams quickly switched and launched speedy attacks. In the 1st minute, Kawasaki MF Nakamura took a shot, but Bruno QUADROS headed it away. Kawasaki MF Taniguchi picked up the loose ball, but Ishikawa intercepted his pass to the side and started a counter attack. Cabore broke through the front line from the right side. He crossed the ball, but it was cleared before reaching Hirayama. In the 7th minute, Kajiyama intercepted Kawasaki's attack from a right corner kick and passed a long ground pass to Ishikawa in the front line. Ishikawa chased after it with a fierce dash and was seemingly fouled by the opponent's DF, but there was no foul from Kawasaki and he couldn't finish the play.

 Tokyo gradually connected passes from a concentrated defense and in the 13th minute, Hirayama hit the post and drew out Hayabusa's attack. Hayabusa, who entered the left area freely, took a decisive shot with speed, but the ball slipped through the side of the GK and was blocked by the covering Kawasaki DF... In the 21st minute, Kawasaki MF Nakamura made a move from the right side and dribbled into the area. However, Imakawa quickly covered and showed his strength, resulting in a Tokyo ball. In the 24th minute, Hirayama dropped a vertical pass to the front line and followed up with Yonemoto. From here, the ball was passed to Hirayama who jumped into the area and crossed the ball with a shot, but the angle was not enough and was caught by the GK.

 Kawasaki has been launching a coordinated attack, but they have not been able to finish it off. They have also been countering sharply, making for an exciting back-and-forth match. In the 37th minute, Yonemoto passed to Nagatomo, who ran up the left side and used his strength to slip between two Kawasaki defenders and make a deep run into the left area. From the sideline, he sent a cross back into the box. Ishikawa met it with a direct shot, sending it into the net for the first goal of the game! This is Ishikawa's first goal since the 7/15 Nagoya match, giving us the lead and heading into the second half of this intense match.

Suffered a comeback goal in stoppage time, a bitter defeat


 In the second half, Kawasaki substituted FW Yamagishi, who had been playing in a midfield position, with FW Renatinho. Right MF Nakamura moved up to the top and they launched a counterattack with a formation of almost three forwards. In the 55th minute, Kawasaki's right SB Mori passed Renatinho and advanced to a high position. Yamamoto was also there to defend, but the cross went over the head of FW Yajima and was headed by FW Juninho from behind. The shot hit the left post and bounced inside, resulting in a goal... Tokyo had been defending well, but they conceded a goal in a moment of losing their mark and were tied...

 Kawasaki's momentum did not wane, and the game continued with a rapid exchange of attacks and defenses. In the 58th minute, Ishikawa used his speed to break through the right side. He crossed the ball and Hirayama, who was in the center, took a free header, but narrowly missed the target. In the 59th minute, Cabore broke through the opponent's defense from Hirayama's through pass and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but his shot was saved... Immediately after, Kawasaki's midfielder Taniguchi took a sharp shot, but it was saved by Gonda and went out for a corner kick.

 Unable to score in the chance, the line gradually stretched in the intense game and the ball could not be taken. In an attempt to break the situation, Tanabe was replaced by Yonemoto in the 70th minute, and Akamine was replaced by Cabore in the 77th minute, but the time passed without being able to create a decisive form. In the 74th minute, Hirayama dribbled from the right side of the center. Ishikawa ran to the goal while carrying the DF from the left. However, Hirayama lost the ball as he was approached by the opposing DF and could not pass to Ishikawa. Tanabe, who had come up to support, took the ball and challenged the opposing DF on the right side, but he could not get past and was taken away again. In the 82nd minute, Suzuki was substituted for Ishikawa, but in the 88th minute, Suzuki broke through the right side and crossed, but the Kawasaki DF won the competition against Hirayama and could not shoot.

 In the 4th minute of stoppage time, from Kawasaki's throw-in, MF Nakamura advanced deep into the right area and sent a floating ball to the center. This was cleared by Inamoto with a header, but the clearance ball hit FW Juninho and went to MF Taniguchi in the midfield. Taniguchi's shot, which was like a wake-up call, went through the legs of Gonda and into the goal... We suffered a frustrating defeat from a last-minute turnaround goal. We couldn't get revenge in the first half, and we suffered our first loss in the league since the 13th round against Kawasaki.

 【Player Comments】《Ishikawa》"The goal was scored when Nagatomo sent a deep cross and I just had to finish it. We were able to take the lead in a good way, but in the second half, we couldn't find our rhythm. We had some monotonous moments and couldn't finish our chances. We wanted to challenge without fear and create our own rhythm... We don't have any fear, but in the Clasico, both teams always show their strengths. Today, we let the opponent show their strengths. Kawasaki has experience in Asia and I felt they were good at playing games. I think that's something our team still lacks."《Nagatomo》"We definitely didn't want to lose. It's even more frustrating because our performance wasn't bad. We knew the opponent would come with a front three in the second half, and we talked about it at halftime. So I had to be more cautious going forward, but we said that if we could control that, we wouldn't lose, so I played with balance. It's only meaningful to get results against strong opponents. We realized there's still a lot we need to do."

 [Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "Very disappointing. Many of our fans gave us passionate support, and our players took to the pitch today with the determination to win. However, we were unable to secure any points, and there's nothing else to say but that it's a shame. In order for us to continue competing for the top spots, we need to improve on our mistakes leading up to crucial chances, and also be able to finish our chances when they come. If we turn a blind eye to these issues, we won't be able to truly compete for the top spots. Especially in the second half, when the game dragged on, our decision-making and accuracy in passing before taking a shot deteriorated. I think we played well in the first half, but when the game became back and forth, it allowed Kawasaki's individual strengths to shine. Our ability to win back possession was also not good in the second half. Furthermore, I think our backup players need to be able to bring the same level of intensity as our starting players. We need to take a good look at our team's challenges and continue to work on them."

 [Kawasaki-Sekizuka coach's press conference summary] "I am satisfied with the good game we played. The supporters at Todoroki today also played a role in creating this atmosphere. I think the power of Todoroki also helped us win in the end. In terms of tactics, we had to make a change in the starting lineup due to DF Kikuchi's suspension from the Nabisco Cup. Tokyo is a difficult opponent as they attack while maintaining possession in the midfield. However, looking at their recent goals, they tend to use long balls from the defense line to their two forwards, with the midfielders joining in. We knew we had to stop that. However, MF Taniguchi and Yokoyama were too aggressive in trying to win the ball, which disrupted our rhythm. Despite that, we were able to create good chances from the sides, but Tokyo scored one goal in the first half while we couldn't. In the second half, we tried to play with more stability and confidence. We brought in FW Renatinho to put pressure on them and aim for the balls coming in. Our midfield and defense also played their roles well, and we were able to equalize. Overall, I think the players did well in the game. Today's match was important for us to stay in the top ranks, so it was valuable to get points against Tokyo. We will continue to work hard in each game to aim for the top."