Maintain the momentum of Nabisco and aim for a rise in the rankings!

　In Sec. 25 of the league, we will face Kyoto SANGA F.C. away. In the Nabisco Cup match against Shimizu held on 9/6, a common awareness as a team was thoroughly established, and we secured a victory with a style of soccer typical of Tokyo, advancing to the finals. On the other hand, Cabore's transfer to Qatar has been confirmed. Coach Jofuku stated, "As a united team, we will strive to turn negatives into positives," and while we want to carry the momentum from Nabisco, now is the time to cover with unity and solidarity.

　Kyoto is currently in 10th place. Since Sec. 24 on August 30, there has been about a two-week interval during which South Korean national team DF Lee was absent, but they have been preparing thoroughly for this match. The defensive line, centered around DF Lee, includes DF Mizumoto and Masushima, boasting players with height and strength in one-on-one situations. Today, the key point will be how to break through this solid defense. We want to navigate through the pressure from Kyoto's front line, seize control in the midfield, and create numerous chances.

　In Tokyo, Japan national team players Nagatomo and Konno have returned to the starting lineup in good spirits. Akamine will replace Cabore. Akamine expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "I have been playing with Saito for a long time, so I understand his characteristics well. I want to utilize Saito's ball retention and height, showcase my own strengths, and bring out the best in each other." The defense has been focused and stable lately, so we want to suppress the opponent's attacks with coordinated defense, bring the game to Tokyo's pace, and fight patiently without rushing.

　The record against Kyoto has ended in draws for the last three matches, but Coach Jofuku explained, "Kyoto excels at neutralizing the opponent's strengths and changes their tactics and system according to the situation. Therefore, we must also prepare several options and be mentally ready." At the same time, in previous encounters, we were confused by the opponent's changes in the final stages and became flustered, so it is necessary to calmly read the flow of the game. We need to respond to changes in the situation with composure and fight to establish a foothold for advancing to the top! The match started at 1:04 PM with Kyoto's kickoff at Kagoshima Prefectural Kamoike Athletic Stadium.

Easily allowed the opening goal and went into halftime trailing

　Immediately after the start of the match, Kyoto launched an attack from a free kick. Left midfielder Kakuta advanced to the center of the area, and forward Diego slipped past Bruno QUADROS to move forward. A shot was taken and scored in the bottom left corner, resulting in a goal conceded... Losing focus allowed the opening goal. After that, they switched their mindset, and as usual, Tokyo connected passes and launched an attack. In the 8th minute, a vertical pass from Kajiyama found Akamine on the left, who then passed to Hirayama in the center. Hirayama dribbled past the opposing defender and almost broke through in front of the goal, but at the last moment, the defender stuck out a foot, resulting in a corner kick.

　In the 15th minute, Konno powerfully cut the ball in the opponent's half. Hanyu connected directly to Ishikawa in the center, and tried to send a pass to Akamine, who attacked towards the goal, but it was cut off. In the 21st minute, Hanyu headed back a right cross from Ishikawa, but it barely missed Hirayama. In the 25th minute, from a long feed by Kajiyama in the center, Hanyu accelerated into the space on the left flank and delivered a sharp cross. At the perfect timing, Akamine headed it, but it just went slightly wide of the target...

　Although we are attacking against an opponent who is completely defending, we lack precision in the final play and have not reached any decisive chances. Still, with 10 minutes remaining in the heat, we finally face a critical moment in front of the goal. In the 34th minute, Konno advanced and passed the ball to Hirayama, who collected it and passed to Ishikawa in the left area. Ishikawa entered the left area and took a powerful left-footed shot. It grazed the defender and resulted in a corner kick. In the 38th minute, from the left, Akamine passed to Hirayama in the center, who acted as a pivot, and Ishikawa quickly circled around from the left to shoot the loose ball. He took a powerful shot, but it hit the crossbar and went out... In the end, we faced the second half with a one-goal deficit.

Ishikawa's equalizing goal gave momentum, but they conceded a goal on the counter and lost.

　In the second half, Suzuki was brought on as a forward to replace Akamine. This sparked movement in the team, and the match progressed within Kyoto's territory. In the 53rd minute, Suzuki brought the ball in from the left side and took a shot. The defender blocked it. Then, in the 60th minute, Hanyu passed to Kajiyama, who attempted to break through the central area with a dribble. Just to the left, Konno was also advancing, but the final pass went to Ishikawa on the outside. Ishikawa struck a controlled, sharp shot into the net from the left area! Ishikawa finally equalized with a goal since the match against Kawasaki on August 1.

　Tokyo, gaining momentum, continued to pass the ball to create chances aiming for a go-ahead goal. In the 62nd minute, Konno intercepted the opponent's ball, surged forward, and delivered a cross. Suzuki connected in the center but was ruled offside. Particularly in midfield, Kajiyama made his presence felt, continuously sending vertical passes to the front line. In the 69th minute, he picked up a loose ball from a right corner kick, entered the right area himself, evaded the goalkeeper, and took a shot from close range, but was unable to score.

　In the 85th minute, while pushing forward, we lost the ball in the front line, and the opposing defender's clearance fell into the midfield. Here, Yonemoto competed with Kyoto FW Kan, and the ball hit FW Kan and went towards the Tokyo goal area. Gonda also rushed out but was evaded by FW Kan and the ball was rolled into the unguarded goal, resulting in a conceded goal. After that, Tokyo desperately wanted to equalize, and from set plays, substitute Ohtake repeatedly sent the ball into the goal area, but they couldn't score and the match ended. While Tokyo dominated the ball and aimed for a second goal, they were caught off guard and lost the match. They could not start the league restart with a victory.

　[Player Comment] <Ishikawa> "We equalized and then aimed for one more goal, so it's disappointing that we couldn't finish it there. Before the match, we discussed where to defend and where to look for chances... up until the equalizing moment, things went as planned. Then, I think it was the time to really push for the additional goal, but failing to secure it became the cause of our defeat. (Was the goal as you imagined?) Yes. However, I regret not converting the chances in the first half. I think we spent too much time chasing. I wanted to catch up within the first half. The conceded goal wasn't about who made the mistake, but a lapse the whole team should not have had. While reflecting on that, maybe the equalizing time was a bit late. The game plan needs to adapt to the situation, but in the end, even without panic, we lost composure. It felt like Kyoto took control. (Are you regaining your form from before the injury?) Rather than going back that far, I aim to evolve beyond my pre-injury level. Today, I scored the equalizer, but I want to focus on the work beyond that. Losing tends to bring the team down, but I want to change that atmosphere."

　Kajiyama: "At first, I couldn't concentrate and we conceded a goal in that way. However, we didn't panic and connected our plays, and I think we gradually got back to our normal rhythm. In the second half, Tatsuya-san started to target the space behind, and the team found its rhythm. There was a feeling that we could turn the game around, but... (What about the shot in the 69th minute?) The opponent didn't really come to mark me. I had chances to shoot besides that moment, and I was thinking of aiming for the goal instead of the near post, but it went off target... I wanted to be involved in the goal."

　[Summary of Coach Shirofuku's Press Conference] "It was a game that is hard to describe. I feel sorry for the fans who came from far away. Everyone knew that today's game was going to be a difficult situation, so I don't want to make any excuses, nor do I think I should. The team that won was stronger, and I believe we were the weaker team. (What was the intention behind bringing in Suzuki from the start of the second half?) We simply couldn't pose a threat behind the opponent's defense, so we brought in a player who could break through from behind. Of course, it wasn't because Akamine was bad, but in terms of balance, we had to show both the threat at the feet and behind to be a real danger to the opponent. In the first half, although we maintained possession, I judged that we couldn't create a threat. Kyoto's DF line dropped back, but the timing to break behind, including the passer, needs to be much more consciously improved. The moment we took the ball, the opponent's line was not necessarily dropped, so in that regard, we allowed the opposing DF to drop back too easily. I think both the passer and receiver had some issues since we could only manage that kind of ball movement. (How will you regroup for the next match?) We will carefully reorganize mentally. The fans who came from far away were singing the cup competition song, which is very appreciated and encouraging, but for us, it is somewhat humiliating. The rest of this season is only the cup competition. I think the singing is meant to encourage us, but as a team, we will work on how to fight the remaining 9 league matches, and next time, we want to make sure that only the cup competition song is not sung—we absolutely want to go for all 3 points."

　[Summary of Kyoto Coach Masaru KATO's Press Conference] "We ended up playing the home game in Kagoshima, which is also the base of our main sponsor Kyocera, and the hometown of Chairman Inamori. Many people came to support us, including many supporters who traveled a long way from Kyoto. I’m glad we could give a good return to those supporters. In the first half, we scored a goal quite early, and of course leading is a big advantage, but I think the players developed a feeling of wanting to be careful. I believe we should have been more aggressive when we had the ball, moving it faster or pushing forward, but the decisiveness and energy to push forward seemed to diminish a bit. Because of that, FC Tokyo was able to press us somewhat, but I think it was good that the first half ended 1-0 as it was. In the second half, I had planned to bring on FW Yanagisawa at some point. Since today’s match was played in warmer conditions than usual practice, FW Hayashi worked very hard, but I expected FW Yanagisawa to create time up front, so I brought him on from the start of the second half. During the match, MF Shijikurei suffered an accidental injury, and we were pressed a bit. MF Shijikurei’s presence is very significant, but players are not always in their best condition, so in such times, the team as a whole must reduce dependence on him and show more resilience. The positioning and balance of FW Kim and MF Nakamura, who came on later, did a good job, and FW Kim scored the winning goal again following the Niigata match. Having a rookie like him score an important goal is a huge boost. I believe it will have a positive influence on other rookies and young players. We have great strength, and having advanced to the Nabisco Cup Final Round, we were able to take 3 points from FC Tokyo, which I think the players are very satisfied with. However, there are still 9 league matches left, so we want to steadily catch up with the top teams and aim to surpass them."