A crucial match to restart the league, utilizing each team's strengths.

　League Sec. 26 will be held, welcoming Gamba Osaka at home. In the previous match against Kyoto, we lost due to mistakes and suffered a defeat. It was a rough start after the league resumed, but taking that as a lesson, coach Jofuku said, "We realized that if we don't approach the game with our feet firmly on the ground, we won't get the results we want. We want to go back to our roots and restart." In this match, we want to secure 3 points at home no matter what and stay in the top of the league.

　G Osaka, currently in 5th place, has been in good form with 6 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in their last 8 matches, after suffering 3 consecutive losses in early July. FW Leandro transferred before the 23rd round, but FW Pedro JUNIOR joined from Niigata immediately after. In addition, there are other talented players such as FW Cho Jae-jin, Hashimoto, and Yamazaki. FW Pedro JUNIOR will be absent this round, but the team has a strong midfield to support FW Cho Jae-jin and FW Lucas, who have been playing as a two-top. The team currently has the highest number of goals with 45, showcasing their overwhelming attacking power.

　Tokyo will face this round without Hirayama, who is suspended. As a result, Akamine and Suzuki will form a two-top lineup. The players all expressed their desire to take advantage of the change in lineup and launch a strong attack, utilizing the movement of Suzuki, Hanyu, Ishikawa, and others, with Akamine as the starting point. If they can each showcase their strengths, persistently continue to play their own style of soccer, and show a strong attitude towards winning, they should be able to find opportunities for victory. They want to demonstrate their growth and secure a win with a strong determination to win.

　Ajinomoto, which makes you feel cool in the cloudy sky, started the game with G Osaka's kickoff at 16:05, while the annual "Brazil Festa" was also held.

Gained rhythm and took control, but couldn't make the most of the opportunity.

　Immediately after the start of the match, G Osaka FW Lucas brought the ball in from the left side and shot with speed to MF Endo who had moved up the center. However, when this shot missed the top of the bar, Tokyo had a big chance. In the 2nd minute, Nagatomo passed Suzuki and played a one-two, attacking the left side and crossing to the back of the G Osaka DF for Akamine -> Suzuki in the front line. Ishikawa, who had moved into the right area, made a direct volley from the far side! He created a decisive opportunity, but the shot missed the target...

　In the 4th minute, G Osaka's left back Shimodaira was targeted from the middle range by MF Myojin in the 6th minute, but Tokyo gradually gained control of the ball through the fluid movements of Suzuki, Ishikawa, and Hanyu, as well as the attacking runs of both full backs. In the 9th minute, Suzuki created a chance from the right area. Kajiyama's shot from the center was blocked, but Hanyu connected with the ball that fell to the left area, launching a thick attack. In the 16th minute, Ishikawa was fouled near the corner of the right area, earning a free kick. However, neither chance was fully utilized.

　At 21 minutes, Julian and Erik exchanged passes in their own zone. The pass was weak and intercepted by the opponent, but LORI quickly controlled it and Tokyo launched a counterattack. From the quick attack, Hayashi was free in the center, but the distance from the goal was too far and he couldn't take a shot. Suzuki brought the ball to the edge of the area on the right and crossed it, but there was no one to finish it on the far side... At 25 minutes, Ishikawa ran through the center and received a lob from the left side, trapping it and shooting confidently from just outside the right area! It seemed to have grazed the defender and gone out, but it was a goal kick for G Osaka.

　In the 30th minute, Nagatomo went up the left side and received a return pass from Hayabusa in the opponent's half. He then sped towards the center and took a shot, but it went wide. G Osaka also quickly switched gears and the game progressed at a fast pace. In the 44th minute, the left corner kick was cleared, but Konno cut off G Osaka's attack. He dribbled up to the right front line and sent a low, strong cross to the center. Ishikawa ran in from behind Akamine and tried to score with a direct shot, but missed the target... Despite dominating the game, they were unable to score and the first half ended in a 0-0 tie.

In the second half, we lost our momentum, but we were able to hold off any goals with a strong defense and earn 1 point.

　In the second half, which was expected to be a scoring opportunity. In the 48th minute, Nagatomo ran into the left area after receiving a through pass from Hanyu, but the opponent's GK jumped out first and he couldn't take a shot. In the 51st minute, Ishikawa -> Hanyu tried to send a last pass to the center by slipping behind the DF in the left area, but it was dealt with perfectly by the G Osaka DF and was blocked. In the 55th minute, Suzuki slid into the goal area to meet Nagatomo's ground cross, but the timing was off.

　In the 63rd minute, Akamine, Hanyu, and Kajiyama quickly connected passes and advanced on the attack from the right corner of the area. Kajiyama took a shot, but it was blocked by the defender and when they tried to follow up on the rebound, Nagatomo, who had advanced up the right side, was pushed off the ball and it was taken away. As time passed, their energy levels dropped and they began making mistakes, making it difficult to maintain possession. In the midst of G Osaka controlling the pace, they brought on FW Hado and MF Sasaki in the 71st minute to add more attacking power and increase their momentum in pursuit of a goal.

　Tokyo also replaced Tanabe with Hanyu. In the following 76 minutes, Mokuhara replaced Suzuki and moved to the right side back. Ishikawa was moved to the FW position, and Tokunaga was moved up to the midfield to aim for a goal, but towards the end, the line dropped and they were pushed back by G Osaka. Still, they continued to counterattack, and in the 81st minute, Ishikawa dribbled the ball from Akamine's post to the left area, and Tokunaga followed up with a ground shot in the center, but it narrowly missed to the left...

　On the other hand, they did not lose focus on defense. In the 83rd minute, G Osaka connected a pass from the right side and FW Yamazaki was able to take a decisive shot in the center of the goal, but Gonda made a save with his left hand! With this great play by Gonda, they were able to calmly defend against G Osaka's strong attacks and keep a clean sheet. As a result, the game ended in a scoreless draw.

　【Player Comments】《Bruno QUADROS》"Of course, we wanted to get 3 points in this match. However, G Osaka is also a team fighting for ACL qualification like us. I think it wasn't bad to share 1 point in a tough match. G Osaka has good players in their front line, and FW Lucas has high quality, and FW Hayato, who came on as a substitute, has speed. Not only in the front line, but also as a team, they have a slightly different rhythm from other teams, and I thought it was important to take care of the whole team. As a result, both teams had chances today, and especially in the second half, G Osaka created more chances, but we were able to hold them back. The Brazil Festival is a traditional event, and I was looking forward to it, and many Brazilian people came to watch. It was a good exchange."《Gonda》"I think it's a challenge for us to maintain the pace in the second half, but it was good that the defense was able to keep a clean sheet. G Osaka came vertically faster than I expected. Even in that situation, I think we were able to respond calmly. Everyone was focused, and in the end, we were putting our bodies on the line. In the second half, they brought in attacking players who could run behind us one after another, and there were some dangerous situations at first, but the defense was able to stick with them, so there were no problems from the middle of the game. (There was a good save, right?) In that situation, the defense was marking other players tightly, so it was easier to aim. (What has improved compared to the away game in the first half?) Rather than improvement, we were able to concentrate and defend well. If we concede early, our attack won't work well. If we don't concede, we can create chances like that."

　[Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "The result was 0-0, and whether we can say we "earned 1 point" or not, I'm not sure, but the players prepared well and went onto the pitch with confidence, trying to give everything they had. We need to reflect on the difference in quality between the first and second half, but with a reduced squad and no red and white scrimmage, we have to look forward to today and try to play the soccer we want to play. We want to continue the good things and prepare to earn 3 points in the next game. We need to firmly accept our decision-making when we are tired, and reflect on what we could have done better, and in the next game, we want to share the joy with the fans at Ajinomoto Stadium. (Regarding the intention of substituting Murohara and moving Tokunaga up one row) G Osaka MF Sho SASAKI is good at dribbling, so we wanted to control that. Another reason was that FW Hado and other fast players were coming in vertically, so we wanted Murohara to cover Bruno QUADROS. Also, not just on the defensive side, but also in terms of Tokunaga's middle shot or the development after taking a loose ball, we were preparing to go for a goal at Kodaira, so there were two intentions."

　[G Osaka Nishino's press conference summary] "In the first half, I felt it was heavy. We had a good start recently, so I was hoping we could start with our own rhythm today as well. Tokyo also had a good start and came aggressively, so it was a halftime where we had to control how to bring this kind of game closer to a high point. Gradually, some players switched on and activated, but we couldn't play the good tempo soccer that we had been doing lately. There were also few scoring opportunities. We had prepared well and had high expectations, but the result is very disappointing. However, we were not good either, and Tokyo also had a good feeling today. So we focused on defense and then tried to move on to the attack, and I think we did well in that aspect."