Switching focus to the league match, we challenge Urawa, who has not won in the past 13 matches.

　League Sec. 31 will be held, facing Urawa Reds at home. It's a league match that comes just 4 days after the intense battle of the Nabisco Cup, but the cup we aimed for is already in the past. We will switch our focus to the league both mentally and physically, chasing big possibilities until the final match, and fight each game with importance. However, Coach Jofuku says, "There should be a sense of achievement in the Nabisco Cup. It's easy to say, 'Let's switch and concentrate here after playing such a game with such tension,' but in reality, it's difficult. When we step onto the pitch, that's when the game is decided." He also mentioned that they had to prepare in a short amount of time and face this match.

　Urawa, who are currently in 8th place with 46 points, lost 0-3 to Omiya in the league's previous match on October 25th. However, they have spent the past two weeks carefully preparing for today's match. This season, they have been aiming for possession football and in the first half of the season on March 14th, they were completely overwhelmed by Urawa's possession (Coach Jofuku). It has been 7 months since then. Tokyo wants to show their own football and growth that they have built up and compete against it.

　On the other hand, Urawa not only focuses on passing work, but also utilizes the speed and breakthrough power of FW Edmilson and FW Tatsuya TANAKA, and has developed a strong winning mentality. In this round, MF Lins will be suspended, but one of the key points is how to prevent the ball from being passed to Urawa's two top players. In attack, we want to create chances from the side against Urawa's strong central defense. Above all, we have not won against Urawa in the past 5 and a half years, including league and cup matches. In this round, we want to calmly stick to our own style of soccer and aim for victory.

　Suzuki was worried about his injured leg, but he was in the starting lineup, saying, "I'm ready for the real thing (Coach Shirofuku)." The team will face the final round with the same starting members as the Nabisco final. The weather was calm and sunny at Ajinomoto Stadium. The game started at 3:04 pm with a kickoff in Tokyo, with 47,010 spectators in the stands.

Despite holding back Urawa's attack, the first half ends scoreless.

　Tokyo dominated the ball from the start and aggressively approached the Urawa goal. In the 4th minute, Konno on the left side sent a cross and Hirayama in the area took a shot. In the 7th minute, from Kajiyama's development, Hirayama on the left front line passed behind the opponent's DF. Here, Suzuki ran in. They showed good teamwork, but were cut off just before the shot. From here, they got consecutive CKs, and in the 8th minute, Bruno QUADROS's header went to the opposite side, but was cleared by the Urawa DF who had covered it. They couldn't take advantage of the early chances and the game settled down as time passed.

　At 21 minutes, Kajiyama on the left passed to Suzuki in the center, who then passed back to Yonemoto for a shot. At 27 minutes, Suzuki received a vertical pass from Yonemoto and entered the right area. Akamine tried to make a run towards the center for a final pass, but was blocked by the opposing defender and was unable to finish. At 25 minutes, Tokunaga's attack was blocked and allowed Urawa's right back Takahashi to make a run. Takahashi crossed to forward Tatsuya TANAKA, but the ball went out to the far side.

　In the end, Urawa only managed to hold back one shot in the first half, and their defense was also strong, making it difficult for Tokyo to attack from the sides. In the 44th minute, Konno took advantage of a gap in Urawa's defense and made a big chance. Konno -> Hayashi on the left side -> Konno -> Suzuki with a direct pass, Konno advanced to the left area and made a last pass in front of the goal. Akamine jumped in with his whole body, but the shot went wide... Unable to capitalize on the chance, the first half ended in a 0-0 tie and the teams headed into the second half.

Conceded a goal after missing a chance... Attacked fiercely against 10-man Urawa, but

　In the second half, Tokyo took control of the rhythm early on and attacked through players like Hayashi and Kajiyama. Shortly after the start of the second half, Kajiyama passed a high ball to Hayashi behind the opponent's defense, but Hirayama's shot went well over the bar. However, in the 47th minute, a counterattack from Urawa caused trouble. The ball was swung from right to left and crossed to FW Edmilson, who headed it just wide. This was a lucky miss, but in the 49th minute, Urawa's right back Takahashi passed to MF Haraguchi and they played a one-two, allowing Takahashi to break through the front line and send a cross to the center. FW Edmilson was free and took a one-touch shot, powerfully hitting the net... and they conceded the first goal from that one chance.

　In the 53rd minute, Urawa MF Haraguchi received his second warning and was sent off. With 10 men, Urawa changed their formation to a 1-top with FW Edmilson, and solidified their defense by filling the midfield and DF line. In response, Tokyo substituted Nagatomo for Suzuki in the 60th minute, and then put Hirayama in DF in the 69th minute, with Konno as the top midfielder and Bruno moving forward, launching a fierce attack. However, all of their crosses were easily blocked. On the other hand, Kajiyama calmly sent passes to exploit the gaps in the opponent's DF, trying to create chances.

　However, in the 73rd minute, Kajiyama started the play and Yonemoto → Konno connected, and Hirayama's shot shook the net, but Konno was offside in the previous play. In the 77th minute, Tokunaga snatched the right CK from the cross and from this flow, Konno became free in the left area and took a decisive shot. Then in the 78th minute, Nagatomo's left cross was met by Bruno QUADROS's header, but both were blocked by the Urawa GK.

　In the 84th minute, Tokunaga → Bruno QUADROS in the center aimed for a precise middle shot, but it was saved by the GK and escaped to a CK. In the 87th minute, Nagatomo → Hirayama's through pass, Akamine broke through and created a decisive chance, but the shot went across the goal... They continued to attack the goal one after another, but as they retreated to defend, they began to feel anxious and were unable to take advantage of their numerical advantage and scoring opportunities until the end. They suffered a defeat for the first time since the 25th round against Kyoto on September 12th, and have now gone 14 games without a win against Urawa...

　【Player Comments】《Imano》"Even if the opponent is reduced to 10 players from 11, our approach to the game remains the same. While Urawa's pressure wasn't too intense, we may have become impatient because we couldn't score despite creating chances. We should have pushed the opponent a little more and then crossed the ball, as we usually do. We did create chances, but whether or not we scored one goal made a huge difference. If we had used our heads a little more and fought calmly, the result would have been different. It's no use saying 'it's difficult to move up if we don't score there'."

　"Bruno QUADROS" "It's very disappointing that we couldn't get results. I don't think the performance was bad, but we gave up the first goal to Urawa with few chances. We tried to catch up, but we couldn't get results from our performance, and it's really frustrating. (What was the impact from the Nabisco final?) Playing consecutive games is a given in soccer. In that sense, it's not a matter of time. Today's defeat has nothing to do with the Nabisco. It all comes down to not being able to take advantage of our chances, including myself. I'm really frustrated because I wanted to win... but we haven't given up on the league yet. We'll switch gears from today's defeat and fight until the end in the remaining three games, one game at a time."

　[Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "We had many people come to the game, but unfortunately we couldn't get the result we wanted and it was a very disappointing and frustrating defeat. Looking back calmly, the 5 minutes we conceded a goal were enough to lose the game. The remaining 85 minutes were difficult to accept. We wanted to play with 11 players against 11 players, and if we did, I think we could have had a fair game without feeling stressed by the judges. However, a loss is a loss. We missed chances and gave up one goal to the opponent, and we have to accept that fact sincerely and aim for consecutive wins in the remaining 3 games. Many Tokyo fans came to support us, but even though we were playing at home, the Urawa fans continued to sing their songs, and that is nothing but humiliating. The only thing we can do is to finish the season with a higher rank than Urawa. That's all we can do." (Were you tired from the consecutive games from the Nabisco Cup?) "That depends on how people see it, or perhaps it's influenced by the result. We prepared without any regrets, but if we lose today, it will be blamed on the Nabisco Cup. That's also our position."

　[Urawa Fink's press conference summary] "Many injured players were out, and some players who were not fully recovered from injuries were included in today's lineup. However, we were able to show a solid game. We wanted to show our fighting spirit to the supporters, and all the players who stepped onto the pitch were able to put it into practice. So today's victory is a fair result. In the first half, we didn't give the opponent many chances to score, but it's also a fact that we couldn't create chances ourselves. After halftime, we were able to improve overall, and in the second half, we were able to create some good chances ourselves. Considering the play during that time, I think it was fair that we scored the opening goal. After that, we were down to 10 men, but we knew what we had to do. In a 4-4-1 system, we tried to win the ball as much as possible and keep possession for a long time. (Is the victory a result of coincidence or inevitability?) Being one man down against 11, away from home, and against a team that has been in good form and getting good results recently, it's understandable to give the opponent 3-4 chances. It's also common in football to need some luck. Depending on the situation, sometimes a small amount of luck is not enough to score a goal or win. However, in today's match, we didn't need a lot of luck."