First match against Shonan in the league, heading towards a tough opponent with a new formation

　On Sunday the 25th, Sec. 14 of the league was held. We face Shonan Bellmare away. In the previous match, we conceded a penalty kick near the end and ended in a draw. Although it was frustrating, Coach Shofuku said the team will not hang their heads but "use that reflection as nourishment and move forward." This week, we practiced with an awareness of the goal difference and want to turn that effort into results in this match. We hope to see a game that wipes away the bitter memories of the last match. Tokunaga is out due to injury, so Morishige will play as defensive midfielder and Kim Young-gun will serve as center back in this formation.Shonan, on the other hand, currently stands 16th with 3 wins, 3 draws, and 7 losses. During this break, they added 194cm FW VALDO, MF Emerson, and GK Tsuzuki. Although defensive midfielder Tamura is suspended this match, the new players are all in the starting lineup, with MF Abe on the left side, MF Terakawa on the right, and MF Emerson as the attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Centered on the tall FW VALDO, the second line has players with mobility and shooting ability, so containing their runs will be one key point today.This season is the first league match against Shonan since they moved to J1, but familiar players for Tokyo such as DF Jean are present. That makes it exciting, but we absolutely cannot lose. By gaining the upper hand in midfield, we will cut Shonan’s momentum, launch quick counterattacks, and control the game on our terms aiming for victory.The sunlight is soft but the humid heat remains at Hiratsuka Athletics Stadium. The stands are almost full. A slight breeze blows on the pitch, and the match kicked off at 18:05 with Tokyo starting.

Initiating an attack from the side, we take a 2-goal lead with goals from Morishige and Hanyu.

　From the start, the team launched attacks from the sides, with Morishige frequently involved in the offense, creating chances. In the 6th minute, Kajiyama stole the ball from Shonan in Tokyo's territory, and Otake advanced with a dribble. Ricardinho on the right passed to Morishige who moved up the center and took a shot. In the 11th minute, Matsushita advanced on the left side and sent a low cross. Morishige and Ricardinho in the area couldn't quite reach it, but Kajiyama followed up on the rebound and sent a shot towards the goal. Shonan defender Jean cleared it, but the ball dropped again and Morishige took another shot. Daikoku tried to follow up on the goalkeeper's rebound, but it was offside. In the 15th minute, Daikoku connected directly with Nakamura's right cross and took a shot, but the goalkeeper saved it, resulting in a corner kick. However, after missing these early chances, Shonan created a decisive opportunity on the counterattack. In the 17th minute, they allowed left side back Ozawa to advance, and midfielder Emerson took a critical shot inside the area, but Shiota made a great save to force a corner. In the 19th minute, FW Abe took a sharp long-range shot, and in the 21st minute, FW VALDO headed a shot, but both missed the target. Tokyo, having escaped danger, calmly kept passing and switched gears at key moments to look for chances. At the 24th and 27th minutes, Tokyo earned free kicks near the goal, with Ricardinho and Matsushita aiming, but both were blocked by the wall. After the 30th minute, they tried to exploit the space behind Shonan's high defensive line but were caught offside repeatedly. The breakthrough finally came in the 39th minute. Hanyu passed to Ricardinho drifting to the left front line, who sent a cross. Morishige charged into the center, competing with an opponent, and scored a dynamic header to take the lead! In the 44th minute, Ricardinho again initiated from the left side, advancing into the area and passing from Kajiyama to Daikoku. Although Daikoku couldn't shoot, he laid the ball off to Hanyu who followed up from the right, and Hanyu fired a precise shot into the net to score the second goal! Taking a two-goal lead, they headed into the second half.

Oguro marks his first goal in Tokyo, pulling away from Shonan

　Ricardinho, who injured his leg in the first half, was taken off as a precaution, and Akamine came on in the second half. He created opportunities both on the sides and in the center, aiming for additional goals. At the 50th minute, from a Shonan corner kick, they launched a counterattack. From Oguro's hold-up play, Nakamura charged into the right area with a powerful dribble. Despite being marked by defenders, he took a shot. Akamine and others rushed to the ball rolling just inside the opposite side of the goal frame, but Shonan's determined defense forced a corner kick. At the 57th minute, Otake's right cross went over Oguro's head, and Akamine, who was rushing to the far post, just missed reaching it, and the ball went out of bounds. At the 58th minute, as Shonan tried to push their line up to attack, Hanyu stole the ball, and Akamine launched a short counterattack. Breaking through to the right front line, Oguro faced the goalkeeper one-on-one and scored a powerful shot, marking his first goal in Tokyo! The lead was extended. However, immediately at the 62nd minute, Shonan's MF Sakamoto passed to MF Abe, who broke into the right area and took a shot. Shiota saved it once, but the rebound was finished off by substitute FW Nakamura, resulting in a goal. Taking this opportunity, Shonan pressed forward to counterattack, but Tokyo responded by circulating passes to maintain possession for longer periods. In the heat, their stamina began to drop, and there were moments when Shonan's momentum pushed them back, but at the 75th minute, Mukuahara was brought on in midfield for Otake. At the 81st minute, Takahashi came on for Morishige. DF Jean was pushed forward as well, and against Shonan's power play, fresh players with strong defensive skills were introduced, shifting the game to a scenario aiming for a counterattack from solid defense. In stoppage time, Oguro reacted to a loose ball in Shonan's territory, took possession, and launched an attack down the right front. He crossed to Akamine, who was free in front of the goal. Akamine tried to connect with a direct shot but mishit and missed the target. They couldn't score the fourth goal, but the final whistle blew immediately after. They withstood Shonan's fierce late attack and secured their fourth league win. 【Player Comments】《Oguro》"Scoring goals is my job. Tokyo has many skillful players with good ball control, and passes come at the right timing, making it easier to play the post. I want to keep scoring more goals and make the supporters happy. Even though it was an away game, many people came, and I wanted to respond to their cheers. I was eager to answer with a goal quickly. I will keep scoring and running toward the stands." 《Morishige》"I played the anchor role, but I planned to attack if there was a chance during the flow of the game. The team was able to connect passes well and move forward, so I tried to ride that momentum. Personally, I wanted to make up for the penalty I missed in the previous match by scoring. I thought that was the best way to contribute to the team, and it actually materialized, so I’m glad we got the three points. It was fun to play as a defensive midfielder after a long time. I want to keep fulfilling my assigned role and produce results." 【Coach Jofuku’s Press Conference Summary】"This is probably the toughest period for the team, but from the moment I arrived at the stadium today, I felt the supporters’ spirit, which encouraged me. Together with these supporters, we want to overcome this difficult time and fight so that later we can look back and say, ‘That was the toughest period.’ I want us to be able to say, ‘Because of that period, the autumn season exists.’ I approached the match with that strong feeling. Of course, there are points to reflect on, but the plan was not significantly disrupted. Still, we had chances to score the fourth goal and to stabilize the game to close it out, so I want to reflect properly because we won. (Based on the previous match’s reflection) We still need to learn how to effectively press to score the fourth goal and how to match up against the opponent’s power play, as well as which areas to cover to avoid danger. If we don’t get six points in the upcoming consecutive matches, our frustration won’t be resolved yet. (Regarding Morishige) Kajiyama’s distribution and Tokunaga’s defense balanced well, but today we focused on how to bring out Morishige’s strengths as a team. He approached it with the mentality of showing his own strengths, not just replacing Tokunaga. He has skills, but since the quality and quantity of movement differ from a center back, I planned to judge his play carefully before making substitutions. (Regarding Oguro) Other players have come to understand that he always appears in decisive scenes. I want to supply him with more good-quality balls, and I think today we created more such scenes than in the Kobe match. That is a team achievement. We want to deepen mutual understanding and keep creating chances as a team." 【Shonan Coach Sorimachi’s Press Conference Summary】"In the end, I think the difference in ability showed, but I feel this was a very good performance compared to recent games. It’s frustrating to say this after a loss, but soccer is a mysterious thing. When our rhythm was good, we couldn’t score, and then we conceded, so there were parts we couldn’t control."