A match to start well for the consecutive games in the summer

　In Sec. 18 of the league, we will face Mito Hollyhock away. In the previous match, we achieved our first consecutive wins of the season, but including the upcoming two away matches starting today, we will have three matches until next weekend. This is a crucial match to get a good start with a tough schedule heading into summer. Coach Okuma stated, "To score additional goals, we need precision, and we want to increase the depth of our attack. Including the offensive movements of the full-backs, we want to create situations of numerical superiority."

　Mito, currently in 11th place with 4 wins, 4 draws, and 3 losses, suffered a heavy defeat of 0-5 against Tosu in Sec. 14. However, in their last 3 matches, they have been unbeaten with 2 wins and 1 draw. Under the management of Tetsuji HASHIRATANI, who took charge this season, young players have emerged, creating a cohesive and bold team. With a 4-4-2 formation, they defend by forming solid blocks and are characterized by quick transitions between defense and attack, leading to speedy offensive plays.

　Tokyo, continuing from the previous match, has Shioda starting in place of Gonda from the U-22 Japan national team, with no changes to the starting lineup. Additionally, Suzuki returns from injury, bolstering the attacking lineup. They will face Mito, who are eager to challenge and will put up a fight if they are forced to defend. They aim to shut down Mito's side attacks with a defense that does not give them time and space, evade pressure, create rhythm, and convert opportunities.

　Shioda said, "The transition between offense and defense is quick, and if the game goes back and forth, it will become Mito's pace. It seems like it will be a tough game, but without being overwhelmed by the away atmosphere, we want to take the initiative and create situations that the opponent finds uncomfortable. I want to bring the game to a situation where Mito feels that 'it gets tough when we are being rotated...'" The match started at 16:04 with Mito's kickoff at K's denki Stadium Mito.

Tokyo Aim To Start Summer Schedule With Win

For the 18th game of the season, Tokyo made the short trip north to take on Mito Hollyhock. After posting consecutive wins for the first time this year, Tokyo faced two away games in four days, followed by a home game on Saturday, and were keen to begin the demanding summer schedule with another victory. Manager Kiyoshi Okuma commented, "In order to score a second goal, we need greater accuracy and to increase the number of players pushing forward in attack. Including the sidebacks pushing up, we have to create situations where we outnumber the opposition."
Mito lay in 11th place at kick-off with a W4 D4 L3 record. The side suffered a crushing 5-0 home defeat to Tosu in the 14th game but bounced back to be undefeated in three, with two wins and a draw. First-year boss Tetsuji Hashiratani promoted younger players, and his faith had been rewarded by some fine performances. The team favored a 4-4-2 formation, defended stoutly in blocks, and broke at great pace.
Tokyo were unchanged from the previous week with Shiota continuing in goal. Suzuki returned from injury to take a place on the bench, thus increasing Tokyo's options in attack. The visitors would need to preempt Mito's youthful exuberance, deny them time and space, particularly along the flanks, evade their pressure, and then find a rhythm.
Shiota commented, "If the match develops into an end-to-end free-for-all, that will allow Mito to control the pace. It looks like being a hard game; we've got to overcome the away atmosphere, seize the initiative, and hit them where it hurts. We want them to feel that chasing the ball is grinding them down."
The home side kicked off shortly after 4pm at K's Denki Stadium.

A rapid exchange of offense and defense, going into halftime scoreless

　In poor pitch conditions, we started cautiously, then aimed to exploit the opponent's weaknesses, gradually connecting passes to find our rhythm. We looked for opportunities from the sides, and in the 18th minute, Kajiyama utilized his strength to hold the ball just outside the area, timing it perfectly to send a through pass to Roberto CESAR, who was making a run into the area from the left, but the goalkeeper caught it.

　In the 25th minute, Tanizawa persisted and passed to Tokunaga, who surged up the right. From Tokunaga's right cross, Cesar in the center of the area skillfully turned to aim for the goal, but the opposing defender blocked it. On the other hand, Mito quickly switched between offense and defense, securing the ball in the front line and attacking centered around MF Koike on the right side. In the 28th minute, a long ball was picked up for a second chance, leading to a shot by MF Koike.

　In the 34th minute, from a low and fast cross by Tokunaga on the right side, Hanyu rushed in at the near post but his shot went wide to the right. In the 35th minute, a long feed from Konno was received by Cesar on the left side, who turned inside to attempt a dribble shot, but it went off target. After that, there were moments where Mito created chances from short counters, leading to a highly dynamic exchange of offense and defense, but the defense remained focused and held on, ending the first half scoreless.

Intense First Half Ends Scoreless

At first Tokyo adopted a risk-free approach due to the poor condition of the pitch, then began to slowly force the hosts back by attempting to break in behind their defence as they found a passing rhythm. In the 18th minute, Kajiyama held the ball up just outside the Mito penalty area before slipping it through towards Cesar as the Brazilian made a darting run into the area on the left. Homma, the Mito keeper, was alert to the danger and beat Cesar to the ball.
Yazawa battled hard to retain possession in the 25th minute before setting Tokunaga free down the right; Tokunaga crossed, Cesar showed his technique in bringing the ball down, turning and shooting only for a defender to block his effort away. Mito showed their pace on the break and managed to hold the ball up in attack, with right winger Koike their main threat. Koike pounced on a loose ball following a long clearance in the 28th minute and fired an attempt on goal.
In the 35th minute, Cesar collected a long ball from Konno on the left, cut inside and let fly. As half time approached, Mito threatened on short counter attacks as possession changed frequently at a vehement pace but the Tokyo defence maintained its concentration and the whistle blew on a scoreless first half.

Struggled against Mito's resilience, but secured 3 points

　The match suddenly changed in the second half. In the 54th minute, Hanyu, who contested a long ball, was fouled and earned a free kick about 25 meters into the opponent's territory. Nakamura acted as a decoy, and Morishige scored a spectacular goal with his right foot! This marked the first goal of the season from a direct free kick, giving us the lead. In the 59th minute, Nakamura, who dribbled into the left area, was fouled and earned a penalty kick. Kajiyama calmly converted it, securing the long-awaited second goal.

　However, in the 65th minute, a foul by Takahashi in the area against Mito's left back Hosaki's advance resulted in a penalty kick for Mito. The penalty taken by Mito's DF Hosaki was initially saved by Shiota with one hand, but the follow-up led to a goal. In the 71st minute, Ishikawa was brought in to replace Tanabe. Subsequently, Mito's DF Okada received his second warning of the day and was sent off. With a numerical advantage, Tokyo controlled the ball and took the initiative.

　In the 79th minute, after passing the ball around in midfield, Kajiyama created space and delivered a perfectly timed pass to Ishikawa. Ishikawa utilized his speed to cut in and struck the ball into the side netting with his right foot!! Ishikawa scored his first goal of the season, bringing the score to 3-0. Mito, refusing to give up, narrowed the gap in the 89th minute when midfielder Murata scored from distance, making it a one-goal difference again. However, they could not score any more goals. Despite the struggle, they managed to win 3-2, achieving their first three consecutive victories of the season.

　[Player Comments] {Morishige} "(Regarding the goal from the free kick) Hanyu got fouled in a good position, so I didn't want to miss this chance. I told Hokuto from the start, 'I'm taking it,' and Hokuto pretended to take it, but that was a distraction... (laughs). But he became a good decoy, and I was able to score, so I made sure to thank him properly. This season, I have no pain in my legs, and my condition is good. I've been practicing free kicks a lot, and I think it's great that it led to results in the matches. As for the goals conceded, we lost the ball while circulating it in a low position. If we could have circulated it a bit further up, we could have prevented it. I want to discuss that part further."

　Ishikawa: "The goal was exactly the shape I had always envisioned. I was confident that if I got into that position, I would score. The angle wasn't great, but I could see the path, so I struck the ball without hesitation. Today, I was also thinking about receiving the ball inside, but I stayed wide while observing the balance of the team and the opponent. I was aiming for the right moment to move inside. If I went in too much, there would be no space, so I planned to enter at the crucial moment. I went in with the determination and responsibility to shoot and score. I was able to take the shot comfortably.

　Recently, we haven't been able to score additional points, leading to many tense situations. Today ended up being like that as well... However, we managed to score the third goal, which can be considered a positive. That said, we need to reflect on how we finished the match. Those of us who came on as substitutes were energetic, but we couldn't keep the ball by kicking it behind and managing the time. I want to take this reflection and use it to move forward step by step.

　[Coach Okuma's Press Conference Summary] "In the first half, we were a bit unfamiliar with the pitch, which led to too many touches and a slow rhythm. In the second half, we had a numerical advantage, and I think the ball moved very well. There were moments when we panicked after conceding a penalty, and the self-destructive goal we conceded at the end may have been due to carelessness, which is something to reflect on. In terms of fighting as a team of 18, the substitutes did specific jobs, which is encouraging for the future. We want to carefully examine both the strengths and weaknesses of the team here, improve our condition, and fight diligently in each match as we continue with this tight schedule ahead."

　[Summary of the press conference by Mito's Tetsuji HASHIRATANI] "I have a certain understanding of FC Tokyo's individual skills and passing work, and I think we were able to play the soccer we aimed for in a good state even in the first half. Unfortunately, we conceded a goal and had a player sent off. Even with a player sent off, the players managed to bring the score from 3-1 to 3-2 and ran until the end. I think losing was inevitable. There was certainly a difference in strength, but I believe the players did well in terms of giving their all and pushing through, so I want to prepare our condition for the next match against Verdy."

Tokyo Hold Off Late Surge To Earn The Points

The game exploded into life in the 54th minute. Hanyu was fouled as he jumped for a long ball some 25 meters from goal. Nakamura dummied the resulting free kick and Morishige stroked a sumptuous right-footed strike over the wall and past Homma to give Tokyo the lead. Five minutes later Tokyo doubled their lead as Nakamura went down under a heavy challenge inside the Mito area and Kajiyama coolly dispatched the penalty.
Mito gained a toehold in the game in the 65th minute as Takahashi was judged to have fouled Hozaki as the side back burst into the Tokyo area. Hozaki himself took the penalty, which Shiota stopped with a flying one-handed save, but the Tokyo keeper was helpless as Hozaki bundled the loose ball over the line. Tokyo responded by replacing Tanabe with Ishikawa, then received a boost as Mito defender Okada earned a second yellow card and was dismissed. Tokyo made their man advantage count by dominating possession and playing the ball around.
In the 79th minute Kajiyama split the Mito defense wide open with a superbly weighted through ball that met Ishikawa's darting run perfectly. Ishikawa raced clear, cut inside and drove a right-footed shot across Homma and into the side netting. Ishikawa's first goal of the season had restored Tokyo's two-goal lead. Mito battled tenaciously and pulled a goal back in the 89th minute as midfielder Murata thumped a fierce drive past Shiota from the edge of the area. That was the end of the scoring as Tokyo held off Mito's late surge to earn a hard-fought 3-2 victory and extend the winning streak to three games.


Players' comments 
Takahashi 
"Hanyu won the free kick in a great position and we were determined not to waste it. I told Hokuto ( Nakamura ) I was going to take the free kick and he kind of got in the way but it was a great dummy. After it went in I thanked him properly of course. My leg is pain-free this season and I feel in good condition. I practice free kicks endlessly in training so I'm delighted to make a contribution to us getting a result. The goals we conceded happened because we were passing the ball around too deeply and we lost possession. If we play slightly further forward we won't put ourselves in that position. It's something we have to talk about".

Ishikawa
"The goal came in a way that I've always visualized and if I get the ball in that position I feel confident I can put it away. The angle was tight but I could see exactly where to put the ball and I didn't hesitate, I just hit it. Today I was concentrating on sticking to the wing and making a move inside at the right time. I had to bide my time as coming inside too far would have denied me space to run into. I was ready to take the ball on and finish the move with an attempt on goal or a goal itself. I put a lot of emotion into the shot. We've struggled to score a second goal recently and that's resulted in some nervy endings to games. Today's game finished the same way but at least we scored three and that has to be seen as a plus. We scored a third goal but we have to look at the way we finished the game; we substitutes are fresh but can't seem to take the ball behind the opposition's defence and hold it up. We want to reflect on that then utilise it in the next game as we take one step forward at a time."

FC Tokyo manager Kiyoshi Okuma
"It took us a while to get used to the pitch in the first half so we were taking too many touches and couldn't settle into a rhythm. In the second half when we gained the numerical superiority we moved the ball around exceptionally well and that was very pleasing. After they scored the penalty we became a little flustered and then gave away another goal at the end through our negligence. If you consider that the team consists of 18 players then it's reassuring that the substitutes can make tangible contributions to the game. Once again we have to look at what we're doing right, what's lacking in the team and how we can raise our condition at the same time. We have to treat each game carefully as it comes in this tight schedule."


Mito Hollyhock manager Tetsuji Hashiratani
"To some extent we understood the quality of Tokyo's individual players and their passing ability and were able to play our own game in the first half. Unfortunately we then conceded and had a player sent off. Even though we were down to ten men the team never stopped working and we managed to pull it back to 3-2. Losing today is just one of those things, I think. Of course there is a difference in quality but our lads gave it their all today and played well, I felt. We now have to go off and prepare the team for the Verdy game on Wednesday evening".