The long-awaited J1 home opener, facing Nagoya

　The 2nd round of the league will be held, and we will face Nagoya Grampus at Ajinomoto Stadium as our home opener. In the previous round, we were able to regroup and hold onto the 1-0 lead thanks to Lucas' goal, despite being under pressure from Omiya. We will continue to fight with energy and determination, and aim for another victory in this match without showing any signs of fatigue from the consecutive games.

　In today's practice, the formation that worked well in the Omiya game was mainly used, with Kajiyama playing as an attacking midfielder and Hasegawa as a defensive midfielder. The focus was on confirming defensive coordination and emphasizing the mindset of "let's finish with a shot" in order to strengthen the team's common understanding. Ishikawa will start this round, while Tanihara will start on the bench. Additionally, Yonemoto will make his first appearance on the bench this season.

　Nagoya, on the other hand, finished second in the league last year. They narrowly missed out on the championship by just one point, but they are undoubtedly a dominant team in J1. With players like GK Narazaki, DF Tsubasa, MF Danilson, and FW Tamada, who all possess high individual abilities, as well as a stable game plan and strong competitiveness, Nagoya can be considered a formidable team. In this match, MF Ogawa, Fujimoto, and Nakamura will be absent, but they will have the speedy Nagai in the FW position and the versatile Yoshimura in the midfield. Of course, the main attacking force will be FW Kennedy, who has an absolute height advantage and is difficult to beat in one-on-one situations. Therefore, it will be important to prevent him from receiving the ball in a favorable position in order to avoid conceding goals.

　In the attack, the key will be how to shake the tall Nagoya DF and pull them forward. By taking action and minimizing mistakes, we aim for precision in both offense and defense to achieve victory. The cold rain that had been falling since the afternoon has finally stopped at Ajinomoto Stadium. The match started at 7:04 PM with Nagoya's kickoff.

Unable to grasp the rhythm, Nagoya allowed the opponent's attack and conceded...

　Tokyo struggled to find their rhythm against Nagoya from the beginning. The ball couldn't settle down in front of Nagoya's tough defense, and they were constantly losing possession and being attacked by long balls from FW Kennedy. In the 15th minute, Lucas made a sharp counter and Kajiyama dribbled up, but Nagoya's quick defense was able to hold them off. In the 20th minute, a loose ball from a right corner was persistently passed around until Ishikawa passed it into the middle. Kajiyama tried to take a shot from the loose ball, but couldn't finish it off.

　Lucas, who received a pass from the left side in the 23rd minute, aimed for a middle shot but missed the frame. As a result, this was the only shot taken by Lucas in the first half. In the 26th minute, he won the battle in the midfield and Kajiyama → Ishikawa sprinted down the side and sent a minus pass to the center, but Hasegawa's timing was off. In the 28th minute, Ishikawa cut inside and tried to create a chance from a dribble, but he couldn't find a way past the Nagoya DF and couldn't finish.

　In this time zone, Ishikawa's sharp movements from the side were the center of the attack, and they were close to taking control of the flow, but they couldn't fully grasp the lead due to many mistakes. In the midst of this, in the 36th minute, Tokyo sent a pass to the front line with poor accuracy, which was headed by Nagoya DF and connected with one touch. Unable to stop this, Nagoya MF Kennedy sent a through pass to the front line. FW Tamada broke through and scored a shot that floated over GK Konda, who had a good view of the dribble, resulting in a goal...

　Unable to create any real chances, they went into the second half trailing by one point.

Nao scored 2 goals, Aria scored a comeback header, and scored 3 points for a comeback victory!

　However, in the second half, they succeeded in reorganizing by being conscious of the distance and positioning between players. Gradually, the passes started to circulate and Tokyo was able to grasp the rhythm. In the 57th minute, Ishikawa on the right side passed to Tokunaga who had moved up the center. Although this was cut off and did not lead to a chance, in the immediate 59th minute, Ota in the left area passed to Hayashi in front of the goal, who turned and aimed for the goal. The shot was blocked by a defender, but Ishikawa reacted to the ball that fell in the right area and firmly stabbed it into the goal with his left foot! They equalized in the early stages of the second half.

　Tokyo, who will take the offensive at once with this opportunity. In the 63rd minute, Ishikawa → Hanou connected with a fine pass in the front line, and Kajiyama, who had reversed, took a shot. Next, Hasegawa in the center passed to Hanou in the right area at an unexpected timing. Hanou, who received the pass, turned around and took a powerful shot, but it went outside the frame. In the 64th minute, Nagoya brought in DF Daniel and tried to counter with a formation that moved DF Torio forward in one row.

　However, the flow remained unchanged, and in the 67th minute, from Tokyo's corner kick, Ishikawa on the right front line returned the ball to Takahashi in the center. Takahashi then sent a floating pass to the left area. Kaga neatly crossed it back to the center with a header, and Hasegawa, who had perfectly timed his run from the opposite side, headed it in with a high impact, GOAL!! GOAL!! Even after taking the lead, they did not let up on their attack.

　73 minutes, Ota's feed is cleared, and although it becomes a Nagoya ball once, Lucas steals it by sandwiching the opponent and passes it to Kajiyama in the center. Kajiyama makes a good decision and sends a through pass to the front line. From the left, Nao runs in and scores a well-aimed shot, getting the third goal in a row! Nagoya is taking control of the game.

　Nagoya, who continued to fight, hit the bar with a shot from FW Kennedy from a FK in the 87th minute. The rebound was kicked in by FW Nagai, allowing the opponent to catch up, and the end of the game became a hectic development. However, in the 90th minute, Yonemoto was substituted for Kajiyama and brought to the front line. Yonemoto, who stood on the pitch for the first time in about a year, tried to suppress Nagoya's power play by chasing from the front. In the long 5-minute stoppage time, Nagoya DF Danilson received a red card and was sent off.

　The game heated up, but in the 90th minute +7, Hirayama came in. Tokyo calmly defended and welcomed the end of the game, achieving a stunning comeback victory.

　【Player Comments】《Ishikawa》"The team was completely different in the first half and the second half. It was the same in the previous match, and although we were able to make adjustments, it's a shame. However, I want to think positively about being able to win at home, and even more so with a come-from-behind victory. (About the equalizing goal) I was able to create a good opportunity on the left side, so I tried to follow up by moving inside. I ran believing that it would come to this area, while also being careful about my positioning. (About my second goal) I was always conscious of switching from defense to offense and the timing of making runs. Above all, the atmosphere at Ajinomoto Stadium was amazing. The supporters fought with us even during difficult times last season. That's why this season, I want to show that we are getting stronger with each game and repay them."

　"Hasegawa" "In the first half, I made a lot of passing mistakes and caused trouble for the team. So in the second half, I was thinking of trying to make up for it somehow. I think I need to show more of an attacking attitude, but I think that led to the goal. I'm not very good at heading, but being able to get into the opponent's area is also one of my strengths. I have played in three official matches so far, and I approached them with the same mindset, but it's still nice to play at home. It was great to have so many supporters come and the atmosphere was amazing. Being able to turn the game around in this way will also be a plus for us."

　[Summary of Coach Popovich's Press Conference] "The result couldn't have been better, but why couldn't we play like we did in the second half from the beginning? In the first half, we showed too much respect for the opponent. We couldn't do what we needed to do and held back our strength. We knew that if we could use our strength, we could play like we did in the second half, so I can't understand why the first half turned out like this. In terms of the first half, Nagoya had more ball possession and started moving faster. But once we woke up in the second half, we stuck to our own soccer and were able to score more points than the opponent and win. I think it was a spectacular game. It was a back-and-forth battle that I hope satisfied the fans and supporters. The soccer I aim for is to play attractive soccer that everyone can enjoy like this every game. Today, we were able to show that kind of soccer and I hope you were satisfied."

　[Nagoya Stojkovic's press conference summary] "The obvious thing is that we are not happy. However, I think our football was able to be done as a way of thinking. Today, 5 goals were born, but wasn't it amazing for those who came to watch? In the first half, we were dominating and we were able to do what we should do as a style. However, in the second half, we stopped playing. Tokyo's first goal was an accidental goal like ping-pong, but the 2nd and 3rd goals were from our defensive mistakes. If you make a mistake, you must pay the price. Also, from about 15 minutes into the second half, there was no clear attack and there was confusion in the front line. That's where we gave Tokyo room to counterattack. We must fight until the end with decisiveness and concentration. I think the situation would have changed if we had scored the 2nd goal, but that was far away."