Despite conceding the first goal in the final stages, Morishige scores a valuable equalizer! The intense battle ends in the first draw of the season.

　In the 47th minute of the second half, Ishikawa made a vertical breakthrough and earned a left corner kick from a cross. In the 49th minute, Watanabe, who had stolen the opponent's clearance, dribbled and took a shot, gradually taking control of the game. In the 55th minute, Lucas and Kajiyama connected and Takahashi made a through pass into the area. Mokuhara ran into the goal area, but was cut off by the Urawa defender just before taking a shot, resulting in a corner kick... In the 61st minute, they regained possession in their own half and passed it one-touch between Takahashi, Kajiyama, and Watanabe, before a vertical pass from Hasegawa found Mokuhara in front of the goal again. However, they were unable to time it correctly and failed to score.

　In the 62nd minute, Mokuhara advanced into the left area from a speedy passwork. He sent a negative cross to the front of the goal, creating a chance, but the pass was slightly too strong and Kajiyama's direct volley went wide... In the 67th minute, Kajiyama passed to Tokunaga after pulling the opponent DF and advancing to the right area. Tokunaga took a step forward and took a decisive shot, but it went wide... In the 79th minute, Watanabe turned around and aimed for the goal, but was blocked by the DF after evading Urawa's press. Ishikawa, who took the loose ball, aimed from the right area, but his shot after escaping the chaos was saved by the GK.

　However, Urawa also made player substitutions to increase their sharpness on the counter. As the intense attack and defense continued, the game moved towards the end. In the 88th minute, Urawa's wave-like attack was avoided by Tokyo DF's physicality, but this right throw-in was dropped to MF Marquinhos by the area, and MF Kashiwagi dribbled towards the center. He slipped through the Tokyo DF's defense and FW Haraguchi dropped the ball, which was then scored by MF Marquinhos on the right side...giving up the first goal.

　However, without looking down here, Tokyo immediately launched a counterattack and in the 90th minute, Ishikawa made a move and earned a CK. Here, Hayashi is in for Tokyo. Urawa's injured MF Marquinhos is replaced by MF Kojima. Immediately after that, Mori Shige scored a goal with a high header from Ishikawa's right CK! They caught up to the tie in stoppage time! After that, they both attacked each other to try to take the lead, and in the final moments, from Urawa's MF Uchida's right cross, FW Haraguchi's header hit the right post but... they didn't let the goal break and the time was up.

　Although they were unable to take the lead, Tokyo showed their persistence by equalizing at the last minute. The intense game ended in a draw, the first of the season.

　【Player Comments】《Morishige》"As a team, we had many chances and I wanted to score from a set piece. Ishikawa sent me a good ball from the corner kick, so all I had to do was put it in. However, it's really disappointing that we couldn't win as a team. It's not bad that we were able to bring it to a draw, but we need to reflect and make changes on the scenes where we conceded. Still, we are enjoying playing soccer as a team. We want to continue playing our own style of soccer like we did today in the ACL."

　"Mukuhara" "In the second half, we had possession of the ball, but both teams had chances and it was even. It became a shootout and the result was as expected. The opponent played with a 3-4-2-1 system, so we thought the fullbacks would be the starting point. We tried to touch the ball as much as possible and move forward. We were also conscious of playing with clear plays and combinations, and trying to make plays that would lead to goals. It's a shame that we couldn't finish it off in the end."

　[Coach Popovich's press conference summary] "I think we had a really wonderful and interesting game. Those who watched the game in Japan today must have been pleased. Both teams had high quality and different styles, and they both did their best. One team is good at counterattacks, but their quality is very high and dangerous. In the first half, both teams created chances and it was an even match. In the second half, we were able to take control, but Urawa also showed a strong intention to counterattack by substituting FW Haraguchi for FW Popo. We had to always be careful against their high-quality counterattacks."

　You can understand how tough and fast-paced the game was and how fast the tempo was even in the second half by seeing some of the Urawa players cramping up. Although luck played a part in the end, it was a performance that could have resulted in a win for us. Throughout the 90 minutes, I believe we were able to fight with a performance worthy of bringing about this result.

　[Urawa Petrovic's press conference summary] "I think it was a very good game. Both teams had different styles. One team mainly played short passes and played dangerous soccer up to 30 meters from our goal. The other team played a more concrete soccer, sometimes kicking long balls to approach the goal. I may have a biased view as Urawa's coach, but I think it was a game we had to win. However, a draw is also part of soccer. Nevertheless, I think we were able to show the supporters a good game today."