Although they allowed the opening goal in the final stages, Morishige scored a valuable equalizer! The intense battle ended 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 intercepted an opponent's clearance, advanced with the ball and took a dribble shot, gradually allowing Tokyo to take control and increasing the number of attacking plays from quick passing. In the 55th minute, Lucas received a pass from Kajiyama, and Takahashi delivered a through ball into the area. It reached Mukuara, who ran into the goal area, but just before the shot, he was cut off by a Urawa defender and had to settle for a corner kick... In the 61st minute, after regaining possession in their own half, Takahashi, Kajiyama, and Watanabe exchanged one-touch passes, and from Hasegawa's vertical pass, Mukuara was again in front of the goal. However, the timing was slightly off, and he couldn't secure the ball.

　In the 62nd minute, Mukuara advanced into the left area with a speedy passing play. He sent a negative cross in 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, from Kajiyama to Watanabe's drop, Kajiyama attracted the opposing defender and passed to Tokunaga, who advanced into the right area. Tokunaga took a step forward and unleashed a decisive shot, but it went across the goal... In the 79th minute, Watanabe evaded Urawa's press in front of the goal, turned around, and aimed for the goal, but was blocked by the defender. Ishikawa, who seized the loose ball, aimed from just outside the right area, but his shot through the scramble was saved by the GK...

　However, Urawa also made substitutions to increase the sharpness of their counterattacks. As the tense back-and-forth continued, the match shifted in the final stages. In the 88th minute, Urawa's wave of attacks was thwarted by Tokyo's DF, who managed to escape with a throw-in, but this right throw-in was dropped to MF Marcio Richardes in the area, and from the rebound on the right side, MF Kashiwagi dribbled into the center. He slipped between Tokyo's DF, and the ball dropped by FW Haraguchi was finished by MF Marcio Richardes in the right area... allowing the first goal against.

　However, without looking down, they immediately launched a counterattack, and in the 90th minute, Ishikawa initiated a play and earned a corner kick. At this point, Tokyo substituted Hayashi in. Urawa replaced the injured MF Marcio Richardes with MF Kojima. Shortly after, from Ishikawa's right corner kick, Morishige connected with a high header to score a goal! They equalized in stoppage time! Both teams continued to attack, aiming for the lead, and just before the end, Urawa's MF Ugajin delivered a right cross, but FW Haraguchi's header hit the right post... and they couldn't break the deadlock before time was up.

　Although they couldn't take the lead, Tokyo showed resilience by equalizing at the last moment. The intense game ended in a draw for the first time this season.

　[Player Comments] {Morishige} "As a team, we had several chances, and I wanted to score from set pieces as well. Ishikawa sent a good ball during the corner kick, so I just had to connect. However, it's really disappointing that we couldn't win as a team. It's not bad that we managed to draw, but we need to reflect and correct the scenes where we conceded goals. Still, right now, we are enjoying football as a team. I want to enjoy the ACL and stick to our style of play like we did today."

　Muku Hara: "In the second half, we were holding the ball, but both sides had scoring opportunities, and I think it was even. It turned into a shootout, and the result reflected the content of the match. Since the opponent was using a 3-4-2-1 system, I thought the full-backs would be the starting point. We aimed to touch the ball as much as possible and push forward when we could. We were also conscious of clear plays and combinations, thinking about making plays that would lead directly to goals. It's really disappointing that we couldn't finish in the end."

　[Summary of Coach Popovic's Press Conference] "I think it was a truly wonderful and interesting match. Those who watched today's game in Japan must have enjoyed it. Both teams had high quality and different styles, and each gave their all. One team focused on counter-attacks, but their quality was very high and dangerous. In the first half, both teams created scoring opportunities, resulting in an even match. In the second half, we were able to take control, but I felt that Urawa also brought in FW Haraguchi to replace FW Popo, clearly intending to launch counter-attacks. We had to remain vigilant against their high-quality counter-attacks."

　You can understand how tough the match was and how fast the rhythm was by seeing that some of the Urawa players were cramping up even in the second half. While we were helped by some luck in the end, I believe the content of the match was such that it wouldn't have been surprising if we had won. I think we fought in a way that was worthy of bringing about such a result over the full 90 minutes.

　[Summary of the press conference by Urawa's coach Zoran PETROVIC] "I think it was a very good game. Both teams had different styles. One team focused on short passes and played dangerous football up to 30 meters from our goal. The other team sometimes kicked long balls and approached the goal concretely. As the coach of Urawa, I may have a biased perspective, but I believe it was a game we needed to win. However, ending in a draw is also part of football. Nevertheless, I think we were able to show a good game to the supporters today."