GAME RESULTGame Result

Sec. 2 2012/8/08 (Wed)
Audience 10,573 people 
Weather: Sunny, Low Temperature 24.8 degrees, Humidity 56% 
Referee: Kenji OGIYA Assistant Referee: Tomokazu TAJIRI / Tadaomi AIBA Fourth Official: Toshimitsu YOSHIDA

Yokohama FC Final Round Sec. 2

Ajinomoto

HOME

FC Tokyo

2-0

Match Finished

First Half0-0

Second Half2-0

AWAY

Vegalta Sendai

FC Tokyo Vegalta Sendai
81' Naohiro ISHIKAWA
90'+3 Kazuma WATANABE
Scorer
60' Sotan TANABE → Yohei KAJIYAMA
76' Tatsuya YAZAWA → Lucas
84' Edmilson → Kazuma WATANABE
Player Substitution 41' Naoya Tamura → Toshihiko Uchiyama
74' Wilson → Hiroaki OKUNO
84' Joo Chul-seong → Takayuki Nakahara
11 Shoot 5
3 CK 9
19 FK 23
30' Sotan TANABE
42' Tatsuya YAZAWA
Warning 37' Wilson
51' Toshihiko Uchiyama
62' Jiro Kamada
73' Joo Seong Park
Exit
FC Tokyo Starting Lineup
GK 1 Hitoshi Shiota
DF 14 Nakamura Hokuto
DF 3 Masato MORISHIGE
DF 4 Hideto TAKAHASHI
DF 33 Kenta Mukuhara
MF 7 Takashi Yonemoto
MF 8 Ariajasuru HASEGAWA
MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa
MF 27 Sotan TANABE
MF 39 Tatsuya YAZAWA
FW 9 Edmilson
FC TokyoSubstitute
GK 21 Ryotaro Hiroe
DF 5 Kenichi KAGA
DF 16 Yuichi MARUYAMA
MF 10 Yosuke Kajiyama
MF 36 Hirotaka MITA
FW 11 Kazuma WATANABE
FW 49 Lucas
Vegalta SendaiStarting Lineup
GK 16 Takuto HAYASHI
DF 23 Naoya Tamura
DF 2 Kamata Jiro
DF 29 Uehon Taikai
DF 27 Park Joo-seong
MF 8 Toshihiro MATSUSHITA
MF 10 Yong Gi RYANG
MF 15 Yoshiaki Ota
MF 11 Satoshi Sekiguchi
FW 24 Shingo Akamine
FW 18 Wilson
Vegalta SendaiSubstitute
GK 1 Shigeru Sakurai
DF 3 Watanabe Hiroshi
DF 20 Toshihiko Uchiyama
MF 7 Hiroaki OKUNO
MF 19 Yuki MUTO
FW 9 Takayuki Nakahara
FW 13 Atsushi Yanagisawa

[Player/Coach Comments]

Defeating Sendai, the top team in the league, and advancing to the Nabisco Semifinal Round


 The second leg of the Nabisco Cup quarterfinals will be played on 7/25, just three days after the previous league match. In the first leg away match against Vegalta Sendai, which ended in a draw despite taking a 2-0 lead, Tokyo will advance to the semifinals if the second leg ends in a scoreless draw or a 1-1 draw, thanks to their away goals.

 However, coach Ranko POPOVIC said, "If there is even a little feeling of being advantageous, we will lose at that point. Every game is like this, but we have to approach it with the mindset of 'this is a one-shot deal, everything is decided in this final round'. Sometimes the result of the first game can have an impact, but even if we calculate the points, it won't lead to a good result." He also said, "We will simply aim for victory" in this match.

 FC Sendai, who will face us, has been drawing for 4 consecutive games since the 15th round of the league on 7/14, but they have shown their tenacity and are once again at the top of the league by steadily accumulating points. Today, Sendai will be in a situation where they "must score" and "must win", and they will surely come out attacking even away from home. On the other hand, Tokyo will want to prolong the time without conceding a goal. They also want to take advantage of the support from the stands and gain a mental advantage, and secure a victory in a calm manner.

 Regarding the members, the coach said, "We have a series of games with the league, and there is also exhaustion in the heat, and to be honest, there are players who I want to rest," and Kaga and Lucas are on the bench. On the other hand, Edmilson started for the first time. In addition, Takahashi was used as a center back, just like in the Urawa game, Nakamura on the right side back, and Mukuhara on the left. Ishikawa is on the side, and Tanizawa is also starting, and Tanabe will lead the team as a top midfielder. The game started at 19:05 with Sendai's kickoff at Ajinomoto Stadium, where the heat has subsided and the coolness can be felt.

Finish the first half with a calm ball movement and game management without scoring.


 Calmly entering the game, we tried to attack by passing the ball firmly. In the meantime, if there is an opening, we will actively aim for a chance, and in the 2nd minute, Ishikawa, who received a big side change from Yonemoto on the right area, sent it directly to the center, and Edmilson aimed for the goal. In the 4th minute, Hasegawa in the center moved to the right front line. Edmilson broke through and passed to Ishikawa in the center of the area. In the 7th minute, Edmilson was fouled in the center of the opponent's field and got a free kick. Nakamura aimed from a distance, but the goalkeeper saved it with a shot to the lower right corner of the goal.

 Edmilson has also demonstrated his ability to keep the ball and his physicality, which has increased the team's ability to move forward. However, Sendai, who lacked momentum at the start, gradually fought back mainly through set pieces. In the 14th minute, Sendai's MF Sekiguchi dribbled up the left side and connected with FW Wilson, who had moved up the middle, and was then released into the left area for a shot. In the 27th minute, they were unable to stop MF Sekiguchi's dribble and connected with MF Yanagi, who provided support on the outside, and a sharp left cross from the sideline was headed in by RM Ota. They were able to create decisive opportunities, but all of them missed the target.

 Tokyo created a scoring opportunity in the 29th minute. Robert changed the side from the center to the left. Muhara overlapped and carried the ball forward, sending a long cross to the far side. Ishikawa in the right area took a direct shot, but the powerful shot hit the bar... In the 35th minute, Tanabe kept the ball on the left side and connected it to the center, where Tanizawa passed it to Nakamura on the right side. Nakamura then cut inside and took a shot on goal, but the goalkeeper caught it. There were also moments where Sendai attacked, but Tokyo remained calm and continued to create chances through persistent play. They also defended well and ended the first half with a scoreless tie.

NAO GOAL! Watanabe scores the second goal, advancing to the semifinal round as planned!


 In the second half, they continued to create scoring opportunities. In the 48th minute, they made a quick pass on the left side, and Tanizawa and Tabata made a run towards the left area, passing the ball back to the front of the goal. Hasegawa tried to score, but was blocked by a defender. Then, with quick passing, Tanizawa made a run towards the left area again, facing the goalkeeper one-on-one near the goal. However, the shot was saved...

 If they miss this chance, Sendai will send a long ball to the front line FW Akamine and attack from set pieces. In response, Tokyo brought in Kajiyama in the 60th minute. In the 70th minute, Ishikawa broke through the left front line and passed to Tanizawa in the right area. Although he couldn't take a shot here, he made a good decision to connect to the center, and Kajiyama aimed for the goal, but was blocked by the DF.

 As the time passed with a score of 0-0, even a draw would secure a spot in the semifinal round. In the 76th minute, Lucas was brought in to make a move. In the 81st minute, Lucas passed to Mukuhara on the left side of the opponent's field, who then connected with Yonemoto on the inside. Yonemoto then made a pass over the opponent's defense. Ishikawa used his speed to run in and compete with Park, the opponent's defender, and then used his right foot to make a looping shot, avoiding the jumping goalkeeper and scoring the much-needed first goal!

 With this, Sendai, who needed "2 points", brought in tall FW Nakahara in the 84th minute and launched a counterattack by collecting long balls in the front line. In the 84th minute, Tokyo also replaced Edmilson with Watanabe. While concentrating on defending against Sendai's power play, they did not enter a defensive stance and launched a further counterattack from there.

 In stoppage time, Shimizu S-Pulse successfully snatched the ball with persistent defense and sent it to the opponent's half with a pass from Yonemoto. Watanabe broke free from the opponent's defender and dribbled towards the goal. Although the angle was reduced due to avoiding the goalkeeper who had come out, he skillfully placed the ball into the left net from the right area, scoring the second goal! Yonemoto was the key player with two goals and also helped keep a clean sheet in defense. They defeated Sendai and advanced to the semifinal round. In the semifinal round, they will face Shimizu S-Pulse.

 【Player Comments】《Ishikawa》"The 0-0 score continued for a while, and even a draw would have been acceptable to move on, but I really wanted to win cleanly. We've had some disappointing games in the league, so I also wanted to build some momentum. Today, we were able to pass and connect well from the first half, and our balance of aiming for the back and playing through the feet was good. In the first half, the opponent's defense was tight, so I thought the key would be when they got tired and their movement slowed down. It's also important to take advantage of those opportunities. The goal was a result of the awareness of our player, Kanemoto, who passed the ball to the back. It was a great pass. The ball stopped a bit, but it had enough length and speed for the GK to come out. The shot was also as intended. From the moment I hit it, I was thinking "Put it in! Put it in!" (laughs)"

 《Watanabe》 "(Regarding the goal) The goalkeeper came out, so I tried to touch the ball quickly and put it in from the left side. The ball bounced and the angle disappeared, but I was able to score in the end, which was good. However, it's not that exciting to score an additional goal just before the end. What's important is how we can use this for the next game. I want to prepare and do my best for the league match."

 【Coach Popovic's Press Conference Summary】"I am evaluating not only positive results, but also the quality of the game. The previous league match against Urawa was tough, but today, with only three days of rest, we were able to play smart and do the simple things against Sendai, who is currently in first place. We were able to take control throughout the 90 minutes and I think we showed some stability following the Urawa match. All the players gave their all and showed their individual strengths. I don't like to single out individual players for praise, but today, Morishige and Takahashi played really well. I am also satisfied with our ability to patiently and persistently play simple and compact football against the top-ranked Sendai. As you can see, we were able to play a passing game even on a bad pitch."

 (Reason for stability?) We didn't let our guard down throughout the 90 minutes and didn't make any plays that would lead to conceding a goal. In previous games, we have conceded goals not because the opponent broke us down, but because of our own mistakes and errors. Today, we were focused for the full 90 minutes. (Did Edmilson and Lucas use the space around them effectively, allowing other players to shine?) Even if individual skills shine, it won't be effective and we won't get results. I believe that good individuals contribute to the team play and that's how we can achieve good results. If we can play more collectively as a team, we can become an even better team from here on out."

 [Sendai - Makoto TEGURAMORI's press conference summary] "It's a disappointing result. Since we drew the first game 2-2, we had no choice but to score and win today, and we believed in that possibility and gave it our all. However, our game plan was slightly disrupted when our defender got injured during the match and we had to bring in an attacker. But we did our best and the players gave their all even in the midst of consecutive games. We couldn't make it to the top 4, but I believe we gained something. We want to use that in the remaining league games. We are grateful to the Sendai supporters who believed in us and supported us until the end, even on weekday nights. We are sorry, but we hope to continue fighting together to win the title in the league."