A game worthy of the traditional Tama River Clasico, in its 20th edition.

　Entering the 26th round of the league, Kawasaki Frontale will face off against each other as the 20th Tama River Clasico. In the previous round against Shimizu, we made adjustments during the game and regained our rhythm. We are able to fight while accurately assessing the flow of the situation. That's why in the remaining 9 matches, we want to take control throughout the 90 minutes, connect to goals, and accumulate victories.

　Above all, this round is also known as the "traditional match". Coach Ranko POPOVIC said, "We must play a game worthy of the name 'Clasico'. This requires not only the quality of our play, but also the quality of our fighting spirit. Only by showing both can we continue the tradition and aim for victory with determination."

　Kawasaki, currently in 12th place with 33 points, will face off against their opponents. In April, they welcomed Koya Kazama as their new coach and have been aiming for a style of "taking the initiative and taking action on their own". Although they have struggled without a win in the past 6 games, they are still striving to win with their attractive style of soccer. In this match, DF Hiroto Tanaka and Ikawa will be suspended, so DF Ito will be used as the right back and DF Jesse as the center back. FW Kusukami will lead the front line, with FW Yamase and FW Oshima on the sides, and MF Koki Kazama in the top position.

　Kawasaki's attacking unit has the individual ability to break through, and their strength lies in their ability to embody coach Kazama's intentions. They are a team that aims to attack together, but the Tama River Clasico is unpredictable. No matter how the game unfolds, we want to maintain our composure and focus on our own style to aim for victory. Under the autumn-like weather, 34,822 people gathered at Ajinomoto Stadium. The game started at 7:04 PM with Kawasaki's kickoff.

Taking the lead, dominating Kawasaki, but the first half ends scoreless.

　Tokyo showed a well-coordinated play from the start and gained rhythm. In the 2nd minute, Ishikawa → Kajiyama pushed a high position on the right front line and crossed. In the center, Lucas competed for the loose ball and Yonemoto followed up, aiming for a shot from just outside the area, but it was saved and resulted in a corner kick. In the 7th minute, Yonemoto intercepted in the opponent's half. He passed it to Lucas in front and received a return pass, entering the left area. In the 10th minute, they quickly launched an attack from their own half, and Ishikawa sent a cross from the right side through Hasegawa's development. However, they were unable to control the ball before finishing in both cases.

　At 14 minutes, Kawasaki had a chance. Kawasaki MF Nakamura passed to FW Yamase in the center of the area, who then dribbled past Tokyo DF and took a shot from the left area. It was a clear opportunity, but the shot missed the goal and Kawasaki escaped danger. As a result, this was the only chance Kawasaki had in the first half. Tokyo's strong defense prevented their opponents from having any freedom, and they took complete control of the game and attacked. At 17 minutes, Lucas received a through pass in the center and went towards the right area. Ishikawa made a decisive move, but he lost control as he stumbled on the pitch...

　21 minutes, Kajiyama's well-aimed middle shot is blocked by the goalkeeper. In the 28th minute, they connected passes and pushed forward, with Tokunaga making a vertical breakthrough. He sent a sharp ground cross to the front of the goal, but Hasegawa couldn't finish it. In the 28th minute, Maruyama → Lucas in the center turned around and took a shot. In the 31st minute, Lucas in front of the area received a pass from defender Takahashi and passed it to Kajiyama with one touch, who then passed it to Lucas on the side. They quickly outplayed Kawasaki with a direct play, creating a big chance, but Lucas' shot narrowly missed the goal...

　Kajiyama powerfully hit a middle shot in the 41st minute, but it was stopped by the GK's great save at the last minute. In the first half, Tokyo was unable to score despite taking 9 shots compared to Kawasaki's 1. The first half ended in a scoreless tie.

Edmilson scores his first goal, but 2 goals against weigh heavily...

　The second half was expected to be a goal-filled one, but just after the start at the 46th minute, the ball was taken away from Yonemoto in their own half and quickly countered. Kawasaki MF Nakamura passed to FW Yamase, who then passed to MF Koya Kazama, who then passed to FW Kusukami on the right side. From there, he dribbled into the right area, evading a sliding Morishige and a covering Maruyama... and scored a goal. A mistake at the beginning of the second half led to the first goal being conceded.

　Kawasaki, who is gaining momentum, takes the initiative. Against the speedy attack, Tokyo is forced to play defensively. In the 53rd minute, Yonemoto is pressed while trying to bring the ball out of his own half, leading to a counterattack. Morishige quickly covers, but commits a foul, giving Kawasaki a free kick. From the right side, MF Nakamura sends a cross to the left side, where DF Jesi competes with Takahashi and scores a header... In an instant, they have conceded two goals.

　Still, in the 63rd minute, Nemanja VUCICEVIC was brought on as left back, and in the 68th minute, Tanabe was brought on as left back. Kajiyama led the counterattack from the defensive midfield, and the team regained their rhythm. In the 70th minute, Lucas stole the ball from in front of the Kawasaki goal, turned around, and skillfully slid past the opposing defender near the right area, but his decisive shot hit the crossbar... In the 73rd minute, Tanabe showed persistence on the left front line and crossed early, and Hasegawa followed up. Lucas met the ball with a perfect header, but it went wide to the left.

　Substituted Edmilson in the 75th minute. With increased depth in the front line, they aimed for the first goal. However, despite attacking, they were unable to break through the goal. Finally, in the 88th minute, Vucicevic intercepted the ball that the opposing DF was trying to take out and quickly counterattacked. He drew the opposing DF into the area and sent the ball to the right, where Edmilson ran in and scored with a left-footed shot!

　Edmilson's first goal after joining Tokyo was a blow, and the comeback mood was high, but... they couldn't catch up to the equalizer against Kawasaki, who defended by pulling back. The two goals conceded in a vulnerable manner weighed heavily and they suffered a painful defeat.

　【Player Comment】《Edmilson》"I am happy to score my first goal, but it is very disappointing that it did not lead to a victory. As a team, we were playing a good game with good flow, but we were stopped by the opponent's GK's great play. We continued to play our own soccer, but we couldn't get the result. Unfortunately, in soccer, even if you have a lot of shots, you can't win. I have been out of the team due to injury, but I want to work hard from now on to make up for it."

　"Hanyu" "I was conscious of creating a good rhythm for the whole team by creating a rhythm on both offense and defense. In the first half, we were able to create a flow and dominate the game. At halftime, we talked about continuing to play that style of soccer in the second half and increasing the pressure even more. We were starting to play our game...but then we conceded a goal and panicked. We felt mentally shaken by conceding a goal during a good flow. It shows that we still have room for improvement. In order to overcome that, we want to be able to dominate the game for the full 90 minutes. I think that is the style that Tokyo should aim for and we want to continue to strive for it."

　[Summary of Coach Popovich's Press Conference] "There are very few games that I can be satisfied with after losing, but I think today's game was exactly that. We couldn't get the result, but I can say "well done" to the players' fighting spirit and performance. It may not be humble to say this, but in terms of the first half performance, I have seen many teams in the J-League since coming to Japan, but there are not many teams that can play such attacking football and show such quality. However, even though we created decisive chances, we couldn't score. As a result, we ended up paying for it with conceding a goal. Regarding the goal we conceded, it was not because we were broken down, but because we showed a gap ourselves."

　After conceding a goal, we took control and managed to get one back. From the pitch, there were scenes that looked like a penalty kick, but it wasn't that kind of decision. We are grateful to all the fans and supporters who came to support us, and while we wanted to deliver a good result, it wasn't a performance to be blamed for. Unfortunately, the result didn't go our way. Congratulations to Kawasaki. I also want to thank the supporters of both teams for creating a wonderful atmosphere. Our job is to continue playing this kind of football, evolve, and show even higher quality matches in the future."

　[Kawasaki Kozuma's press conference summary] "I thought it would be a game like this from the first half, but we were pushed back for a long time. However, in this week's training, we talked about focusing on winning as a team without breaking our own shape. The players fought faithfully and were able to make chances in the second half by making adjustments at halftime. In the first half, FW Kusukami had been dropping back. We could see that the opponent wanted to take the ball in the midfield, so when I told him to "stick to the front line" in the second half, we immediately scored a goal. I think he was aware of it from the first half, but I think he did better in the second half. Overall, I don't think we were technically good enough yet, but the players were focused on winning using their own skills. I think it was a game where we made progress in that aspect."