Kobe, who is fighting for survival while pursuing the possibility of participating in the ACL, will be challenged.

　After a break of about 10 days, the 32nd round of the league will be held. They will face Vissel Kobe at home. In the previous round, they conceded a goal from a set piece and were unable to break through Nagoya's solid defense, resulting in a loss with no goals scored. However, their J1 survival was secured due to the results of other matches. They are still 5 points behind the 3rd place, which guarantees a spot in the ACL, and the players are determined to continue pursuing it as long as there is a possibility. "We will fight through the last 3 matches with all our might," said manager Kanda.

　This round, Hasegawa returns to the starting lineup after his suspension. Takahashi and Gonda, who have just returned from the Japan national team's World Cup qualifiers, also make the starting lineup. They will face the match with a formation of Takahashi and Hasegawa as a double pivot.

　Kobe, on the other hand, is currently in 15th place with 36 points. After the 22nd round on August 18th, they have gone 9 games without a win and have welcomed new coach Adachi after the last round. For Tokyo, the past J1 league matches against Kobe have been undefeated in 16 games since 2002, so it can be said that there is no sense of difficulty. However, Kobe will surely come with a strong determination to escape the relegation zone. The memory of the survival battle two years ago cannot be underestimated, and their strength and unity in crucial moments cannot be ignored.

　Under the leadership of new manager Adachi, the team is listed as a 3-top on the roster, but the formation remains unchanged with FW Okubo and Miyakura as the two top players, MF Nozawa and FW Ogawa on the sides. In the double pivot, MF Hashimoto and Tanaka. The center back pairing consists of DF Inaba and Kitamoto.

　In order to surpass Kobe's fighting spirit, we first want to win the battle of the ball and second ball, take control of the game, and aim for victory. Show a growth-oriented attitude and determination to win, and take 3 points at home! The game started at 5:04 pm in Tokyo, under the weather that made us feel the arrival of winter, with rain pouring down since morning.

While maintaining awareness of the ball and switching between offense and defense, we conceded the first goal...

　Concentrating and entering the game, we grasped the rhythm at the beginning. In the first minute, Lucas and Kajiyama connected, and Tanabe on the left side took a step forward and aimed for the goal. In the 4th minute, we launched a counterattack from Ishikawa's interception on the right side of our own goal, and Kajiyama → Ishikawa sent a sharp cross from the right front line. Tanabe jumped in from the far side, but just missed. In the 8th minute, Ishikawa → Hasegawa connected, and Tokunaga, who had moved up the right side, dribbled into the area and made a final pass to the center. This was blocked by the Kobe DF, but we calmly defended against their long balls and quickly switched to a speedy attack.

　In the 10th minute, Soma, the left back for Kobe, attacked the center and took a shot, but the Tokyo defense blocked it. Kajiyama then quickly passed to Ishikawa on the right. Ishikawa then passed to Kajiyama who had moved up the center again and took a shot from just outside the penalty area, but it went over the bar. In the 14th minute, Ishikawa ran up the right side after Hasegawa's interception and crossed the ball. Although a good opportunity was created from the side, Lucas, who jumped in, was unable to finish it.

　Second ball and ball awareness were also high, and Kobe had not allowed any chances to be created, but in the 22nd minute, Kobe MF Tanaka made a vertical pass to FW Tokura in front of the area. FW Tokura received the ball at his feet, quickly turned and took a shot. Although they were able to create an attacking opportunity and bring it to a finish, Gonda made a safe save.

　However, in the 27th minute, Okui, the right side back of Kobe, cut off the pass sent by Takahashi to the front line. He dribbled up and sent a pass to FW Ogawa in the center of the front line. FW Ogawa avoided Jang Hyun Soo with a trap and returned it to DF Okui. Tokyo couldn't catch up with this attacking move from the one-two. DF Okui was brought forward and a shot with speed was taken from just outside the area... The ball went into the bottom left of the goal. Once again, Tokyo allowed the first goal while trying to find their rhythm.

　In the 35th minute, Ota came in for Nakamura, making his first appearance since the 14th round on June 16th. He tried to regain the momentum, but the rain intensified around this time, causing water to accumulate on the pitch. However, in stoppage time, Ota carved through the left side and entered the area. He sent a final pass from a close distance, creating a decisive chance... but Kajiyama's shot missed the target. They ended the first half trailing by one goal.

On a pitch where water splashes and the ball stops... a scoreless losing streak.

　In the 2nd minute of the second half, Kajiyama, who had moved up the right side, sent a lobbed pass to the goal area, and Tanabe, in the center, took a direct shot from a chest trap, but... it was saved by the GK, and Ishikawa's shot from the loose ball in the area was also blocked. In the 50th minute, Ota aimed for a long shot from the loose ball from a free kick on the right side, but it curved to the left.

　After that, the water splashed violently and the pitch became so wet that the ball stopped. Both teams struggled and it turned into a battle of attrition. However, in the 55th minute, Watanabe was brought in. Despite the repeated attempts to kick and stop, they were unable to create a typical soccer style, but they tried to gather the ball in the front line and break through.

　As planned, in the 62nd minute, Watanabe headed in a right cross. In the 68th minute, Watanabe received a pass outside the right area and took it forward himself, turning towards goal and taking a sharp shot that grazed the bar and went wide. In the 75th minute, Ishikawa connected a pass and took a powerful shot from the right area, but it was saved by the goalkeeper and Hasegawa couldn't react in time to the rebound.

　Substituted Nemanja VUCICEVIC in the 76th minute. He immediately showed his attacking mindset. In the 78th minute, VUCICEVIC quickly closed in on a loose ball just outside the right area and took a shot, but it went straight to the GK... In the 83rd minute, Watanabe broke through the right side himself. Ishikawa and Lucas both aimed for the goal in succession from the center cross, earning a corner kick. From this right corner kick, Lucas made a perfect header... but it was also blocked by the GK's great save.

　Tokyo continued to push Kobe without forcing the attack, and in the second half, Tokyo took 9 shots compared to Kobe's one, but were unable to score and suffered a consecutive loss. In the J1 league match against Kobe, it was their first defeat since August 10, 2002, and as a result, their chances of finishing in the top 4 this season have been eliminated.

　【Player Comments】《Hasegawa》"We were all talking about being careful not to concede a goal first... But we ended up conceding and the pitch conditions also worsened, making the game more difficult. This season, we tend to concede goals before we can score. We definitely want to fix that. In the second half, we were able to create chances from a ball that stopped after being kicked behind and also had a header shot from a set piece. I think we were able to see it through. We want to turn those opportunities into goals. We have two more games and we want to play with Tokyo's style and win."

　"Watanabe" "I wanted to show a forward attitude while the ball was not connecting and wanted to bring out the team's momentum. We tried to score the first goal somehow, but it didn't go well. There may have been chances that could have been called decisive opportunities, but we couldn't score and couldn't produce results, which is very disappointing. I wanted to contribute to the team by using my own strength. I want to do my best to earn 3 points by firmly demonstrating my own strength."

　[Coach Popovic's Press Conference Summary] "It is very difficult to talk about football. We were not prepared to fight for water polo. As for the result, I would like to congratulate our opponents. We were creating chances before conceding a goal, but we couldn't capitalize on them. That is our challenge. However, we continued to show our determination to score until the end. We created chances and threatened the goal, but we couldn't finish them. We can say that we lacked only the goal. I think we can appreciate the players' determination and attitude towards scoring."

　[Kobe Adachi Coach's Press Conference Summary] "In the first half, both teams had a desire to play soccer even in the rain. In the second half, due to the weather and pitch conditions, it became a battle of physicality and winning the ball. As for the first half, we were able to play the game as planned. Tokyo plays fair and high-quality soccer. In response, we started the game more defensively. The pitch was wet, and DF Okui scored a good goal at a good time, which became the winning point and we were able to earn 3 points. However, it was a very intense game, so I am a little worried about injuries. Tokyo often sprinkles water on the pitch even during practice, so we have taken some measures against slippery conditions, but we did not expect the rain to be this heavy and for puddles to form, making it difficult for the ball to move forward."